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11. A Win-Win: Migration Partnerships for an Aging EU Workforce

Author:
Helen Dempster, Pete Baker, and Samuel Huckstep
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
European Union (EU) member states have ambitious green transition targets and healthcare strategies in place, requiring the relevant sectors to expand. Yet these sectors are already suffering from large workforce shortages. Expanding skilled migration from third countries to the EU to meet these shortages risks stripping countries of origin of the talent they need for their own goals. Any skilled migration therefore needs to be pursued within partnerships which prioritise meaningful benefits to the country of origin to combat “brain drain”, a “win-win” policy solution. This can be done through the Global Skill Partnership model, wherein the country of destination pays for the training of workers within the country of origin, some of whom migrate. While migration is a member state competence, there is real opportunity for the incoming European Commission to make a global difference in three ways: (1) expand funding for pilot projects; (2) support the development of new partnerships; and (3) be a positive voice for the role of skilled migration.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Skilled Labor, European Commission, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance

Author:
Samuel Huckstep and Jonathan Beynon
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Labour migration programmes targeted towards climate-vulnerable populations can provide transformative finance, raising household incomes and allowing adaptation. Current flows of adaptation finance are highly insufficient. Mobilisation of private adaptation finance is very low, despite commitments to increase mobilisation. Targeted labour migration programmes can leverage private adaptation finance at a high level of efficiency. Incentivising the selection of migrant labour from communities most vulnerable to climate change by counting a portion of their remittance flows as mobilised private climate finance may therefore have significant benefits.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Migration, Adaptation, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. Lessons from COVID-19: Managing Borders in the Next Global Public-Health Crisis

Author:
Meghan Benton and Lawrence Huang
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
In March 2020, the global mobility system shut down in previously unimaginable ways. As COVID-19 cases multiplied, governments closed borders and introduced sweeping travel restrictions, entry bans, and suspensions of asylum and refugee resettlement. These policies evolved over time, giving rise to a complex web of mobility restrictions, conditions, and exemptions for certain groups, with undeniable consequences for societies and economies around the world. Four years on, migration has returned to the pre-pandemic norm, but governments should not forget the costs of unplanned, long-lasting, and stringent travel restrictions. This is a key moment to examine the pandemic’s lingering impacts on mobility as well as to build a bench of evidence-based tools to manage mobility during future public-health crises. This brief highlights the importance of mobility measures that are clear, equitable, streamlined, and prepared to adapt to future challenges. This capstone brief concludes a series of studies by MPI’s Task Force on Mobility and Borders during and after COVID-19 that explores opportunities to improve international coordination regarding border management during public-health crises. Regional case studies in this series look at Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and South America. Its thematic studies consider the role of digital health credentials in facilitating movement, the use of risk analysis to shape border policies, and the rise of remote work and “digital nomads.”
Topic:
Migration, Borders, Crisis Management, Public Health, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

14. Managing International Protection Needs at Borders

Author:
Lucía Salgado, Susan Fratzke, Lawrence Huang, and Emma Dorst
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
National borders are one of the primary apertures through which publics perceive and judge migration trends and policy. Dysfunction at borders has implications that go well beyond national security, affecting commerce and trade as well as human mobility of various kinds. For asylum seekers, who generally must reach another country’s territory in order to seek protection, borders can represent the difference between danger and safety. As publics in many countries become increasingly vocal in their dissatisfaction with the management of their nation’s borders, policymakers face the difficult task of designing border systems that prevent the outbreak (or perception) of chaos, even as major displacement crises and the complexities of mixed humanitarian, economic, and family reunification migration strain outmoded infrastructure. This report—part of the Beyond Territorial Asylum: Making Protection Work in a Bordered World initiative led by MPI and the Robert Bosch Stiftung—examines the key elements of an effective and protection-sensitive border system. It begins with an overview of what makes border management challenging at the best of times, and particularly so amid acute displacement crises. It then explores the core features of border processes capable of responding to mixed migration while protecting the right to seek asylum, and what conditions need to be in place for these procedures to be successful.
Topic:
Migration, Borders, Asylum, Protection, and Irregular Migration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. Public Opinion of Climate Migrants: Understanding What Factors Trigger Anxiety or Support

Author:
Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Lawrence Huang
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Climate change and extreme weather events are predicted to dramatically alter patterns of human mobility around the world. This poses an urgent policy question: How will receiving communities react to the arrival of people displaced by disasters and climate impacts? The degree of public support for newcomers can shape how policy responses are designed, implemented, and received by the public. But public opinion is not always easy to predict, nor is it static or fixed. A review of polling and experimental data from around the world suggests that climate migration may trigger anxiety if accompanied by a sense of disorder, unfairness, or loss of control, but also that communities can rally to support large displaced populations, given the right conditions. Efforts to increase support for climate migrants often draw on common narratives—of urgency, of climate migrants’ victimhood, or of their ability to make positive contributions to climate action—but these all come with their own risks and trade-offs. This issue brief looks at what is known about public opinion of climate migrants, and what lessons can be gleaned from broader efforts to mitigate public anxiety and build welcoming communities in the context of rapid societal change. It reflects on how common narratives can create environments more or less welcoming of climate migrants, and how they shape the space policymakers have to think creatively about how to manage climate migration.
Topic:
Migration, Public Opinion, and Climate Refugees
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. The Role of Immigrant Workers in the Green Transition

Author:
Kate Hooper and Lawrence Huang
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Governments around the world have committed to decarbonizing their economies, but green transition goals will hinge on recruiting workers with the right skills to fill jobs in sectors such as clean energy. Apprenticeship and training programs, including for workers displaced from higher-polluting sectors, will be an important part of meeting this challenge. But it takes time to develop and scale up such programs, and the urgency of cutting global emissions has pushed policymakers and employers to also consider other strategies, including recruiting workers from abroad. This issue brief reviews the evidence on labor shortages in the green economy and on immigrant employment in green and brown (carbon-intensive) jobs. It then assesses the implications for immigration policymaking, including on admissions, immigrant integration, and international labor migration partnerships. Immigration, the authors argue, already plays and will continue to play a key role in the green transition, but there are risks to relying on immigration alone to address these labor shortages. Instead, immigration policy updates should be paired with other investments, including in worker reskilling, credential recognition, and global talent pool development.
Topic:
Migration, Carbon Emissions, Green Transition, and Green Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

17. Displacement and International Protection in a Warming World

Author:
Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Lawrence Huang
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Most climate-related displacement occurs within a country’s territory, but when people cross borders, it poses particular challenges. Policymakers in destination countries face the task of simultaneously managing borders and addressing arriving migrants’ emergency assistance and protection needs. Yet, the migration and refugee policy tools available are rarely, if ever, designed with climate displacement in mind. There is no consensus, for example, on what status climate-displaced people should receive, what rights and benefits they are entitled to, and how states should respond if climate change has rendered their homes uninhabitable. And unless policymakers proactively manage climate displacement, these movements can further weaken already fragile migration management and asylum systems. This issue brief explores what role the international protection system can and should play in responses to cross-border climate displacement and highlights steps policymakers could take to diversify the policy toolkit beyond the protection realm.
Topic:
Climate Change, Migration, Refugees, Displacement, Protection, and Climate Refugees
Political Geography:
Global Focus

18. Engaging Local Communities for More Effective Climate Mobility Programming

Author:
Lawrence Huang and Camille Le Coz
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Climate change does not affect all communities the same way. Floods in one location can cause massive, long-term displacement and even permanent relocation, while they might only trigger short-term evacuations elsewhere. This depends to a significant extent on how vulnerable communities are to begin with and the resources they have to cope and adapt. And because the impacts of climate change on human mobility are highly localized, the solutions need to be as well. In this context, localization means designing solutions to prevent displacement and support safe migration in ways that account for a specific community’s ability to recover, rebuild, and adapt, as well as its aspirations and priorities. Local stakeholders—including municipal authorities and local nongovernmental organizations—have a key role to play in this space, often alongside international and national actors, given their first-hand grasp of local needs and dynamics. This issue brief explores the importance of localization in climate migration solutions, as well as common barriers that have kept local actors from taking on greater roles. It also offers recommendations for turning localization from a rhetorical commitment into practical action.
Topic:
Climate Change, International Cooperation, Migration, Localization, and Climate Refugees
Political Geography:
Global Focus

19. Climate Change and Migration

Author:
Emmanuella Doussis and Maria Eleni Pantazi Psatha
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
The nexus between climate change and migration is not newly emerged; yet it has recently started gaining territory in political agendas. It constitutes a complex phenomenon which involves various fields, making it harder to collect accurate and up-to-date data. Climate migration can take different forms-internal or cross-border, temporary or permanent- and is usually affected by a combination of factors. Therefore, this policy paper advocates for addressing climate migration in relation to existing agendas and frameworks, and not as a stand-alone issue. It also promotes the conceptualisation of climate migration by focusing on how we talk about people who migrate because of climate change and not what we call them. The last section provides a set of policy recommendations, advocating for tailor-made solutions based on regional and national needs and vulnerabilities. Overall, the policy paper underscores the importance of addressing the complexity of climate migration and calls for concerted policy efforts. · Climate change is one of the factors among others that lead to human mobility. · Climate migration is a multicausal and multi-form phenomenon. · Climate migration should not be perceived as a stand-alone issue for which an entirely novel legal and political framework should be adopted. Au contraire, it needs to be addressed in relation with other agendas and existing areas of cooperation. · The focus should be placed on how we talk about people moving for climatic reasons and not what we call them. · Attention should be paid to internal and inter-regional displacement. · One-size-fits-all policy responses are unrealistic; thus, tailor-made solutions should be promoted. · Mitigation policies can be developed through existing frameworks. · Reinforcement of National Adaptation Plans is of significant importance. · Migration can be seen as an adaptation strategy. · Promotion of humanitarian visas as well as bilateral free movement agreements are some policies that need to be reinforced.
Topic:
Climate Change, Migration, Mobility, Freedom of Movement, and Climate Refugees
Political Geography:
Global Focus

20. Falsedades y mitos en los estudios sobre migraciones: consecuencias para las Relaciones Internacionales

Author:
José Miguel Bravo and Pablo Rey-García
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
La reproducción de nociones falsas y mitos en los estudios sobre migración disminuye la credibilidad en su conexión con las Relaciones Internacionales y la Seguridad. Para evitar eso, proponemos la utilización del escepticismo creativo como herramienta académica. De esta manera, valoramos el área de estudios sobre migración analizando su desarrollo institucional y la calidad de sus resultados de investigación. Como segundo paso, describimos los seis mitos más persistentes en los estudios sobre migración en las siguientes áreas: en el del Derecho; en el de las Políticas Públicas; en el de la Demografía; en el de la Economía; en el de la Cooperación y el desarrollo y, en el de la Cultura, por la importancia que para estas investigaciones tienen las distintas etnias y religiones. Concluye el artículo con ejemplos de las implicaciones que el uso de mitos tiene para las relaciones internacionales entre Estados miembros de la Unión Europea.
Topic:
International Relations, Migration, Immigration, Myths, and Pseudoscience
Political Geography:
Global Focus