Final Report Summary - GLOMIG (Global Migration From the Eastern Mediterranean and Eurasia: Security and Human Rights Challenges to Europe)
Besides attempting an academic outlook, the innovative aspect of this project was two folded. First, it brought together a wide range of actors including government officials, academics, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international non-governmental organisations (INGO) and advocacy units, and stakeholders (migrants themselves) at national, regional and international levels. Secondly, this project provided a milieu for the deliberation of different perspectives, specifically the perspectives of the countries that send and receive migrants and the institutions that control migratory processes as well as the migrants themselves. GLOMIG focused on the Western Balkans, Caucasus, Russia, Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. More specifically, enabling the interested parties from the EU and countries from above-mentioned regions to share their insights, experiences, and know-how on migration, the project aimed to contribute to the European Research Area (ERA) through the creation of a common platform. Migration is an issue of mutual interest for the EU and its neighbourhood. In that respect, one of the principal objectives of the GLOMIG, therefore, was the enhancement of international cooperation among both groups. The EU's capacity, expertise, and know-how in social sciences and migration research have been key resources for the neighbouring countries in coping with the challenges of global migration. Through the creation of platforms described in the work plan, the regional perspectives from the Western Balkans, Caucasus, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Russia, on the other hand, can provide the stakeholders in the EU with a crucial overview on the local perspectives about the causes and consequences of migration as well as impact of the EU migration policies and implementations on these countries.
Since the mid 1990s, migration has become an increasingly essential component of interstate relations. Until that period, migration used to be discussed mainly in the context of population movements from less developed countries to developed ones. As a result of an accelerated process of globalisation, the interconnectedness between economic, political, social, and cultural spheres has drastically increased. By 2002, there were about 170 million persons living either legally or illegally in countries other than their country of origin (please see http://www.un.org/ online). According to the reports of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 98 countries are involved in the process of major population movements. Today, within the context of globalisation processes in developing countries, millions of people living in difficult working and living conditions may be seen as a reservoir of labour at the disposal of developed countries. In response to the flow of labour migrants resulting from the deregulation of markets, the receiving countries, are expanding their regulatory mechanisms both at the nation state and regional levels (such as the European Union) in order to secure their borders (Coleman & Rowthorn, 2004). Parallel to these developments, migration movements gained new quantitative and qualitative dimensions. This has usually been referred to as 'global migration', with trans-nationalism being its most important aspect. Within this novel framework of migration, the policy making and coordinating capacities of nation states have been challenged and, therefore, search for new strategies have been initiated, in the field of policy making and migration research.
One of the most important components of such strategies consists of the attempt to (re)define and (re)formulate the complexity of these new global migration movements. Whereas the 'classical' approach towards migration emphasised the importance of the economic aspects (e.g. under the heading of labour migration) (Werner, 2001; Angrist & Kugler, 2003), recent discussions, mainly developed by political actors of the (developed) receiving countries, are focusing on security aspects. In part owing to the worries of the receiving countries in coping with illegal labour migration and the resulting problems of adaptation and integration, the new security discourse reflects the fear of terrorism, symbolised by the September 11 attacks in the United States and the train bombings in March 11 in Madrid. Therefore, the focus on security began to predominate over other aspects of migration including human rights issues. While the focus on human rights forms the legal framework for asylum and refugee policies after the Second World War, the emphasis on security provides a new framework for the emergence of a globally coordinated policy on migration (IOM, 2003). The process of Europeanisation necessitates, on the one hand, institutional cooperation between different European organisations and states, and, on the other hand, a social and cultural consensus, shared feeling of togetherness, and belongingness of European citizens. In other words, the constitution of the 'European idea' is based on the principles of cooperation, inclusion, and integration. On the other hand, the EU is increasingly attempting to emphasise a security based approach especially in its close neighbourhood. An example of the emerging security dimension is the vagueness of the EU Constitution on 'Border checks, asylum, and immigration' (2004). It is notable that the treaty, while stressing that all nationals of Member States are citizens of the EU and have the right to freely move and reside within its territory, there are few attempts to harmonise the conditions under which migrants can acquire citizenship. Here, it might be useful to refer to Article III - 267 of the Constitutional Treaty: '1. The Union shall develop a common immigration policy aimed at ensuring, at all stages, the efficient management of migration flows, fair treatment of third-country nationals residing legally in Member States, and the prevention of, and enhanced measures to combat, illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings, ...in particular women and children'.
Even though historical-social patterns of migration such as the direct exploitation of human resources are still relevant for basic understanding of migration, the determining factors have changed (De Jong, 1999). Currently, these determining factors consist of different forms of population movements such as trafficking, especially of women and children, smuggling, and transit-migration. As a consequence of the wide-ranging diversity of global migration based on different forms of population movements, the new migration discourse necessitates the formation of integrated and coordinated network structures, both at institutional and academic levels. The Global Commission on International Migration set up in 2003 and the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation formed in 2002 have to be considered as important developments in reaching a common understanding of cross-border movements of people. Referring to the Global Commission's report, it is expressed that 'benefits of globalisation must be more equitably distributed ... the globalising trends in the world economy should be matched by similar advances in social and political institutions. One of the features of the existing imbalance is that 'goods and capital move much more freely across borders than people do.' (The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, 'On the cross-border movement of people', p. 375)
In the GLOMIG project, during the presentations and discussion of the policy papers in the project, we have touched upon a number of issues. In addition to the study of the political, economic, and social causes and consequences of migration, there has been a special focus on new dimensions like security, human rights and democracy, gender issues, as well as the formal and informal networks involved in the initiation, realisation, and perpetuation of migration. Moreover, further attention has been paid to key subheadings, such as the causes, the forms, the routes, and the consequences of smuggling and trafficking, efficacy of preventative and combating measures, and international cooperation in these respects. The most important and novel dimensions of the project outcomes have been the creation of the platforms through which regional perspectives and insiders' views can be reformulated and integrated into novel frameworks, in addition to advancing existing research on migration through the introduction of new issues and dimensions. Although there is continuity concerning the constitutive elements of migration, a drastic shift has become increasingly visible in the form of a so-called feminisation of migration. In the past, women were migrating mainly to join their spouses in Europe. Yet, now more women are also migrating independently, for economic reasons, as students and refugees. Women also form significant numbers of undocumented workers.
Undocumented employment indeed has become an increasing reality for Europe. The so called 'migration industry', i.e. individuals and organisations involved in the transportation and often job placement of persons without documents, has grown tremendously in recent years. For example, in the late 1970s, there still existed a certain demand for labour (particularly female labour) in most sectors of the European economy. But women who have migrated recently are faced with the fact that, apart from sex work or domestic work, their chances for employment are highly limited. Having discussed a variety of issues throughout the last two years, we have come up with these two volumes. We hope that these volumes will help to facilitate transnational cooperation in comparative impact analysis on the presentation of migration. We hope that through these volumes we shall be able to promote interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and policy measures which will incorporate the perspective of a number of stake holders in a wide geographical area, including Europe and its neighbourhood.
Since the mid 1990s, migration has become an increasingly essential component of interstate relations. Until that period, migration used to be discussed mainly in the context of population movements from less developed countries to developed ones. As a result of an accelerated process of globalisation, the interconnectedness between economic, political, social, and cultural spheres has drastically increased. By 2002, there were about 170 million persons living either legally or illegally in countries other than their country of origin (please see http://www.un.org/ online). According to the reports of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 98 countries are involved in the process of major population movements. Today, within the context of globalisation processes in developing countries, millions of people living in difficult working and living conditions may be seen as a reservoir of labour at the disposal of developed countries. In response to the flow of labour migrants resulting from the deregulation of markets, the receiving countries, are expanding their regulatory mechanisms both at the nation state and regional levels (such as the European Union) in order to secure their borders (Coleman & Rowthorn, 2004). Parallel to these developments, migration movements gained new quantitative and qualitative dimensions. This has usually been referred to as 'global migration', with trans-nationalism being its most important aspect. Within this novel framework of migration, the policy making and coordinating capacities of nation states have been challenged and, therefore, search for new strategies have been initiated, in the field of policy making and migration research.
One of the most important components of such strategies consists of the attempt to (re)define and (re)formulate the complexity of these new global migration movements. Whereas the 'classical' approach towards migration emphasised the importance of the economic aspects (e.g. under the heading of labour migration) (Werner, 2001; Angrist & Kugler, 2003), recent discussions, mainly developed by political actors of the (developed) receiving countries, are focusing on security aspects. In part owing to the worries of the receiving countries in coping with illegal labour migration and the resulting problems of adaptation and integration, the new security discourse reflects the fear of terrorism, symbolised by the September 11 attacks in the United States and the train bombings in March 11 in Madrid. Therefore, the focus on security began to predominate over other aspects of migration including human rights issues. While the focus on human rights forms the legal framework for asylum and refugee policies after the Second World War, the emphasis on security provides a new framework for the emergence of a globally coordinated policy on migration (IOM, 2003). The process of Europeanisation necessitates, on the one hand, institutional cooperation between different European organisations and states, and, on the other hand, a social and cultural consensus, shared feeling of togetherness, and belongingness of European citizens. In other words, the constitution of the 'European idea' is based on the principles of cooperation, inclusion, and integration. On the other hand, the EU is increasingly attempting to emphasise a security based approach especially in its close neighbourhood. An example of the emerging security dimension is the vagueness of the EU Constitution on 'Border checks, asylum, and immigration' (2004). It is notable that the treaty, while stressing that all nationals of Member States are citizens of the EU and have the right to freely move and reside within its territory, there are few attempts to harmonise the conditions under which migrants can acquire citizenship. Here, it might be useful to refer to Article III - 267 of the Constitutional Treaty: '1. The Union shall develop a common immigration policy aimed at ensuring, at all stages, the efficient management of migration flows, fair treatment of third-country nationals residing legally in Member States, and the prevention of, and enhanced measures to combat, illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings, ...in particular women and children'.
Even though historical-social patterns of migration such as the direct exploitation of human resources are still relevant for basic understanding of migration, the determining factors have changed (De Jong, 1999). Currently, these determining factors consist of different forms of population movements such as trafficking, especially of women and children, smuggling, and transit-migration. As a consequence of the wide-ranging diversity of global migration based on different forms of population movements, the new migration discourse necessitates the formation of integrated and coordinated network structures, both at institutional and academic levels. The Global Commission on International Migration set up in 2003 and the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation formed in 2002 have to be considered as important developments in reaching a common understanding of cross-border movements of people. Referring to the Global Commission's report, it is expressed that 'benefits of globalisation must be more equitably distributed ... the globalising trends in the world economy should be matched by similar advances in social and political institutions. One of the features of the existing imbalance is that 'goods and capital move much more freely across borders than people do.' (The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, 'On the cross-border movement of people', p. 375)
In the GLOMIG project, during the presentations and discussion of the policy papers in the project, we have touched upon a number of issues. In addition to the study of the political, economic, and social causes and consequences of migration, there has been a special focus on new dimensions like security, human rights and democracy, gender issues, as well as the formal and informal networks involved in the initiation, realisation, and perpetuation of migration. Moreover, further attention has been paid to key subheadings, such as the causes, the forms, the routes, and the consequences of smuggling and trafficking, efficacy of preventative and combating measures, and international cooperation in these respects. The most important and novel dimensions of the project outcomes have been the creation of the platforms through which regional perspectives and insiders' views can be reformulated and integrated into novel frameworks, in addition to advancing existing research on migration through the introduction of new issues and dimensions. Although there is continuity concerning the constitutive elements of migration, a drastic shift has become increasingly visible in the form of a so-called feminisation of migration. In the past, women were migrating mainly to join their spouses in Europe. Yet, now more women are also migrating independently, for economic reasons, as students and refugees. Women also form significant numbers of undocumented workers.
Undocumented employment indeed has become an increasing reality for Europe. The so called 'migration industry', i.e. individuals and organisations involved in the transportation and often job placement of persons without documents, has grown tremendously in recent years. For example, in the late 1970s, there still existed a certain demand for labour (particularly female labour) in most sectors of the European economy. But women who have migrated recently are faced with the fact that, apart from sex work or domestic work, their chances for employment are highly limited. Having discussed a variety of issues throughout the last two years, we have come up with these two volumes. We hope that these volumes will help to facilitate transnational cooperation in comparative impact analysis on the presentation of migration. We hope that through these volumes we shall be able to promote interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and policy measures which will incorporate the perspective of a number of stake holders in a wide geographical area, including Europe and its neighbourhood.
