Abstract:This article presents an overview of policies adopted to curb or respond to irregular migration flows. The article is presented in two sections. The first section, which is an overview of policies adopted in all regions of the world and in both developed and developing countries, attempts to show that there are a number of similarities in the decision-making process and in the content of policies that cut across regional lines and levels of development. The second section discusses policies adopted by governnm… Show more
“…These positions are questionable. As Ellen Brennan's (1984) work has shown, both China and Africa seek to restrain migrants in their territory through border controls and labour market regulations about work permits (Brennan, 1984). So, the requirement for work permit is one way of controlling migrants.…”
Labour migration is, perhaps, the most widely discussed economic issue today. Yet, its underpinning theory and its empirical tests have remained largely Western-centric. In turn, the causes, effects, and policy options for the substantial, but widely neglected, Afro-Chinese labour migration, are poorly understood. By systematising existing data, this article shows that Afro-Chinese labour migration experience is far more complex than what neoclassical economics suggests. Driven, or, at least moulded, not so much by the migrant as a rational utility-maximising individual but by holistic processes of 'circular, combined and cumulation causation', Afro-Chinese migration, and Afro-Chinese relations, more generally, have contributed to economic growth, but at the cost of much socio-spatial displacement, and socioecological degradation. Added to these social costs is widespread labour exploitation. So, the insidious attempts by the state, business enterprise, corporate finance, and capital to consider migration as a 'spatial fix' for economic growth are questionable. Seeking to wall out migrants, embarking on widespread surveillance, pursuing migrant scape-goating, and framing migration as a Malthusian problem are, however, not a panacea. The social costs of migration need to be directly redressed, among others, by redesigning the institutions that shape the conditions of labour. Doing so would require leaving behind neoclassical economics theories of migration and exposing their vested interests. Social economics theories and theorising that more comprehensively address the labour migration problematique and strongly emphasise the coupling of migration, economic, and social policy can usefully be considered as alternatives.
“…These positions are questionable. As Ellen Brennan's (1984) work has shown, both China and Africa seek to restrain migrants in their territory through border controls and labour market regulations about work permits (Brennan, 1984). So, the requirement for work permit is one way of controlling migrants.…”
Labour migration is, perhaps, the most widely discussed economic issue today. Yet, its underpinning theory and its empirical tests have remained largely Western-centric. In turn, the causes, effects, and policy options for the substantial, but widely neglected, Afro-Chinese labour migration, are poorly understood. By systematising existing data, this article shows that Afro-Chinese labour migration experience is far more complex than what neoclassical economics suggests. Driven, or, at least moulded, not so much by the migrant as a rational utility-maximising individual but by holistic processes of 'circular, combined and cumulation causation', Afro-Chinese migration, and Afro-Chinese relations, more generally, have contributed to economic growth, but at the cost of much socio-spatial displacement, and socioecological degradation. Added to these social costs is widespread labour exploitation. So, the insidious attempts by the state, business enterprise, corporate finance, and capital to consider migration as a 'spatial fix' for economic growth are questionable. Seeking to wall out migrants, embarking on widespread surveillance, pursuing migrant scape-goating, and framing migration as a Malthusian problem are, however, not a panacea. The social costs of migration need to be directly redressed, among others, by redesigning the institutions that shape the conditions of labour. Doing so would require leaving behind neoclassical economics theories of migration and exposing their vested interests. Social economics theories and theorising that more comprehensively address the labour migration problematique and strongly emphasise the coupling of migration, economic, and social policy can usefully be considered as alternatives.
“…As a result, the literature (e.g. Triandafillidou & Maroukis, ; Skeldon, ; Asis, ; Jordan & Duvell, ; Brennan, ) displays a persistent tendency to disaggregate these two elements of labour movement (Hickey, ; Latt, ; Lindquist et al ., ; Molland, ), so that: in both the academic and popular literatures, migrants and others inhabit either an entirely legal world facilitated by for‐profit businesses and non‐profit organizations in which they follow the regulations and laws, or they use criminal syndicates who smuggle them (Kyle & Goldstein, : 1).The implications of this conceptual distinction have been explored in greatest detail in the context of the US‐Mexico migration system. There, various authors (Torres & Wicks‐Asburn, ; Menjívar, ; De Genova, ) have emphasized the ‘liminal’ nature of legal status and how it shapes the lifeworlds even of those legally entitled to work and remain.…”
Section: Thinking Beyond the Meso‐level: Linking Large Scale Processementioning
confidence: 99%
“…As a result, the literature (e.g. Triandafillidou & Maroukis, 2012;Skeldon, 2009;Asis, 2004;Jordan & Duvell, 2002;Brennan, 1984) displays a persistent tendency to disaggregate these two elements of labour movement (Hickey, 2015;Latt, 2013;Lindquist et al, 2012;Molland, 2012), so that: in both the academic and popular literatures, migrants and others inhabit either an entirely legal world facilitated by for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations in which they follow the regulations and laws, or they use criminal syndicates who smuggle them (Kyle & Goldstein, 2011: 1).…”
This paper uses the exodus of Cambodian migrant workers from Thailand in June 2014 as a focal point around which to explore Cambodian migrant attitudes towards the systems of documentation and brokerage that influence their movement. From the perspective of Cambodian returnees and their families, it builds on recent work exploring narratives of brokerage by demonstrating how documentation itself — and by extension the legality of migration — is viewed through a contextual lens. Specifically, it argues that documentation is not only viewed according to the formal regulatory framework governing migration between the two countries, but forms part of a more complex structure of influences in which norms of employment and brokerage are equally prominent. From this position, the paper suggests that migrants did not only respond directly to threats of a crackdown by authorities following the 2014 coup, but were additionally influenced by the actions of employers and brokers, whose guarantees of protection — or otherwise — were seen as vitally important in their migration decisions.
“…Furthermore, Indonesians perform a replacement function for Malaysians moving to Singapore. However, when Singapore started curbing labour immigration seriously (by 1991 all foreign workers were to be phased out), causing Malaysians to return, the Indonesians in Malaysia were less tolerated (Brennan 1984). On the other hand, Malaysian-based employers also pressure the Government to continue to allow immigrants into the country so as to relieve the pressure in labour deficient sectors of the economy, e.g.…”
In multi-ethnic Malaysia, the Malays are the politically dominant group, although they lag behind the Chinese and Indians in terms of the average income. Their dominant position explains why the question of Malay identity is an issue of national importance. This paper argues that the meaning of being Malay has gradually been changed, stressing Islamic religion more than language and customs. It implies that the Malays are more conscious of being part of the "ummah", the worldwide Islamic community, and that Indonesians are increasingly seen as foreign Islamic nationals, just as Bangladeshi and Moro-Filipinos, and not so much as Malay co-ethnics. Being part of the "ummah", however, does not mean that the national borders are open for co-believers. In fact, Malaysian public opinion and policies concerning immigration has undergone a shift in emphasis and rhetoric. During the first decades after Independence, the government at the time welcomed Indonesian immigrants, who were considered as strengthening the position of the Malay. This led to a relatively unrestricted policy towards Indonesian immigration. However, due to massive clandestine immigration, intensifying popular dissent towards immigrant labour, the Asian economic crisis of 1997/98, and the less privileged position of the Indonesians in terms of identity identification, public discourse has changed. The Government now stresses nationality or "Malaysianess" in its migration policy. Fuelled by economic pressures, rising xenophobia and the stigmatisation of immigrants, Malaysia's policy now emphasises nationality in its official rhetoric, translating it into a greater assertion of the sovereign nation-state and national borders. Copyright Royal Dutch Geographical Society 2002.
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