What different kinds of immigration to Europe have there been since World War II, and why - Essay Example

? Immigration into Europe In the past two centuries, Europe has come to be regarded as the continent that ‘absorbed’ the foreigners. Before the Second World War, the Europeans flowed into various countries like the United States of America, Canada, and Australia (Nijkamp, pp.66). A survey in 1991 found out that the foreign population in Europe consisted of almost 16 million. This was almost 4% of the entire population of the European Union (Toro-Morn & Alicea, pp. xxx). After the end of the World War, numerous types of immigration policies were set up. The explanation for these policies were chiefly economic; however, in some cases they were also political (Parsons, Smeeding, pp. 310). However, there is no doubt that after 1945, Europe is marked as the continent that received an overall net flow (Salt, pp. 3). In addition, these migrations happened over a series of decades. Various dynamics and various states are involved. One type of immigration occurred within Europe. Western Europe consisted of the wealthier nations. These countries began employing labor from the less wealthy nations. Due to the imperative need for work force to rebuild the countries after the war, and the shortage of labor due to loss of military personnel, the European Voluntary Worker scheme was set up. The recruitment by Britain of about 200,000 male workers from refugee camps in Italy happened between the period of 1945 and 1951. The laws governing this immigration were quite harsh, since the regulations were quite severe. They were literally bonded labor with no rights to family reunions and their misconduct could lead to their expulsion. These people were largely known as ‘guest workers’. This system had provided the countries with the necessary labor to build the economies that were worn out by the war. However, at the beginning, as mentioned above, the guest worker system was highly strict. Eventually, the need to hold on to these workers led to the relaxation of some rules especially when it came to family reunions. This eventually led to the admittance of women as immigrants (Toro-Morn & Alicea pp.xxi). In addition, certain guest workers also came from Mediterranean countries to meet the growing demand for labor. This immigration played a prominent role in the 1950s and until the mid 1970s. Italy was the most important recipient ant of these types of guest workers (Nijkamp, pp. 66). Countries like Germany, which were devastated by the war, had to recuperate. After the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the inflow of East German workers had stopped. Hence, there was a shortage of workers (Jennissen, pp.128). Therein, became an inflow of workers. By 1970, West Germany almost had 2.1 million foreign workers (Nijkamp, pp.66). A very prominent type of immigration that occurred in the post war era was due to the decolonization process. Many French, British, Portuguese colonies had acquired freedom after the war, because these nations could not simply afford to keep their colonies intact. This led to the influx of people in two ways. The European colonial officers and colonists all returned to Europe. Besides that, various countries notably Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal, all documented a large number of immigration from their former colonies (Nijkamp, pp.66). London Transport enlisted members directly from the New Commonwealth countries that included African countries, the Indian sub-continent, and the Caribbean. A number of people also arrived directly in search for better employment pursuits. Contrary to the strict regulations imposed upon the guest workers, around 350, 000 Irish men moved with their families in the period 1945 to 1959, and faced no such restrictions. They enjoyed full civil rights. Most of this type of migration was centered on three empires; Dutch, French and Portuguese, and these migrations had received a large amount of scholarly interest. It is because after Britain, they were one of the largest colonizers (Smith, pp.13). “The large volume of migration is illustrated by the fact that by 1970, France had received almost 600,000 Algerians, 140,000 Moroccans, and 90,000 Tunisians” (Smith, pp.13). In addition, approximately, 30,000 migrants arrived in the Netherlands from the Indies between 1945 and 1963 (Smith, pp.13). These colonial migrants did not face the same strict regulations as the guest workers, for they had the benefit of more right to stay. However, “the jobs for both colonial migrants and guest workers were confined to low-skilled manual jobs” (Smith, pp.13). It can be, hence, be ascertained that the immediate post-war immigration to Europe was an economically motivated transition for those who had some linkages with the recipient countries. There was definitely a political dimension to the pattern of immigration after the Second World War. There were certain bilateral agreements between countries. To illustrate the point, Belgium can be taken as an example. It entered into an agreement with Italy in June 1946. The agreement provided Belgium with tens of thousands of Italian workers. In exchange, Belgium was to supply coal to Italy on favorable terms. Belgium not only signed agreements with Italy but also with Morocco, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Greece (Parsons & Smeeding, pp. 311). Family reunification was another reason for an increase in immigration. The immigration had been restricted in 170s due to oil crisis and the ensuing recession that occurred. However, the ‘deed was done’. Colonial migrants who entered as ‘citizens’ began to claim rights to family reunification. Due to the admittance of young men in the 1950s and 1960s, European nations themselves did a mistake, for this led to the admittance of wives, children and in some cases, grandparents. Not only this, but also these migrants had a higher birth rate than the native population (Hansen, pp 27). Another interesting aspect of this immigration is because Europe also became the recipient of refugees from neighboring war battered European countries, Asia and Africa. Since 1798, the French constitution has bestowed political asylum. Due to this, France accepted refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Africa. In addition, even Netherlands has been second to Switzerland in accepting refugees in Western Europe. Netherlands has granted asylum to refugees who have come from African countries such as Ghana and Somalia (Toro-Morn & Alicea, pp xxxi). Asylum was also a Cold War sideshow. At the beginning, there was very less immigration due to this aspect. However, from 1980, numbers began to rise. A number of factors contributed to this. Brutal conflicts, falling costs of transportation and the fall of Berlin Wall all made traveling to Europe easier and cost effective. Therefore, the applications for asylum sharply rose. “Between 1989 and 1992, total applications for asylum in Europe increased by twice the amount. Almost two thirds of the applications centered in Germany in 1992. This was the unmatched record of almost 438,000 applications” (Hansen, pp.11). However, UK overtook Germany as the country to receive the number of most immigrants by the end of the decade (Hansen, pp.11). A special case of Yugoslavia that resulted in the largest single wave of emigration since the 1946/1947 is also worth noting for the ‘asylum’ seekers. One very interesting phenomena that occurred in the mid 1970s is the family formation migration. This means a marriage with a foreign partner (Nijkamp, pp 69). Another reason attributed to this allowance of immigrants was that these countries wanted to maintain not only their labor force, but also to produce taxes that supported the elderly population (Toro-Morn & Alicea, pp. xxxi). However, the result of the immigration policies pursued by these countries led to a large influx of ‘alien’ people onto the soil. Some countries, especially Britain started to feel the ramifications of their policy. The British government, according to Layton-Henry had the view, “that immigration policy is too important to be left to the European Commission because of its implications for each country’s security, national identity, and culture’ (Thranhardt, pp.117). That is certainly true. The concepts of citizenship had begun to blur. Citizenship previously had been a privilege, but now with such influx of migrants, this started seeming an issue. In addition, in some areas, racism had started to increase. It also led to some riots due to racism. Therefore, the European governments started to think about their post-war policies (Winant, pp.265). One thing worth noting is that the immigration policy was never debated in the parliament. The case of Germany is worth commenting on. According to Peter Katzenstein, “Until the late 1970s, West Germany’s migrant labor policy was remarkable for the lack of public debate it provoked” (Thranhardt, pp.118). Thereafter, the immigration policies especially the asylum seeker polices sharply gained public opinion. In addition, in 1970s, there was a large increase in unemployment due to an oil crisis. The guest-worker system eventually ended because the government wanted to clear jobs for native citizens. However, by that day, there was already a huge amount of ethically and racially people living in Europe (Toro-Morn & Alicea, pp. xxxi). However, the migration was becoming a large issue. Eventually, there were a few steps towards the development of an extra-European immigration policy. A commission was formed and subsequently in 1985, a paper was presented on “Orientations for common Migration policy” (Toro-Morn & Alicea, pp. xxxi). Therein, the Commission also presented the idea of European coordination of entry, residence, and work-permit rules for non-Europe citizens. Eventually, the creation of a visa policy came into consideration as well. It can, hence be ascertained that even before 1989; many states in Europe had tried to put restrictions on migratory flows (Parsons & Smeeding, pp. 316). This was justified by Margaret Thatcher in the following sentences: “We are a British nation with British characteristics. Every nation can take some minorities, and in many ways, they can add to the richness and variety of this country. But the moment the minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened” (Winant, 274). This is precisely what had happened during the course after the Second World War. The number of immigrants had increased, and they were threatening to become the large one. In addition, not only this but because of the fall of Berlin Wall, there was an influx of illegal migrants. All such factors were an increasing the concern in Europe (Parsons & Smeeding, pp. 317). However, there is no doubt that recent migration has been ‘historically high’ (Salt, pp. 3). During the 1990s, as the Communist, regimes began to break down in Central and Eastern Europe, large number of people started to migrate. Europe had always remained a zone of immigration, and even in the case of Communist dominance falling, Europe received an influx of refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). During that time, three distinct but interrelated migration areas were developed: Western Europe, Central, and Eastern Europe. Different European countries have had different patterns of migration during the 1990s. The trend towards increased immigration in Europe had certainly died down in the 1990s. However, there has been a concern. Many of European countries have had shortages of both skilled and less skilled labor, shortages of working age population. The ‘United Nations Population Division’ (Salt, pp.5) suggested that Europe needed replacement migration to cope with such challenges. Therefore, because of the factors mentioned above, replacement migration would have occurred during the 1990s (Salt, pp.5). In addition, in recent decades, voluntary migration has also occurred. This includes temporary labor migrants, which is an increasingly diverse group. There are also other groups, which include temporary protection, students and working holidaymakers (Salt, pp.6). A recent new phenomenon has also occurred as King (2002) has talked about. There is an emergence of a new type of migrant. These migrants do not move in search for better employment opportunities but because of leisure and for self-realization. Migration is no more an economic strategy, but it has become consumption good. Many people also shift to various different places for culture and weather. The immigration, however had unintended consequences. Although after the policies implemented by the various states, migration figures had decreased, however the dynamic of migration nevertheless continued. There were racial problems, and the problems of over-crowding of citizens (Ben-David, n.d). Adding to this problem is the fact, when new countries joined European Union, the number of immigrants to Europe as a continent increased. The example of Poland is quite apt for this. When Poland joined the European Union, around 15,000 immigrants were expected to come into the country. However, the problem was that the figure was seriously under-estimated. Around 430,000 applications were approved every year. One another dynamic of migration is the change of culture it brings. With the permission of family reunification, the number of families that were settled brought with it a cultural change. Individual people living are quite apt to adapt to the lifestyles of the West, but families are quite reluctant to do so. Therein, they bring their own culture, which leads to different ethnicities within the same nations. Although the choice of immigration is a highly personal one, the immigration dynamic is extremely hard to predict, and to stop (Ben-David, n.d). Even to the present day, Europe offers a unique set of possibilities. There is easy mobility for it can be reached to various other states like North America and Turkey. Europe is also very accessible in the sense that immigrants can start with the most accessible country like Greece and finally make their way to their actual destination (Ben-David, n.d). One can therefore conclude that immigration has had a large impact on European societies. Europe has changed culturally. The society of Europe has changed dramatically in the last two decades. It has played a major role especially when in the transformation of the European economies. It is not only the economy, which has been affected, but also politics. The issue of migration is widely discussed in public. From the literature discussed greatly above, it can be determined that each migrant wave in Europe has given roots to various political and cultural questions. Countries such as Netherlands and France have been quite open minded about immigration broadly, but countries like United Kingdom; have called into question countries’ commitment to and custom of welcoming aliens to the soil (Toro-Morn & Alicea, pp. xxxi). Although immigration has posed a great problem and challenge, certain policies by the European Nations have the danger of becoming too “Eurocentric”. Although the pattern and types of immigration is highly dynamic, one can conclude that in some ways migration has brought advantages. These migrants were the one who met the demand deficiency and helped to repair the war-torn nations after the Second World War. To bring to a close, immigration into Europe was highly due to asylum-seekers, the concept of guest workers, in search of better economic prospects, family reunification, and illegal immigration. The fact of the matter is that Europe offers prospects of better education, work, and personal safety, and in this sense, will always catch the attention of mass migration. Europe is also a highly liberal state, with various rights and privileges that are not allowed in other countries (Ben-David, n.d). Therefore, Europe from post war until today remains a great attraction. Works Cited Ben David, Esther. "Europe's Shifting Immigration Dynamic." The Middle East Quarterly XVI.2, 2009: n.d. Middle East Forum. Print. Hansen, Randall. "Migration to Europe since 1945: Its History and Lessons." The Political Quartely, 2003, pp. 11, 27. Print. Jennissen, Roel. "Analysis on International Migration Types." Macro-economic determinants of international migration in Europe. Amserterdam: Dutch Univeristy Press, 2004. 128. Print. Nijkamp, Peter. "Past Trends." Location, travel, and information technology. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2004. 66, 69. Print. Parsons, Craig, and Smeeding, Timothy M. "Towards a Proactive Immigration Policy." Immigration and the transformation of Europe. Cambridge, 2001. 310-317. Print. Salt, John. "Current Trends in International Migration in Europe." UNHCR, 2001. Print. Thranhardt, Dietrich. "European Union and Asylum Seekers." Europe, a new immigration continent: policies and politics in comparative. Reprint. 117-118. Print. Toro-Morn, Maura Isabel, and Alicea, Marixsa. "Introduction." Migration and immigration: a global view. Westport: Library of Congress, 2004. Xxx-xxxii. Print. Winant, Howard. "Europe: The Phantom Menance." The world is a ghetto: race and democracy since World War II. New York: Basic Books, 2001. 265, 274. Print. Read More