European Migration Policies in Flux Changing Patterns of Inclusion and Exclusion

by Boswell, Christina

• ISBN13: 9781405102957
• ISBN10: 1405102950
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-21
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

European migration policies are undergoing significant changes. After three decades of highly restrictive approaches, demographic changes and gaps in labour supply are prompting many European governments to liberalize their migration policies. Yet the shift to more liberal regimes comes at a time of increased hostility to asylum seekers and support for parties of the far right in several countries, as well as uncertainty about the effectiveness of integration and race relations strategies. This timely book examines the nature and impact of these changing migration policies in Germany, Italy and the UK. It analyses the content of new legislation and proposals, as well as the policy debate and party political treatment of migration issues in each country. The book considers the implications of these new policies for other categories of migrants: asylum seekers, refugees and resident ethnic minorities.

Author Biography

Dr. Christina Boswell is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), and Senior Researcher at the Migration Research Group, Hamburg Insitute for International Economics. She previously worked as a policy research consultant for the UN Refugee Agency. Her research focuses on European migration and refugee policy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
About the author	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
European migration policies at the crossroads	1	(2)
Factors shaping west European migration policy	3	(2)
Patterns of inclusion and exclusion	5	(2)
Outline of the book	7	(2)
1 The evolution of postwar European migration policies	9	(20)
Migration and refugee policies before 1973	10	(5)
Immigration as a product of labour needs and post-colonial commitments	10	(4)
Responses to refugees in the Cold War era	14	(1)
The politicization of migration and refugee policies	15	(8)
The UK: swamped by immigrants and asylum-seekers	15	(2)
Germany: facing up to permanent immigration and asylum-seekers	17	(2)
France: challenges to identity and control	19	(2)
Italy: political crisis, the far right and illegal immigration	21	(2)
The limits to restriction	23	(4)
Domestic constraints	23	(2)
International cooperation: constraint and opportunity	25	(2)
Conclusion	27	(2)
2 New policies on labour migration	29	(23)
The case for economic migration	30	(7)
Globalization and the movement of labour	30	(3)
Gaps in domestic labour supply	33	(1)
The demographic argument	34	(1)
Legal routes as a mechanism of migration control	35	(2)
Policies and proposals	37	(13)
The UK: subtle but decisive change of course	37	(4)
Germany: explicit reassessment	41	(4)
Italy: between labour demand and security concerns	45	(5)
Conclusion: the sustainability of new labour migration policies	50	(2)
3 Asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants	52	(22)
The asylum crisis'	53	(7)
Germany: asylum crisis' and constitutional reform	54	(3)
The UK: storm in a teacup?	57	(2)
Italy: towards convergence with other EU states	59	(1)
Illegal immigration as a security threat	60	(6)
The rise of illegal migration and migrant-smuggling	61	(1)
Divergent reactions in European states	62	(3)
Patterns of exclusion	65	(1)
The impact of recent labour migration policies	66	(6)
Germany: separate routes for 'humanitarian' and economic' categories	67	(2)
The UK: restriction of asylum as a corollary of labour migration reform	69	(3)
Italy: across-the-board restriction	72	(2)
4 Labour migration, integration and diversity	74	(25)
Concepts of integration	75	(11)
The UK race relations and multiculturalism	77	(2)
Germany: social citizenship	79	(3)
Italy: still lacking a concept of integration	82	(4)
Problems of failed integration'	86	(7)
Germany: inequality, segregation and cultural difference	87	(2)
The UK: beyond the race relations paradigm?	89	(3)
Other explanations for concerns about integration	92	(1)
Integration and new labour migration	93	(6)
Integration challenges as an argument against increasing immigration: the case of Germany	94	(2)
Integration versus additional labour migration?	96	(3)
5 The international context	99	(23)
International cooperation and migration management	100	(6)
Controlling illegal entry	100	(5)
Combating trafficking	105	(1)
Burden-sharing	106	(6)
Direct burden-sharing	107	(2)
Indirect burden-sharing	109	(3)
Prevention	112	(7)
Reception in the region' and resettlement	117	(2)
Conclusion	119	(3)
6 Conclusion	122	(4)
Notes	126	(16)
References	142	(6)
Index	148