Abstract
The ways border regimes affect migration patterns remain ambiguous. Closed borders may constrain migration but also encourage migrants to pursue alternative migration channels and destinations. While open borders may be associated with higher migration, oftentimes they promote circulation and return. To clarify how different border regimes influence migration patterns, this article examines the impact of open and closed border regimes on migration outcomes in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana in the 1950s–1980s period, when all three gained independence or non-sovereign status and colonial ties were strong. The article proposes a conceptual schematic model that can accommodate varied post-colonial political and border regime transitions and explains changes in the timing, destination and composition of migration. The analysis finds that, counterintuitively, closed borders can lead to high emigration while open borders can encourage people to stay. The proposed model also illustrates the relevance of three dimensions of time: the historical juncture, the sequence of change and the time span. In sum, rather than preventing migration, border regimes yield important effects that lead to migration diversification.
Highlights
Research into the migration effects of opening and closing border regimes reveals ambiguous results
This research in its entirety focused on how short- and long-term transformations affected migration in the three Guianas, this article is limited to presenting shifts in migration patterns associated with independence and border regimes
Using a historical approach to decolonisation and border regime shifts in the three Guianas, this article presents the factors and dynamics that led to the peaks and valleys observed in their migration patterns
Summary
Research into the migration effects of opening and closing border regimes reveals ambiguous results. These ambiguities might arise from the lack of attention to distinct short- and long-term policy effects or they might be associated with the contradictory objectives within a full package of policy changes (de Haas et al 2018). Border regime changes take place alongside other important political and economic transitions – such as entering the EU-bloc or gaining independence –, and these events have their own effects on migration. This article analyses the interaction of political and policy changes associated with the transition from colony to independence or incorporation with the aim to explain the influence of this process on migration patterns
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