The Refugee Surge In Europe

Against the background of political turmoil in the Middle-East, Europe faces an unprecedented surge in asylum applications. In analyzing the economic impact of this inflow, this paper draws from the experience of previous economic migrants and refugees, mindful of the fact that the characteristics of economic migrants can be different from refugees. In the short-run, additional public expenditure will provide a small positive impact on GDP, concentrated in the main destination countries of Germany, Sweden and Austria. Over the longer-term, depending on the speed and success of the integration of refugees in the labor market, the increase in the labor force can have a more lasting impact on growth and the public finances. Here good policies will make an important difference. These include lowering barriers to labor markets for refugees, for example through wage subsidies to employers, and, in particular, reducing legal barriers to labor market participation during asylum process, removing obstacles to entrepreneurship/self-employment, providing job training and job search assistance, as well as language skills. While native workers often have legitimate concerns about the impact of immigrants on wages and employment, past experience indicates that any adverse effects are limited and temporary.

Perception and representation of newcomers and immigrants The topic of migration has become particularly contentious in national and international debates. Media have a discernable impact on overall societal attitudes towards this phenomenon. Polls show time and again that immigration is one of the most important issues occupying people’s minds. This book examines the dynamic interplay between media representations of migrants and refugees on the one hand and the governmental and societal (re)actions to these on the other. Largely focusing on Belgium and Sweden, this collection of interdisciplinary research essays attempts to unravel the determinants of people’s preferences regarding migration policy, expectations towards newcomers, and economic, humanitarian and cultural concerns about immigration’s effect on the majority population’s life. Whilst migrants and refugees remain voiceless and highly underrepresented in the legacy media, this volume allows their voices to be heard. Contributors: Leen d’Haenens (KU Leuven), Willem Joris (KU Leuven), Paul Puschmann (KU Leuven/Radboud University Nijmegen), Ebba Sundin (Halmstad University), David De Coninck (KU Leuven), Rozane De Cock (KU Leuven), Valériane Mistiaen (Université libre de Bruxelles), Lutgard Lams (KU Leuven), Stefan Mertens (KU Leuven), Olivier Standaert (UC Louvain), Hanne Vandenberghe (KU Leuven), Koen Matthijs (KU Leuven), Kevin Smets (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Jacinthe Mazzocchetti (UC Louvain), Lorraine Gerstmans (UC Louvain), Lien Mostmans (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), and François Heinderyckx (Université libre de Bruxelles) Ebook available in Open Access. This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content). With thanks to the funding provided by Belspo (Belgian Science Policy Office), as part of the framework programme BRAIN-be (Belgian Research Action Through Interdisciplinary Networks), contract nr BR/165/A4/IM2MEDIATE.

Media have played an important role in framing the public debate on the “refugee crisis” that peaked in autumn of 2015. This report examines the narratives developed by print media in eight European countries and how they contributed to the public perception of the “crisis”, shifting from careful tolerance over the summer, to an outpouring of solidarity and humanitarianism in September 2015, and to a securitisation of the debate and a narrative of fear in November 2015. Overall, there has been limited opportunity in mainstream media coverage for refugees and migrants to give their views on events, and little attention paid to the individuals’ plight or the global and historical context of their displacement. Refugees and migrants are often portrayed as an undistinguishable group of anonymous and unskilled outsiders who are either vulnerable or dangerous. The dissemination of biased or ill-founded information contributes to perpetuating stereotypes and creating an unfavourable environment not only for the reception of refugees but also for the longer-term perspectives of societal integration.

An unprecedented number of people is currently on the move seeking refuge in Europe. Large parts of European societies respond with anxiety and mistrust to the influx of people. Nationalist, anti-migrant parties from Slovakia over Germany to the UK have gained increasing support among the electorate and challenge the political mainstream. Europe is struggling how to respond. While the search for solutions is ongoing one pattern seems to be emerging: Fortress Europe is in the making. Unfortunately, few of these discussions and measures consider the structural root causes and dynamics of migration, the motives of migrants or societal challenges more thoroughly. This book seeks to address this deficit. Taking migration and asylum policies as a starting point, it analyses the various dimensions underpinning migration. In doing so, it identifies why receiving countries are in many ways part of the problem. To eschew an overtly Euro-centric perspective and stimulate a debate between science and politics, it contains contributions by academics and practitioners alike from both shores of the Mediterranean.

The dynamics of migration in Europe have changed dramatically over the last few decades. Some countries, such as Ireland, Italy and Spain, are newcomers to an increasingly diverse Europe, having moved from being sources of emigration to destinations for migrants. Others such as France, Germany and the UK have many more years of experience with immigrants. Some of the biggest challenges facing Europe in the context of migration relate to irregular migration and integration by immigrants and refugees. What are the immigration needs of the different European countries? What are their labour needs? Can Europe’s existing population satisfy those labour needs? How can European countries work together to protect and improve the current refugee and asylum system? In the light of these pressing issues, it is vital that academics and NGOs work together to promote debate, research and the publication of reliable information about migration and refugees. To this end, academics, policy-makers and representatives of NGOs met at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain (30 January-1 February 2003) to reflect on and debate the state of immigration in Europe. The results are published in this book.

This volume addresses the mass arrival of migrants and refugees in Europe in 2015 and 2016, and the crisis of response that unfolded across the continent. The chapters critically discuss this crisis and help the reader to understand why the refugees and migrants fled, what kind of response they faced and what was wrong with the reactions of the states. Despite the fact that all the authors are based in Slovenia, the volume transcends this particular state and covers theoretical and practical aspects of the crisis which are not geographically limited to only one country or region. It addresses a variety of audiences, such as students, researchers, sociologists, political scientists, lawyers, geographers and philosophers, and will appeal to those who seek to understand forced migration and refugee protection, states’ responses to migration and asylum seekers, and the rise of hate speech, racism, xenophobia and authoritarianism in Europe.

For a long time migration to Europe has been a subordinate issue on the public agenda. But with the recent wave of refugees from Arab and African countries, the question of how the EU, national governments and societies are able to cope with the arrival of millions of migrants, has become a core theme of public discourse. This volume displays the debates for the countries which are on the migration routes or which are among the most desired targets, hence are the most affected. The book thus attempts to give a broader European perspective on the migrant crisis and its public repercussions. (Series: Studies in Political Communication / Studien zur politischen Kommunikation, Vol. 13) [Subject: Migration Studies, Politics, European Studies]

This six-volume book series titled “Refugee Crisis in International Politics” are prepared with the aim of clarifying the above-mentioned issues and enriching the content, context, and depth to the field of science. “States must protect all migrants against violence based on racism and xenophobia, exploitation, and forced labor. Migrants should not be detained without legitimate reasons or forcefully send back to their home country. States must take responsibility for and fulfill these responsibilities meticulously for refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants to be able to rebuild their lives safely against serious dangers. Sharing responsibility for global problems is fair in the 21st century”. İçindekiler PREFACE CHAPTER 1. THE EU REFUGEE POLICIES AND THE STATUS OF REFUGEES – Neriman Hocaoğlu Bahadır CHAPTER 2. THE EUROPEAN UNION MIGRATION POLICY: EVOLUTION THROUGH REFUGEE CRISIS – Sertif Demir CHAPTER 3. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE REFUGEE CRISIS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION – Mesut Şöhret CHAPTER 4. GENDER, MIGRATION, AND SECURITY: THE EU’S RESPONSE TO THE REFUGEE CRISIS – Ayşegül Gökalp Kutlu CHAPTER 5. RE-BORDERING EUROPE?: REFUGEES AND ‘TEMPORARY’ INTERNAL BORDER CONTROLS – Aslı Şirin and Ebru Dalğakıran CHAPTER 6. SECURITIZATION OF REFUGEE PROBLEM WITHIN EUROPEAN UNION – Mesut Şöhret CHAPTER 7. NORMATIVE ELUSIVENESS OF EUROPE IN TERMS OF REFUGEE CRISIS – Sinem Bal CHAPTER 8. REFUGEE POLICIES OF THE BALTIC COUNTRIES – Burulkan Abdibaitova Pala CHAPTER 9. A HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS OF THE BRITISH IMMIGRATION POLICIES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT AND INTEGRATION: THE CASE OF TURKISH IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM – Serkan Baykuşoglu CHAPTER 10. MIGRATION POLICY OF SPAIN – Ferda Özer CHAPTER 11. POPULISM AND REFUGEE POLICIES OF AUSTRIA – Sinem Eray CHAPTER 12. BELGIUM’S IMMIGRATION ASYLUM POLICIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS – Ebru Dalğakıran CHAPTER 13. HUNGARY’S ASYLUM POLICY BEFORE AND AFTER THE REFUGEE MOVEMENT IN 2015 – Aslı Şirin CHAPTER 14. ASYLUM POLICY OF REPUBLIC OF SERBIA: THE CASE OF THE HUMANITARIAN ROUTE – Ayşegül Bostan

New forms of solidarity are being shaped as a response to the European “refugee crisis.” The state—in the form of national governments—has not been able to implement any viable or sustainable solution to the crisis, but the solidarity movement has been very visible and active in European countries. This book offers a conceptualization of three types of solidarity: autonomous, civic, and institutional solidarity. This framework is applied to three case studies, illustrating the emergence of different forms of solidarity: the City Plaza Hotel in Athens, the Danish “friendly neighbors,” and Barcelona as refuge city.