Eight Migration policy in Europe: contradictions and continuities
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Rosemary Sales
Abstract
The announcement in October 2001 by Home Secretary David Blunkett of a new ‘green card’ system for labour migrants into the UK exposed some of the contradictions that have been at the heart of migration policy in Europe for three decades. With the ending of mass labour migration during the 1970s, many European states declared that they were not countries of immigration. But while they imposed increasingly stringent restrictions on entry and promoted greater selectivity in the skills and geographical origin of potential immigrants, migration continued in a number of forms, both legal (labour migrants, family reunion and asylum) and ‘illegal’. During this period, the states of the southern European periphery, traditionally countries of emigration, became countries of ‘new immigration’.
The increase in refugee flows in the late 1980s, coinciding with the development of the European Union (EU), brought concerted European Union policies to control the entry of third country (non-EU) nationals. A key element of current policy in relation to asylum, and of the popular discourse surrounding it, has been the distinction between ‘genuine refugees’ and so-called ‘bogus’ asylum seekers. The latter, deemed to be ‘economic migrants’ have been vilified as undeserving of social support, while their dependent status is underlined by their exclusion from formal employment in many states. As demand for migrant labour has increased across a range of sectors, this exclusion comes increasingly into question, not merely from human rights campaigners but also from employers1. In practice, the distinction between ‘refugee’ and ‘economic migrant’ is blurred: as economic breakdown and social conflict makes basic survival impossible, many people, including those not directly engaged in political activities or individually at risk of persecution, have been forced to migrate in search of work.
Abstract
The announcement in October 2001 by Home Secretary David Blunkett of a new ‘green card’ system for labour migrants into the UK exposed some of the contradictions that have been at the heart of migration policy in Europe for three decades. With the ending of mass labour migration during the 1970s, many European states declared that they were not countries of immigration. But while they imposed increasingly stringent restrictions on entry and promoted greater selectivity in the skills and geographical origin of potential immigrants, migration continued in a number of forms, both legal (labour migrants, family reunion and asylum) and ‘illegal’. During this period, the states of the southern European periphery, traditionally countries of emigration, became countries of ‘new immigration’.
The increase in refugee flows in the late 1980s, coinciding with the development of the European Union (EU), brought concerted European Union policies to control the entry of third country (non-EU) nationals. A key element of current policy in relation to asylum, and of the popular discourse surrounding it, has been the distinction between ‘genuine refugees’ and so-called ‘bogus’ asylum seekers. The latter, deemed to be ‘economic migrants’ have been vilified as undeserving of social support, while their dependent status is underlined by their exclusion from formal employment in many states. As demand for migrant labour has increased across a range of sectors, this exclusion comes increasingly into question, not merely from human rights campaigners but also from employers1. In practice, the distinction between ‘refugee’ and ‘economic migrant’ is blurred: as economic breakdown and social conflict makes basic survival impossible, many people, including those not directly engaged in political activities or individually at risk of persecution, have been forced to migrate in search of work.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- The year in social policy 1
-
UK developments
- Modernising primary healthcare in England: the role of Primary Care Groups and Trusts 15
- Devolution in England: coping with post-industrial industrial regions – issues of territorial inequality 37
- Reconstituting social policy: the case of Northern Ireland 57
- ‘Revolutionising’ care for people with learning difficulties? The Labour government’s Learning Disabilities Strategy 85
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International developments
- Globalisation and welfare: a meso-level analysis 107
- The ‘anti-globalisation’ movement and its implications for social policy 127
- Migration policy in Europe: contradictions and continuities 151
- The European Union’s social policy focus: from labour to welfare and constitutionalised rights? 171
-
Conceptual developments
- The politics and economics of disciplining an inclusive and exclusive society 199
- Green social welfare: an investigation into political attitudes towards ecological critiques and prescriptions concerning the welfare state 225
- Using social capital in the policy context: challenging the orthodoxy 249
- Participation and social policy: transformation, liberation or regulation? 265
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- The year in social policy 1
-
UK developments
- Modernising primary healthcare in England: the role of Primary Care Groups and Trusts 15
- Devolution in England: coping with post-industrial industrial regions – issues of territorial inequality 37
- Reconstituting social policy: the case of Northern Ireland 57
- ‘Revolutionising’ care for people with learning difficulties? The Labour government’s Learning Disabilities Strategy 85
-
International developments
- Globalisation and welfare: a meso-level analysis 107
- The ‘anti-globalisation’ movement and its implications for social policy 127
- Migration policy in Europe: contradictions and continuities 151
- The European Union’s social policy focus: from labour to welfare and constitutionalised rights? 171
-
Conceptual developments
- The politics and economics of disciplining an inclusive and exclusive society 199
- Green social welfare: an investigation into political attitudes towards ecological critiques and prescriptions concerning the welfare state 225
- Using social capital in the policy context: challenging the orthodoxy 249
- Participation and social policy: transformation, liberation or regulation? 265
- Index 291
