Introduction
| Date | 28 June 2008 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00175 |
| Published date | 28 June 2008 |
Introduction
Government policies on international migration are characteristically restrictive;
certainly selective. Decisions on the admission of non-nationals either for
permanent settlement or to meet short-term labour demand are made on the basis
of a composite of factors: economic growth; skill composition; population growth
and socio/cultural harmony. Government policies respond not only to changing
local requirements but also to global circumstances. The two are intertwined: the
nature and magnitude of global economic and political change during the last 50
years have led to immigration policies and flows that would have been almost
unthinkable at the end of the Second World War.
This special issue of International Migration addresses only selected aspects
of this changing situation. A general overview of policy responses to change
since 1950 is followed by articles on the increasingly influential role that regional
bodies are exercising on policy determination in the developed (Europe) and the
developing (sub-Sahara Africa) worlds, and on how governments have become
increasingly involved in regional consultative processes. Because global change
has seen a rapid rise in number, and political importance, of asylum-seekers, the
penultimate article focuses on how and why this has occurred and identifies
evolving new approaches to the phenomenon. The final article addresses the
topical and widely-discussed proposition that migration is a viable medium for
ameliorating the impact of sub-replacement fertility on population growth and
structure in many developed countries.
The volume, direction and composition of international migration today bear little
resemblance to the situation in 1950. Recovery of war-torn Europe by the early
1960s created a demand for labour from Southern Europe at a time when
permanent emigration continued apace from Europe to the so-called “traditional
receivers” in the New World. The “oil crisis” of the early 1970s heralded an era
of major changes in policy responses not only to evolving modernization but also
to political and economic crises in the Third World. Restrictions on immigration
imposed by many governments led potential movers to seek eligibility under any
category for which they could quality. This situation led directly to significant
increases in the numbers of undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers. On the
other hand, increases in numbers of highly-skilled workers since the early 1990s
have been attributed partly to the globalization process which has seen a shift in
power of decision-making to multinationals, regional bodies and even trade
organizations.
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