Introduction
The various processes of globalisation, together with the related increase in migration flows, have created growing concerns about the rights of people who are either temporarily or permanently absent from their home country. The number of international migrants globally has reached an estimated 272 million in 2019, an increase of 51 million since 2010 and 99 million since 2000 (UN 2019). What has been even more noteworthy is that the number of refugees has been on the rise worldwide. Both globally and in Europe as well as in Africa, most migration is intra-continental. The consolidation and expansion of the European Union (EU) regime of free movement facilitated the increased mobility within the region (Santacreu et al. 2009). Europe has always been a popular destination for migrants; recently, however, new waves of immigration have occurred, the most discernible of which has been the great number of refugee and asylum seeker arrivals from North and Central Africa, Middle East and beyond.
Within the African continent migration is very significant in terms of the number of people who migrate due to political, economic, social and other factors (Adepoju 2010; McAuliffe and Kitimbo 2018). For example, between 2015 and 2017, the number of Africans migrating within the continent increased from 16 million to around 19 million, but those migrating out of Africa increased from 16 million to 17 million (McAuliffe and Kitimbo 2018). In addition to their benefits, these migration flows have also evidently generated negative responses from their actual or potential host countries (Davidov and Meuleman 2012; Mawadza and Crush 2010; Solimano 2010; Stewart and Mulvey 2014) in terms of negative backlash against migrants, manifesting itself in xenophobic attacks against immigrants in migrant-receiving countries within the continent, such as South Africa (Mawadza and Crush 2010). Increased migration continues to assault and undermine the fixity of nativist and territorialised belonging (Gupta and Ferguson 2008), the idea that people are from a particular bordered place (Laine 2018a), which by extension underlined the ever more apparent need to rethink the âpossibilities of belongingâ (Papastergiadis 2000, 80). The other actual or potential implication of migration includes its developmental aspects, in terms of the transactions and connections that it could generate (Moyo 2017).
Our attempt to broaden the framing of migration from a challenge or a problem to a possibility and a resource does not lead us to ignore the potentially negative impactsâbe they political, economic or social, among others (Milanovic 2016)âon both the sending and receiving countries or regions migration may have. Much of the recent discussion on migration has, however, been narrowly focused with an apparent overemphasis on its negative impactsâwhether actual or perceived, at the expense of its positive or developmental impacts. Such a lopsided perception of migration obscures rather than illuminating the complex phenomenon under scrutiny and its various ramifications. In an attempt to contribute to more holistic and balanced debate on migration, this book is premised on the understanding that migration is âan integral part of the global transformation process, rather than a problem to be solvedâ (International Migration Institute 2006, 9). We put forward that efforts should be focused on the more efficient management and governance of migration as well as channelling its various dimensions towards a developmental trajectory, rather than simply attempting to stop migration or wish it away. In order to achieve this, more evidence-based and easily accessible information on the drivers, motivations and root causes, but also the complex interplay of these determining factors, is needed. There is a need to go beyond the mere push-and-pull factors and the assumption of linear causality, to the recognition that migrant decision-making process tends to involve calculation of various factors at the same time and have very different impact on different people. People have always migrated and will continue to do so. Borders, however, are nothing but an end-of-pipe solution to a much broader phenomenon and will not make the purported problem go away because they are themselves a fundamental part of that problem (Laine 2018a). Past efforts to curb migration in various parts of the world have had limited success. Limiting the movement of people may decrease documented migration, but it tends to increase undocumented flows. Walls, whether on paper or on the ground, may seem effective, but seldom are; once a wall is erected, people will soon try to cross it (Laine 2018a). Migrants also tend to find alternative ways of migrating and finding their way to intended destinations, despite efforts to prevent them from migrating (Nshimbi and Moyo 2016a, b).
The consistent drive towards ever stricter border and migration policies not just in Europe, but throughout the entire Global North, has not emerged on its own or purely as a creation of politicians, but reflects the thinking of their electorates. It is thus necessary to look deeper into the various bordering practices, whichâin the context of the strength of anti-immigrant movements across Europeâhave conveyed an image of immigrants, before anything else, as a threat. Such rhetoric has not only overshadowed the proven benefits of migration, but it has also been cut out for deteriorating support of welcome and for ignoring the harsh reality and humanitarian drama which millions of refugees have to live through every day. The resultant unwelcoming sentiment is indicative of the deficiency of historical self-understanding, which has catalysed a hollowing-out of the very values upon which the idea of Europe has generally been constructed (Laine 2018a, 293). Migration is also a very complex phenomenon; it means different things to different people, countries and regions. As a result, reaching a consensus or resolving the perceived problem becomes difficult. Some view migration as a security issue, and this occludes its economic or developmental benefits or its humanitarian implications. Others may focus only on the latter, ignoring the fearsâno matter how ungroundedâothers may attach to migration. To this can be added others who demonstrate emotional and ideological responses to migration, all of which amplify the migration conundrum, with which this book grapples. Evidently, these debates range from the actual and perceived international and cross-border security threats that migration is said to bring, to the negative perception of migrants and the notion of migration in the host countries or societies leading to, among others, the securitisation and hardening of borders, to the developmental potential of migrants and migration arising from, inter alia, cross-border development and cooperation.
For one, the EU and African Union (AU), respectively, seem to hold different perceptions and interpretations of the migration conundrumâwhether, for example, migration (re)presents international or cross-border security threats or that it positively contributes to development. In Europe, questions concerning migrants and borders seem to reflect the greatest challenges that contemporary European societies face. The birth rates have been in decline while life expectancies have increased. As the population has been ageing, the functionality of the labour markets and pension systems has become challenged (Mitze et al. 2017). As a result of the need for labour and the increased mobility, migration has emerged as a key theme and policy instrument for the EU. The need for migrant labour has, however, been overshadowed by the more protectionist and security-oriented rhetoric surrounding migration in the wake of the recent so-called refugee crisis. Worries about its consequences for society, welfare institutions and labour markets have influenced not only public opinion, but also political action, causing temporary closings of borders, cultural divides, and even expressions of racism and xenophobic nationalism (Laine 2019).
The sudden influx of refugees turned into a political crisis, giving rise to populist parties and right-wing ideology (Laine 2018a, b), and conflated with economic, educational and welfare migration, as well as internal EU labour mobility, it has even sparked notions of the end of the entire EU. The resultant prevalent rhetoric on migration concerns, problem or threat largely outperforms the scientific evidence that European countries will simply not manage without migrants. If anything, studies have shown that immigration provides economic opportunities and that Europe could achieve a fair and effective allocation of migrants that would preserve European principles and unity (Blau and Mackie 2017; Kahanec and Zimmermann 2016). The European attempts to âsecureâ or âprotectâ borders have undoubtedly failed, largely because migration is often seen as a border security issueâas something that needs to be combatted (Laine 2018a). In this view borders tend to be depicted as protective, yet vulnerable walls safeguarding the inside from a perceived threat from outside. This variance in perception and approach towards a phenomenon that not only characterises the globalised world in the twenty-first century, but is also accelerated by elements of globalisation, and, thereby, promises to define the world for many years further int...
