Contemporary Czech migration policy: ‘Labour, not people’?

Abstract

AbstractThis paper offers an analysis of the Czech migration policy since the so‐called European Union (EU) migration crisis in 2015 and its key instruments when it comes to migrant workers from third (non‐EU) countries. On the basis of semi‐structured interviews with 80 experts on various aspects of migration policymaking, we identified three key features of Czech migration policymaking: (i) perception of migration as a threat, (ii) orientation on temporary labour migration and (iii) lack of coherent and systematic conceptual approach towards migration. Jointly, these features explain a central paradox of the contemporary Czech migration policy: the contradiction between a strong anti‐immigration political discourse and the actual numbers of immigrants that has been rising steadily. Similarly to other European countries, there has been a growing tendency towards selectiveness in Czech migration policy, manifested in recent instruments specifically focused on attracting highly qualified migrants. However, the selection criteria are mainly based on the country of origin, and the quotas for incoming migrants reflect the existing administrative capacities and short‐term needs of the current Czech labour market for low‐ and middle‐qualified professionals rather than long‐term economic goals and demographic needs. Since the global economic recession (2008–2010), Czech migration policies have still not genuinely considered the fact that it is people, rather than just ‘labour’, who come to the Czech Republic.