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11. From Unilateral Response to Coordinated Action: How Can Mobility Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa Adapt to the Public-Health Challenges of COVID-19?

Author:
Ling San Lau, Kate Hooper, and Monette Zard
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged public health and migration management infrastructures in sub-Saharan Africa, like elsewhere, as never before. While many countries in the region had experience dealing with infectious disease outbreaks, including Ebola and yellow fever, the nature of transmission under COVID-19, among other factors, forced governments to reassess many of their public-health strategies and adopt strict guidelines to prevent pushing fragile and over-burdened health-care systems over the edge. However, border closures and other mobility restrictions brought unintended consequences, including stranding large numbers of people, imperiling the supply of essential goods and services, and cutting off income for border communities and prospective migrants. In addition, unilateral containment and mitigation policies prevented a coordinated approach to both public health and migration management. The policy brief examines the different strategies employed by governments in sub-Saharan Africa during the first year of the pandemic, and the limitations of unilateral action. It offers recommendations on how states and the international community can work together to restart migration and mobility and, looking forward, build capacity to respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Migration, Governance, Employment, Refugees, Borders, Mobility, Public Health, COVID-19, Remittances, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

12. Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Lessons from Ghana and Senegal

Author:
Camille Le Coz and Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The pandemic has upended labor migration around the globe, and with it, an important avenue for supporting socioeconomic development in many low- and middle-income countries. In Ghana, Senegal, and other West African countries, for example, migration and its corollaries, such as remittances and knowledge transfers from the diaspora, have long contributed to development. Ongoing travel restrictions and uncertainty about when migration will more fully restart threaten this progress and add an extra layer of complexity to efforts to improve the governance of international labor migration. This policy brief explores how governments and other stakeholders can promote better labor migration governance in low- and middle-income countries, and how these efforts are being shaped by the pandemic. It focuses on the experiences of Ghana and Senegal—two countries that were in the process of strengthening their migration policies before the pandemic began. The policy brief looks at these countries’ migration policy priorities, efforts to facilitate mobility within the region and further afield, and strategies for building closer ties to the diaspora. Crucially, the authors note, while the pandemic has disrupted efforts to improve labor migration governance, it has also made abundantly clear why doing so is important. Continued work in this area promises to help achieve better outcomes for migrants and for countries of origin and destination.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Labor Issues, Governance, COVID-19, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Africa, Senegal, and Ghana

13. Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges

Author:
Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Seasonal worker programs represent one of the few ways in which low-skilled workers can migrate legally to the European Union, enabling them to work in sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, and tourism. Countries have taken different approaches to selecting seasonal workers, with some recruiting from within the European Union and others soliciting workers from third countries. But while some of these programs are long-established, they can struggle to meet labor demands swiftly while ensuring that workers are treated fairly and will return home when their permits expire. The European Commission has aimed to create common standards for seasonal workers’ admission, residence, and rights across Europe and to address longstanding issues such as worker exploitation, visa overstays, and hiring through the informal economy. As European policymakers take stock of these Commission-driven harmonization efforts to date, this brief by MPI Europe and the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) explores some of the challenges common to these programs, drawing on examples in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It also highlights practices that can help maximize the benefits for migrants, employers, and countries of destination and origin alike. The authors sketch a number of principles to guide future reforms. Among them: prioritizing more transparent and standardized recruitment procedures, greater monitoring and outreach to protect seasonal workers, and strategies to help deliver on the thus far limited investments to support economic and social development in sending countries.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Employment, Economy, Recruitment, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
Europe

14. Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis

Author:
Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
For much of the 20th century, Spain was a country of emigration, with millions of its nationals moving to countries in the Americas and in North and Western Europe. In the 1980s, however, immigration to Spain began to pick up. Since then, the country has developed a legal framework for labor migration that features the active involvement of employers, trade unions, and regional governments. This report examines Spanish migration policies for low- and middle-skilled workers, and how these have changed as a result of fluctuating demand for immigrant labor. It also offers a profile of the country’s immigrant population, highlighting how Spain’s relationship with countries outside the European Union are reflected in its labor migration pathways and citizenship policies. The economic crisis that began in 2008 and its lingering effects—including pervasive high unemployment rates, particularly among young people—have put strain on this relatively young immigration system. Certain mechanisms, including parts of the Collective Management System that allows employers to recruit groups of workers, remain paused. And austerity cuts to national immigrant integration funding have left it to autonomous communities, provinces, and municipalities to take the lead in this area. Still, the country's approach to admitting workers from non-EU countries could inspire innovation at the EU level. In the years to come, top priorities for Spanish immigration policymakers will likely include addressing ongoing irregular migration, the arrival of increasing numbers of Venezuelans fleeing economic and political crisis, and—as sectors such as construction recover—how to adapt entry pathways and labor protections accordingly.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Labor Issues, Financial Crisis, and Employment
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

15. Legal Migration for Work and Training: Mobility Options to Europe for Those Not in Need of Protection

Author:
Hanne Beirens, Camille Le Coz, Kate Hooper, Karoline Popp, Jan Schneider, and Jeanette Süss
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
EU Member States are struggling to deliver on the European Union's call to expand channels for foreign workers as a way to meet labor market needs and potentially tackle spontaneous migration. And their focus has been more on attracting high-skilled workers, rather than filling the low- and middle-skilled jobs that are increasingly open yet for which few channels to bring in third-country nationals exist. This report, which concludes a two-year research project conducted by the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) in cooperation with MPI Europe, provides an overview of mobility options open to low- and middle-skilled foreign workers, distilling findings from an analysis of policy in the European Union and case-study countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. With national governments the central gatekeepers of labor migration into the European Union, the report studies the differing selection systems used. The liberal approach that relies on employer sponsorship, exemplified by Sweden, allows businesses to quickly fill demand, but risks fueling competition with the domestic workforce or lowering labor market standards. State-run steering tools, used by the other case-study countries, allow for greater control, but risk being slower, more resource intensive, and potentially less responsive to labor market needs. The authors caution that policymakers would do well not to overestimate the potential of legal channels to reduce irregular migration. They should instead consider existing and future migration policies in light of labor market, foreign policy, and development objectives.
Topic:
Migration, Immigration, Employment, Economy, and Recruitment
Political Geography:
Europe