Lecture 3: European migration "crisis" and EU migration policies

Question 1

What makes an internally displaced migrant different from a refugee?

Answer 1

• internally displace person = not yet crossed an international border
• No international protection
• No aid from international organizations

Question 2

What is the fundamental problem around multilateral migration governance?

Answer 2

• effectiveness requires transfer of national sovereignty over control immigration and settlement of non-citizens to supra-national governmental bodies and legal institutions

Question 3

how have states already aimed at regulating international migration?

Answer 3

• bilateral negotiations
• regional agreements
• global governance

Question 4

What are the 3 levels of mobility freedoms?

Answer 4

1. Free entry (visa-free travel)
2. Right of residence
3. Right to establishment (right to work and do business)

Question 5

Demonstrate (shortly) the timeline in EU migration regime?

Answer 5

1957: Treaty of Rome: creation of common market between 6 signatory states + freedom of movement if employment (set up European Community)

1986: Single European Act (SEA): (revision of Treaty of Rome): achieve common market + further pol/eco integration

1992: treaty on EU (TEU): immigration = in hands of member states

1995: Schengen Agreement: establish travel free zone

1997: Treaty of Amsterdam: issues concerning visas, asylum, immigration and other policies = first pillar EU

2007: Lisbon Treaty: complete inclusion of migration and asylum within framework of European treaties

Question 6

What major conflicts shaped the refugee regime?

Answer 6

1. Second World War
    40 million European displaced persons -> went to Australia, Canada, and other countries
2. Cold War
    Iron Curtain: non-departure regime => overall asylum levels = low
3. Other conflicts?
    Israel vs Palestine conflict
    Escalation struggles against white colonial or settler regimes in Africa in the 1960s
    Resistance against US-supported military regimes in Latin America in the 1970s
    Long drawn-out political and ethnic struggles in the Middle East and Asia

Question 7

What restrictions were introduced to construct a fortress in Europe?

Answer 7

1. Changes in national legislation to restrict access to refugee status -> extension of temporary protection ipv permanent refugee status
2. Non-arrival policies -> prevent people without documentation from entering
3. Diversion policies -> declaring bordering EU countries as safe third countries
4. Restrictive interpretations
5. European cooperation

Question 8

What was the EU response to increased migration and how did it contribute to this sense of crisis?

Answer 8

1.EU = slow to respond -> in terms of providing additional assistance to support regions w refugees + movement of increasing numbers of refugees along Mediterranean

2. failure of EU member states to share responsibility for dealing w increased arrivals in a pragmatic and principled way

Question 9

What is a ‘containment chronotype’?

Answer 9

• focus on preventing or discouraging people from attempting to reach EU territory ipv providing protection and support/addressing factors causing people to move in the first place

Question 10

What are some of the flawed assumptions and expectations underlying European policy?

Answer 10

1. Assumptions about why people were on the move
   -> refer to outdated push-pull model
2. Assumptions about the nature of the journey to Europe
   -> assumption journey = linear + people leave country for Europe => in-between = neglected
   => direct eco resources to border controls ipv support for hosting refugee countries
3. Expectations regarding the impact of policymaking on refugee and migrant decision making
   -> challenged by ad-hoc/dynamic decision-making processes
4. Assumptions about the nature and role of smugglers and smuggling networks
   -> demand for smugglers = continue in absence of opportunities to escape violence, conflict, and unbearable poverty
   -> + assumes large-scale smuggler network: often local

Question 11

Is the “migration crisis” over?

Answer 11

1. refugees and migrants = still crossing Mediterranean to Europe
2. few meaningful developments in opening safe and legal routes
3. EU policies = most likely increased ipv decreased demand for smugglers
4. EU approach = costly + devastating effect on lives of refugees
   -> EU = no long-term strategy to deal w sudden mass influx!

Question 12

What are some of the elements that need to be included in a new approach to migration EU policy?

Answer 12

1) addressing drivers of migration
-> requires thinking through conseq of EU policies in areas of HR humanitarian action, foreign affairs, …
-> EU = need to think about drivers forced migration + role in creating/fueling conflict

2) providing access to protection and rights
-> EU = legally obliged to treat all arrivers in accordance with intl law

3) creating safe and legal entry routes
-> deterrence policies -> only increase extent human suffering -> not scale of migration
-> need for resettlement programmes, increasing humanitarian visas, establishing temporary intl protection

4) moving beyond the politics of containment
-> EU = should design/implement/monitor migration w third countries -> goal? To prevent refugees in abusive situations

Question 13

Differentiate between migration journeys, migration trajectories and migration routes?

Answer 13

• migration journeys = specific cross-border travels of migrants
• migration trajectories = multiple journeys in various directions over a longer period of time
• migration routes = certain pathways migrants customarily follow -> collective outcome of indv migration decisions and behavior

Question 14

What are some of the dichotomies existing in migration academia?

Answer 14

1) dichotomy between sending and receiving country
-> disregard ‘time-in-between’ = transit countries => only Europe = relevant destination

2) dichotomy between temporary and permanent
-> why misleading?
1. many migrants = Lybia/Iran/Turkey as their final destination but compelled to move due to changing conditions/realities
2. migrants = aim to travel further but cannot due to lack of resources => ‘stepwise’ migration

3) dichotomy between forced and voluntary
-> why misleading
1. the gap between state definitions
2. often exist in a continuum
3. motives for migration = may change over time

Question 15

Explain the dichotomy between sending and receiving country?

Answer 15

-> disregard ‘time-in-between’ = transit countries => only Europe = relevant destination
-> misconception refuted: migrants : stay in transit countries + envision future in neigbouring country but due to changing conditions -> go to Europe

Question 16

Explain the dichotomy between temporary and permanent migrants

Answer 16

-> why misleading?
1. many migrants = Lybia/Iran/Turkey as final destination but compelled to move due to changing conditions/realities
2. migrants = aim to travel further but cannot due to lack of resources => ‘stepwise’ migration

Question 17

Explain the dichotomy between forced and voluntary migration

Answer 17

-> why misleading
1. gap between state definitions
2. often exist in a continuum
3. motives for migration = may change over time

Question 18

What is transnationalism?

Answer 18

practices and institutions linking migrants, people, organizations in their homelands or elsewhere in a diasphora

Question 19

What are network externalities?

Answer 19

• network externalities = generalized resources available in established migration flows such as smuggling networks or recruiting employers in destination communities

Question 20

Does the idea of human smuggling from the EU match up with reality?

Answer 20

EU: ruthless criminal networks that organize journeys of large n of migrants, while putting migrants lives at risk

• fallacies around human smuggling:
  1) smugglers as villains + migrants = powerless victims -> countered: smugglers = can also be supportive indvs, businesses or travel agencies
  2) human smugglers = embedded in local communities and economies

Question 21

What are techno-borderscaptes?

Answer 21

= transit zones; sites of embodied and virtual encounters among various state and non-state actors and to unravel the intersections between digital securitization, humanitarianism and activism.

Question 22

What is the Schengen borders code?

Answer 22

= European regulation defining the rules for border control in the Schengen area -> how controls should be executed by member states

Question 23

What are the main principles of EU border and migration policy?

Answer 23

1. Common external borders and visa policy -> no internal border
   -> common visa -> same visa in each member state
2. Member states = primarily responsible for border management -> Eg. NL should protect its borders w North Sea
3. First member states where asylum seeker crosses the EU border = responsible for the reception, asylum and return processes
   -> migrants w no legal status = have to leave/return
4. Migration and border management = should be in line w EU and international obligations, incl fundamental rights and SAR
   -> Eg. forbid mistreatment
5. Member states receive EU support (EU solidarity in form of Frontex support)

Question 24

What are the challenges for EU policy and functioning of Schengen area?

Answer 24

1. Pressure of illegal migration at borders at frontline member states
2. Challenging relations w neighboring third countries
3. Secondary movements
4. Pressure on asylum and reception systems in member states
5. Ineffective return policy
6. Borders and security: cross border crime and terrorism

Question 25

What are the results of EU challenges and the migration crisis?

Answer 25

1. Reintroduction of internal border control + increased pressure on asylum/reception systems
2. Political stalemate in EU => no finished discussion on legislation

Question 26

What is the migration and asylum pact introduced by the European Commission?

Answer 26

aim? to put in place a sustainable and comprehensive policy that proves a humane and effective long-term response to the challenges of irregular migration

instruments? legislation, recommendations, guidelines

• goal?
   More efficient asylum, border, and return procedures
   Better balance between responsibility and solidarity
   Enhancing the capacity of the union concerning migration management (during the crisis)
   Enhancing monitoring of fundamental rights