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Migrant Rights, Immigration Policy and Human Development
01 Jun 2009-Research Papers in Economics (Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP))-
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the potential impacts of the rights of migrant workers (migrant rights) on the human development of actual and potential migrants, their families, and other people in migrants' countries of origin.
Abstract: This paper explores the potential impacts of the rights of migrant workers (“migrant rights”) on the human development of actual and potential migrants, their families, and other people in migrants’ countries of origin. A key feature of the paper is its consideration of how migrant rights affect both the capability to move and work in higher income countries (i.e. the access of workers in low-income countries to labour markets of higher-income countries) and capabilities while living and working abroad. The paper suggests that there may be a trade-off between the number and some of the rights of low-skilled migrants admitted to high-income countries and explores the implications for human development.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine various national approaches to extending social security to migrant workers in low-, middle- and high-income countries, such as through affiation to the social security systems in countries of employment and countries of origin.
Abstract: In the current global context, many migrant workers, and in particular women and irregular workers, are not – or are very inadequately – covered by social security and other social protection programmes. Current human rights standards related to migrant workers and families have so far had little impact on this situation. Th is article fi rst examines various national approaches to extending social security to migrant workers in low-, middle- and high-income countries, such as through affi liation to the social security systems in countries of employment and countries of origin. It then attempts to assess the impact of regional and other international migration and social security agreements, particularly within the European Union. It also explores the potential impact of wider ratifi cation of ILO and UN Conventions on migrant workers, which would ensure basic social and labour protection, in particular for irregular migrant workers. Th e article concludes with some key policy challenges for the future, including for improved regional and global governance.
36 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the ideology of temporary labour migration and show how unmasking the power imbalances of this ideology will lead to new policy directions, by examining points of contrast between current programs in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK.
Abstract: This paper seeks to move beyond what Martin and Ruhs described as the numbers versus rights equation in temporary labour migration programs. We do this by examining the ideology of temporary labour migration. This ideology has three key elements: temporariness, labour markets and rights. The paper describes how these concepts obscure key features of temporary labour migration programs. The argument is developed by examining points of contrast between current programs in place in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. The paper concludes by demonstrating how unmasking the power imbalances of this ideology will lead to new policy directions.
29 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify an unexpected outcome of CTLM programmes: the emergence of a new empirical migrant category, the circular labour migrant, which is as yet theoretically unnamed and lacks recognition by public institutions.
Abstract: Circular Temporary Labour Migration (CTLM) is being promoted as an innovative and viable way of regulating the flow of labour migrants. Based on a specific empirical case study, we identify an unexpected outcome of CTLM programmes: the emergence of a new empirical migrant category, the circular labour migrant, which is as yet theoretically unnamed and lacks recognition by public institutions. We argue that, to date, there have been two historical phases of circular labour migration: one with total deregulation and another with partial regulation, involving private actors supported by public institutions. In a developed welfare state context, it would be normatively pertinent to expect a step towards a third phase, involving the institutionalization of this new trend in mobility by the formulation of a public policy. Current legal, political, social, and economic frameworks have to be reassessed in order to recognise the category of the circular labour migrant.
23 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the nature of the transformation triggered by the reform of labour mobility entitled "New Rules for Labour Immigration" and its impact on migrants' well-being.
Abstract: I have investigated the nature of the transformation triggered by the reform of labour mobility entitled ‘New Rules for Labour Immigration’, introduced in Sweden in 2008, and its impact on migrants’ well-being. By applying the methodology of the ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ approach (Bacchi 2009), I show that the problem at which the reform was aimed is represented as a shortage of skills and labour. I argue that such a representation and the silences it invokes are underpinned by the paradigms of managed migration and of neoliberalism, thus marking a discontinuity in the political rhetoric of universalism which had been endorsed by Sweden since the beginning of the 1970s. I contend that such a formulation of the problem assumes and entails a conceptualisation of migrants as factors of production. This formulation stands in sharp opposition to the one advanced by the Human Development and Capability Approach to migration (UNDP 2009) which recognises migrants as human beings, endowed with capabilities, aspirations, and agency. Such reification of migrants implies that the reform regulates the stay of immigrants in Sweden with the purpose of maximising their contribution to Swedish economic growth, thus putting them in a vulnerable position which is likely to reduce their capability for work (Bonvin 2009).
17 citations
TL;DR: This article used an agricultural household model in an imperfect market environment and data from Burkina Faso to explore the impact of potential immigration policy reforms in Europe on the welfare of rural households.
8 citations