Migration Trends and Migration Policy in Europe

This paper summarizes the latest information on both stocks and flows of migrants in Europe, focusing specifically on arrivals from developing countries. It starts out by setting this into its historical context by showing how flows of labour migrants were followed by flows of family members, and later by asylum seekers and refugees. Then it looks more closely at recent migration data, though it finds these to be frequently incomplete and inconsistent. The most comparable cross–national data come from the OECD and Eurostat, which indicate that Germany had the largest flows of migrants in the 1990s followed by the United Kingdom. In addition to these arrivals there are probably between 2 and 3 million undocumented immigrants in Europe – accounting for 10 to 15 per cent of the total population of foreigners. The paper also traces the countries from where immigrants are leaving. Sources vary considerably from one immigration country to another, reflecting a number of factors, of which the most important are former colonial links, previous areas of labour recruitment, and ease of entry from neighbouring countries. In recent years, however, immigrants have been coming from a wider range of countries and particularly from lower–income countries. The paper also examines changes in immigration policy. National policies were fairly liberal during the 1950s and 1960s, before becoming restrictive from the 1970s on. Recently, however, a number of governments have been revising their policies to take better account of employment and demographic needs. The paper also traces the emergence of a cross–national European response to immigration, as European Union (EU) countries have become more concerned about their common external frontier. Thus far European countries have done little to try to control migration through cooperation with sending countries. They could, for example, direct Official Development Assistance to those countries most likely to send immigrants, though few appear to have done so in a deliberate fashion. The paper concludes that in the future immigration to the EU is likely to increase, both as a result of the demand for labour and because of low birth rates in the EU. In the short and medium term many of these requirements are likely to be met by flows from Eastern Europe, particularly following the eastward expansion of the EU. But, the longer–term picture will probably involve greater immigration from developing countries.     

Defining Nations in Asia and Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Ethnic Return Migration Policy1

We argue that regional comparison of East Asian and European ethnic return migration policy offers important new perspectives on nationhood, nondiscrimination norms, and trans‐nationality. We find that despite international nondiscrimination norms, preferential ethnic return policy is common in both regions. These policies at least implicitly define the nation as existing across borders. However, there are significant regional differences. East Asian states use co‐ethnic preferences instrumentally for economic goals and also offer preferential treatment of co‐ethnic foreign investors. European states offer preferences to coethnics to protect these populations or express symbolic ties, sometimes at great expense. Thus, in Europe the state has an obligation to assist coethnics abroad, but in Asia, foreign coethnics assist the state.     

Effects of Policy Changes on Thai Migration to Iceland

In this study, I use ethnographic, survey and Icelandic government data to examine the nexus of recent migration policy changes in Iceland and the increased use of marriage as a migration strategy. In the early 1980s, Thai women began coming to Iceland to either marry Icelandic men or “try out” a potential relationship with an Icelander before marriage. During that time, Iceland approved work permits for foreigners regardless of country of origin, allowing many Thais to immigrate independent of marriage. By 2006, however, Iceland's membership in the European Economic Area was making it almost impossible for Thais and other non‐European migrants to secure a work permit. There has been an increase in marriage‐based migrations among non‐European migrants to Iceland compared to all other types of legal migration since 2006. Iceland's policy changes may have stemmed the flow of non‐European labourers, but may also have opened the door to increased fraudulent marriages and abuse of foreign women by Icelandic husbands. These policy changes have only occurred in the past 5–7 years, and it remains for future research to investigate adjustments made by both Icelanders and Thais in response to the newest laws.     

International Migration and the Role of Remittances in Eastern Europe

In this paper we analyse the effect of remittances on employment performance for Central and East European (CEE) economies. We show that the impact of remittances on unemployment depends on its effect on productivity growth and investment. In order to empirically analyse the impact of remittances we estimate a productivity equation using a set of 11 transition countries during the 1990 to 1999 period. Our results show support for the view that remittances have a positive impact on productivity and employment both directly and indirectly through its effect on investment.     

Chinese Migration to Eastern Europe

Most of the work on the early history of Chinese migration to eastern Europe, that is, the first half of the twentieth century, has been written by Russian scholars. Contemporary sources — accounts of Russian travellers and government documents — are overwhelmingly preoccupied with migration to the Russian Asian territories. But the interest in Chinese immigration since the 1990s has resulted in considerable attention being paid to the historical background as well, notably by Larin (1998, 2000) and Saveliev (2002). Chinese scholarship on Chinese labour in Europe during World War I (e.g. S. Chen, 1986) only devotes little space to eastern Europe. Yet, Chinese migration to eastern Europe has a particular policy interest because in the past decade it has proven to be predictive of trends in Europe as a whole. A new flow of entrepreneurial migrants, who often had no connection to the historical, rural‐based chains of migration that produced the earlier Chinese migrant populations of western Europe, found it possible and profitable to do business and settle on the European periphery during a brief period of liberal migration controls. Erratic crackdowns on illegal migration in the absence of thought‐through migration regimes resulted in a volatile situation, periodically generating migration flows from one country in the region to another. These were facilitated by, and gave further rise to, networks of kinship and information spanning both eastern and western Europe. While this paper focuses on Hungary, it also attempts to review information on other eastern European countries (particularly Russia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and the Czech Republic) where it is available. In doing so, it intends to fill a gap in information on Chinese in eastern Europe until more substantial research is produced, as well as to highlight the common features of, and links between, Chinese migration into individual eastern European countries as well as into western Europe.     

Migration,Productive Return and Human Capital: Lessons from the new Governmental Policy on Migration in Ecuador

In 2008, the Government of Ecuador initiated a programme for productive return dubbed the Cucayo Fund, aimed at financing small businesses for migrants who were returning to the country. This programme has been a cornerstone in the new governmental policy on migration. In 2015, the IOM considered it an exemplary practice among the instruments enabling the economic and social reinsertion of returning migrants. In this article, based on the mining and analysis of the implementation data from the Cucayo Fund in the three provinces comprising Administrative Region No 7, we specifically examine the incidence of human capital accumulated by the migrants in the success of their ventures. Our results show that the experience and knowledge attained by the migrants abroad, and transfer of these to new activities, play a key and relevant role in the financed ventures and that, therefore, human capital must be incorporated with greater emphasis into debates on return.     

Pathways to reintegration in Senegal and Nigeria promoted by Italian Assisted Voluntary Return programmes

This article presents the main findings of a research study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of pathways to reintegration for citizens repatriated from Italy to Senegal and Nigeria through Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes. Based on the scientific debate on the subject, the article begins by offering an in-depth exploration of the issue of whether or not AVRR is truly voluntary, as well as the meaning of the term ‘reintegration’. It then illustrates the Italian AVRR system before presenting the methodology and results of the research carried out. In particular, the aim is to identify and analyse the main factors upon which the result of the reintegration of citizens who have used AVRR programmes depends, perhaps most notably the type of reception given to the returnee by friends and relatives who remained in their home country.     

Introduction: New Dynamics of Chinese Migration to Europe

This introduction provides a presentation of the articles in this special issue by framing the contributions in the context of new dynamics related to Chinese migration studies and the ongoing discussions of the impact of China’s powerful economic position. The articles offer new empirical insights to develop new understandings of recent migration and mobilities between China and Europe. By focusing on the changing socio-economic composition of Chinese migrants in Europe towards highly skilled professionals and investors, changes in Chinese entrepreneurship, increasing Chinese political engagement and activism, and new migration from Europe to China by Chinese descendants, these contributions reflect the importance of developing new theories to better grasp the causes and effects of China’s new global economic and political position for Chinese migration. The selected articles identify promising directions for future work on the global discussions of the impact of China as a diaspora state and ensuing policy implications.     

Return Migration and the Problem of Reintegration

This article proposes a programme approach for achieving the social and economic reintegration of all categories of return migrants. As former exiles who have returned to their country of origin are no longer refugees, some government agencies need to organize the reception of, and provide assistance to, returnees. But without long-term planning, ad hoc committees are unable to be effective facilitators of the reintegration process. The article suggests a list of major elements necessary for an effective reintegration programme, and argues that governments should focus on the institutional mechanism of programme management, including the creation of a responsible agency or agencies. The management structure should be based in the National Planning Ministry of government. Establishment of an effective mechanism would be likely to inspire donor confidence; and 'homecoming' would no longer be a nightmare for potential returnees trying to reintegrate.     

Arab Migration to Europe: Trends and Policies1

Growing Arab migration to Europe is a likely scenario for the coming years, poorly prepared for by current policies. The paper examines three reasons for this scenario: new patterns of family‐building in Arab countries; aging in Europe; and the emergence of a new demand for migrant labor. While the ongoing establishment of free trade may increase migratory pressures, government policies remain potentially conflicting – on the Arab side, optimizing the economic benefits drawn from emigrants and reviving their sense of belonging to their culture of origin; on the European side, restricting further immigration and integrating former migrants in the host society and culture.     

The Liberalization of Maternity Leave Policy and the Return to Work after Childbirth in Germany

German federal law has increased the potential duration of maternity leave five times since 1985. A theoretical model demonstrates that the cumulative return probability at potential duration cannot decline unless the mother's employment conditions or career expectations change. We estimate return to work hazards from the German Socio-Economic Panel for women bearing children in the period 1984–1991 and predict cumulative return probabilities for first-time mothers and mothers with a previous birth. The pattern of cumulative return probabilities as potential duration increases is consistent with the hypothesis that employment conditions or career expectations frequently change for mothers taking longer leaves.     

The Role of Return Home Welfare Interviews in Responding to the Needs of Young Runaways

When children and young people run away from home or care it is most often indicative of problems in their lives. Reporting on the findings of a recent evaluation, this study considers the role, delivery and impact of ‘return home welfare interviews’ (RHWIs) in identifying children and young people in need. It concludes that RHWIs function as an effective screening mechanism and can be facilitative in creating multiple pathways for referral to appropriate services. It challenges assumptions about the unsuitability of the police in undertaking RHWIs and highlights the importance of context, training and appropriate resourcing to the success of police delivery.     

Return to work after childbirth: does parental leave matter in Europe?

This paper investigates the role of the extended parental leave in the return to work for mothers of newborn children. Exploiting the variability in policies offered by the European countries, the paper studies the influence of statutory leave characteristics—length of the job-protection and payments during the leave-period—on the hazard of returning to work at different ages of the child. Results suggest that longer periods of job-protection increase the hazard of returning to work; on the other hand, providing paid leaves increases the probability of remaining at home during the first year of life of the child.