Migration is old, but its governance is relatively recent. The building of independent States in North and West Africa, the construction of national identities, the extension of States’ control over the lives of individuals and the provision of services to the population soon raised the issue of who belongs to the national framework of rights and duties, and who does not; who shares the national identity, and who does not. International migration brought up specific issues. How do States engage with their citizens abroad? Do they grant them political rights such as voting from abroad and political representation? What rights, including those of entry and stay, shall be granted to immigrants, and on what conditions? States have provided very diverse responses to these questions.