This trend is not new. In 1990, the Network of Surveys on Migration and Urbanisation in West Africa (NESMUWA) recorded 22000 occurrences of migration from West Africa to the European Union, as opposed to 258000 such cases between West African countries. In addition, Beauchemin and Lessault (2009) note that "flows towards Europe have been offset by 6600 cases of migration in the opposite direction.