West African borderlands still depict free labour migration that weaves a complex grid of relations and inter-dependences over the ‘artificial’ borders inherited from colonialism. Migrants consider the sub-region as a single cultural and socio-economic unit within which trade and services are intertwined across countries, and where border crossing is a main part of people’s lives and livelihoods. This study reflects on migration and violent resource conflicts in West Africa such as migrant herders-farmers conflict in Nigeria to interrogate the wider security implications of ECOWAS free movement protocols in the sub-region. It links the deepening resource scarcity in the sub-region to the increase in undocumented migration. The study concludes that due to poor enforcement of ECOWAS visa-free regime and competition for scarce resources, the migration-conflict nexus has intensified banditry and violent conflicts in West African borderlands, especially between herders and farmers in Nigeria.

西非边境地区仍然描绘着自由的劳务移民，在从殖民主义继承下来的“人为”边界上编织出复杂的关系网和相互依存关系。移民认为该次区域是一个单一的文化和社会经济单位，贸易和服务在其中与各国交织在一起，过境是人们生活和生计的主要部分。本研究反映了西非的移民和暴力资源冲突，例如尼日利亚的移民牧民-农民冲突，以审视西非经共体自由流动协议在该次区域的更广泛安全影响。它将次区域日益严重的资源稀缺与无证移民的增加联系起来。该研究得出结论，由于西非经共体免签证制度执行不力和对稀缺资源的竞争，