Irregular Immigration in Southern Europe: Actors, Dynamics and Governance

168 Pages·2018·1.9 MB·English

by  Maurizio Ambrosini (auth.)

MIGRATION, DIASPORAS
AND CITIZENSHIP
Series Editors: Robin Cohen
and Zig Layton-Henry
IRREGULAR
IMMIGRATION IN
SOUTHERN
EUROPE
Actors, Dynamics and
Governance
Maurizio Ambrosini
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship
Series editors
Robin Cohen
Department of International Development
University of Oxford
Oxford, UK
Zig Layton-Henry
Department of Politics and International Studies
University of Warwick
Coventry, UK
Editorial Board: Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Italy;
James F. Hollifield, Southern Methodist University, USA; Daniele Joly,
University of Warwick, UK; Jan Rath, University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.
The Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship series covers three important
aspects of the migration process: firstly, the determinants, dynamics and
characteristics of international migration. Secondly, the continuing attach-
ment of many contemporary migrants to their places of origin, signified by
the word ‘diaspora’, and thirdly the attempt, by contrast, to belong and
gain acceptance in places of settlement, signified by the word ‘citizenship’.
The series publishes work that shows engagement with and a lively appre-
ciation of the wider social and political issues that are influenced by inter-
national migration and encourages a comparative perspective.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14044
Maurizio Ambrosini
Irregular Immigration
in Southern Europe
Actors, Dynamics and Governance
Maurizio Ambrosini
Social and Political Sciences
University of Milan
Milan, Italy
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship
ISBN 978-3-319-70517-0 ISBN 978-3-319-70518-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70518-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017963353
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
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C
ontents
1 Irregular Migration: Beyond Common Wisdom 1
2 Sponsors of Entrance and Settlement: The Actions
of Intermediaries 33
3 Convergences and Divergences: Southern European
Policies on Irregular Immigration 61
4 Becoming a Borderland: The “Refugee Crisis” in Italy
and Beyond 89
5 Conclusion: The “Battleground” of Migration
Governance 131
References 141
Index 159
v
L f
ist of igures
Fig. 4.1 Asylum seekers (number of applicants) in the European
Union, 2006–2016 95
Fig. 4.2 Number of refugees in European Union countries,
2015–2016. Note: the y-axis is interrupted with a different
interval above the interruption from that below it (*) 2015: not
available. Source: Eurostat (online data code: mogr_asyappctza) 96
Fig. 4.3 Debarkments in Italy 2010–2016. Source: ISPI, based on data
from the Italian Ministry of Home Affairs 98
Fig. 4.4 Reception of asylum seekers in Italy, 2013–2016.
Source: Italian Ministry of Home Affairs 99
Fig. 4.5 Unexpected consequences of anti- smuggling measures.
Source: @jorgencarling 108
vii
L t
ist of abLes
Table 1.1 Authorization and recognition of migrants in the receiving
society 17
Table 1.2 Transition towards legal status 22
Table 2.1 Types of intermediation 39
Table 2.2 Types of intermediaries and their main activities 54
ix
CHAPTER 1
Irregular Migration: Beyond Common
Wisdom
Abstract Migration policies are selective and unequally restrictive, targeting
in particular “poor” migrants coming from the Global South. However,
despite harsh policies, irregular immigration persists. Several interests of
global societies conflict with border closure, and the policies that are imple-
mented do not always correspond with declared policies. Moreover, migrant
agency, ethnic networks and various supporters enable their settlement. Many
irregular immigrants are tolerated (e.g., domestic and care workers), whereas
others are rejected or stigmatized (e.g., refugees). In any event, many immi-
grants in Europe have achieved legal status through sweat (work), distress
(biographical conditions) and tears (victimhood). This process has been par-
ticularly evident in Southern Europe, for economic and social reasons.
Keywords Migration policy • Tolerance • Stigmatization • Agency
• Declared policies • Regularization
1 IntroductIon
The recent so-called ‘migration crisis’ in the EU has been perceived by
many as new and unprecedented. However, it is actually a part of the long-
term process of increased mobility across national borders in combination
© The Author(s) 2018 1
M. Ambrosini, Irregular Immigration in Southern Europe,
Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70518-7_1
2 M. AMBROSINI
with insecurity (Wihtol de Wenden 2017). Amid economic globalization,
governments at different levels are struggling to manage migration, par-
ticularly since the 1990s. Migration control tends to be seen as the “last
major redoubt of unfettered national sovereignty” (Opeskin 2012: 551)
or as the “state striking back” (Schain 2009: 93). Over the years, immigra-
tion policies have shifted from low to high levels of politics (Lahav and
Guiraudon 2006: 202). Furthermore, security concerns, especially since
2001, have mixed with the regulation of international migration (Faist
2002), and have elevated the repression of unauthorized or irregular
migration to the highest priority among state policies in this field (Balibar
2012). In the European Union, the establishment of the agency Frontex
in 2004 marked a steady advancement in the “securitization” of migration
and asylum issues, that is, “the extreme politicisation of migration and its
presentation as a security threat” (Léonard 2010: 231). The fight against
abuses of the asylum system, particularly the application of Dublin II and
Eurodac, has contributed to recasting refugees as ‘illegal migrants’
(Schuster 2011). The lack of legal means to enter countries where asylum
seekers can apply for refugee status has the same effect. Moreover, migrants
fleeing wars and oppression on the one hand and those fleeing inequality
and the lack of perspective on the other hand have started to merge.
Consequently, asylum and irregular migration have come to be seen as
interrelated rather than as separate issues, which they are, in legal terms.
Irregular migration is not only driven by differences in wealth and
expanded means of communication and transportation, but it is also
related to migration laws. Critics often observe that many migrants are
“illegalized” by State powers. However, this is not entirely true: at times,
migrants’ identities or activities are legal and known by the authorities
(Schweitzer 2017). More importantly, every crime is recognized as such
because a law identifies and sanctions it. It is well known that human
activities or behaviours that constitute crimes in one country may be legal
in another (for instance, polygamy) or are illegal in one period but not in
another (for example, in peacetime or during wars). Thus, this construc-
tionist argument is not fully convincing. The decision of democratic pow-
ers to define as “illegal” the entrance or residence of (certain) foreign
people who lack the proper authorization is a political choice and as such
can be contested, modified or reversed, but it is not particularly unusual or
unreasonable.
Illegalization should mean that a certain action was once legal but is
now treated as a crime. It is true that until the 1970s unauthorized migra-