The Journal of the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations

Volume 22 Number 2 April 1996

Special issue: Migration into Europe: Dilemmas of mobility and control

Contents:

Articles:

• Rainer Münz, `A continent of migration: European mass migration after the twentieth century' [Abstract]
• Dietrich Thränhardt, `European migration from East to West: present patterns and future directions' [Abstract]
• Hans van Amersfoort, `Migration: the limits of governmental control' [Abstract]
• Claire Wallace, Oxana Chmouliar and Elena Sidorenko, `The Eastern frontier of Western Europe: mobility in the buffer zone' [Abstract]
• Hedwig Rudolph, The new gastarbeiter system in Germany [Abstract]
• Fahrünnisa E. Kulluk, `The political discourse on quota immigration in Germany' [Abstract]
• Krystyna Romaniszyn, The invisible community: undocumented Polish workers in Athens' [Abstract]
• Gabriella Lazaridis, `Immigration to Ggreece: a critical evaluation of the Ggreek policy' [Abstract]

Rainer Münz, ‘A continent of migration: European mass migration after the twentieth century':

International migration has been an issue of growing importance on both the foreign and the domestic policy agenda of most industrialised nations since the late 1980s From a demographic point of view, migration matters. In a growing number of European countries migration has a greater impact on population size and structure than the balance of births and deaths.
This article gives an overview of the size and geography of migration to and within Europe. Changing causes, patterns and trends of international migration, as well as key periods, are discussed. It also analyses the composition of foreign resident populations in Europe. The article covers the second half of the twentieth century. Different types of mass migration as well as links between particular sending and receiving countries are analysed. The article also looks at public opinion concerning ethnocentric attitudes and the number of foreigners in Europe. Finally, policy options are discussed.

Dietrich Thränhardt, ‘European migration from East to West: present patterns and future directions':

Present-day migration control is largely a social and political construction. It cannot explain the patterns and processes of East-West migration. Western anxieties have been misleading, and are used as a substitute for the fears of the Cold War period. In reality, the rich countries of Western Europe have largely been able to control their borders and define the sort of immigration they want to accept. Most of the migrants from Eastern Europe have come in an arranged form, particularly the ethnic migrants. Uncontrolled immigration is concentrated in those sectors of the economy where regulation is weak, and internal forces are operating in favour of unregistered immigration. Compared to the US, the regulated European economies provide more internal controls allowing a gradual opening of the borders to the East. Such a system is more sophisticated than a mere reliance on border controls. However, it is only feasible in a peaceful setting of emergent consensus.
Since Europe as a whole is in demographic decline, planned immigration will be a necessity. This need coincides with the present migration trends which are largely affecting Germany, but more recently Italy also.

Hans van Amersfoort, ‘Migration: the limits of governmental control':

Although migration is not a modern phenomenon, the number of people involved in migration processes have increased tremendously in the past decades. This increase has made migration a politically sensitive issue. Governments of states at the receiving end of migration flows are under pressure to show that they can control migration. New laws and regulations have become issues that must require governments everywhere to regulate migration in an era of increased population mobility. These measures only rarely appear to achieve their aims.
The first issue addressed in the present article is why it is so difficult for governments to intervene successfully in migration processes? Within the analytical framework of the article, the point is made that the variables addressed by governmental measures form only a small part of the relevant variables. Addressing these variables effectively is further hampered by the conflicting interests of various economic sectors and by the conflicting roles various administrative institutions have defined for themselves.
Finally the article addresses the question of whether a ‘root-cause' approach offers better prospects for the management of migration. This does not appear to be the case at the moment.

Claire Wallace, Oxana Chmouliar and Elena Sidorenko, ‘The Eastern frontier of Western Europe: mobility in the buffer zone':

The post-Communist countries of Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics have become a buffer zone between East and West. In this article we analyse the way in which this occurs in terms of migration in and out of the region. Our analysis focuses upon the emerging role which this region plays in relation to other parts of Western and Eastern Europe and the way in which economic and political developments there have encouraged particular forms of migration. We attempt to build a picture of some of the different kinds of migration taking place in relation to the social and ethnic characteristics of migrants. The article concludes that these movements are better understood as part of the mobility and circulation of people rather than one-way migration.

Hedwig Rudolph, The new gastarbeiter system in Germany:

Germany's new gastarbeiter policy is evaluated in the context of a long tradition of labour recruitment, particularly the last period of active recruitment abroad (1955-1973). The policy's characteristic features (of permission to stay being dependent on a work permit; this being limited to a certain period and linked to the requirements of a specific employer) implies that the gastarbeiter regime is a low cost means of increasing flexibility in cases of regional and/or sectoral bottlenecks in the employment system as well as a way of ‘exporting' problems.
The new gastarbeiter policy vis-à-vis Central and Eastern Europe encompasses bilateral contracts signed around 1990 and various amendments to German laws. Despite having different target groups and varying procedures they all share the above features of the ‘old' gastarbeiter policy. What they do not include are the improvements in legal status that have been implemented for the ‘old' gastarbeiter over the years.
This policy reversal was guided by international considerations – namely support for the postsocialist countries, the need for increased flexibility for the German labour market in view of economic restructuring and the wish to channel the migration potential from the East. These avenues of entry have been in frequent use, and sometimes misuse, over the past five years. The mounting employment crisis in Germany has prompted the German government repeatedly to take advantage of provisions to restrict the conventions on labour movement.

Fahrünnisa E. Kulluk, ‘The political discourse on quota immigration in Germany':

Since the late 1980s many professional politicians and social interest associations/organisations have been arguing for the creation of an immigration law which would allow and organise limited and legal new immigration to Germany on the basis of annual or two-three year quotas. This political discourse on immigration policy contains proposals which go beyond pure self-interest and aim to contribute to the stated goals of ‘citizenship in Europe' and ‘open, transnational citizenship'. This position is so far only held by a minority. More dominant are the proponents of quota immigration policy and of political asylum and civil refugee policies, directly or indirectly exclusionist in relation to ‘old' and/or ‘new' immigrants and refugees. This article presents the argument for rethinking and restructuring the notion of quota immigration rather than rejecting it altogether.

Krystyna Romaniszyn, The invisible community: undocumented Polish workers in Athens:

This article describes the development of an economic migration from Poland to Greece and the creation of a migrant community in Athens. It presents the development of a new migration route by political immigrants. It then describes how the Polish political emigrants heading for Greece in the mid-1980s established the pillar institutions which were inherited by the Polish undocumented workers who have followed, and which have served the latter well. The article proceeds to highlight the work milieu of the Polish undocumented workers in Athens, and discusses the role played by the 'Polish church', i.e., the Roman Catholic church to which Poles were given access. It concludes by considering the future prospects of this migration and of the Polish migrant community in Greece.

Gabriella Lazaridis, ‘Immigration to Greece: a critical evaluation of Greek policy':

Migration is a significant global phenomenon, one of the great challenges of the 1990s. In Europe, the Single Market has given a boost to inter-EU mobility through the loosening of restrictions on movement within the member states of the Union. In addition, substantial transfers of population are taking place from less-developed countries outside Europe, to Europe. There are also large-scale migration flows from Eastern Europe, mainly due to ethnic tensions, poverty and ecological problems.
In the light of the EU's interest in the movement of labour within the Union, the first part of this article looks at the character of Greek migrant labour with the aim of providing an overview of changes in the flow of migrant labour into Greece and of the policies adopted in relation to immigrant labour. It discusses the failure of the Greek government to formulate strategic measures to combat illegal immigration, (apart from the introduction of sanctions against employers or illegal migrants and the establishment of special patrol squads at the borders), and the limited (if any) efforts being made to aid the integration of Albanians.
The second part of the article concentrates on Albanian migrant labourers in Greece. It is an attempt to record the emotions and experiences of the migrants themselves and their reactions to policies presumably designed either to help or to exclude them. The article also assesses the similarities and differences in the employment positions of Albanian men and women in Greece and the way in which mechanisms of marginalisation differently affect these two categories.