Migration Diplomacy Research Articles

Hegemony, Europeanization, and Migration Diplomacy: Case of the EU-Turkey Statement and Action Plan

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the Turkey Statement and Action Plan concerning the concept of hegemony, Europeanization, and migration diplomacy. In contrast to the mainstream literature, which exclusively concentrates on the idea of the Europeanization process and balance politics in its analysis of the deal, this study explains the deal with the perspective of hegemony and hegemonic stability theory, along with mentioning discourses of Turkey and EU officials. In other words, the Europeanization process with the migration crisis in 2016 led to—especially economic—hegemony, which resulted by consent, not coercion, in the relationship between Turkey and the EU. Based on the deal, externalization, trade relations and rhetoric of Turkey and the EU, the article concludes that the migration crisis established a based hegemony between Turkey and the EU on the subject of the migration crisis.

Using forced migration to foster emergence? International aid and development policies in Cameroon

AbstractThis paper examines the alignment of refugee aid interventions with Cameroon’s national policy of emergence, shedding light on an authoritarian government's utilization of international assistance. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, it investigates how international policies aiming at turning refugees into a development opportunity for their host states are managed by an aid-receiving country and strategically leveraged by Cameroonian authorities to strengthen their political apparatus. It explores how the government integrates humanitarian responses with large-scale development policies, while retaining control over strategic sectors. Implementing the emergence policy enables Cameroon to reappropriate international standards, navigating complex donor relations to establish new legitimacy. The analysis highlights the power dynamics and implications of aid interventions within an authoritarian context, demonstrating the state's capacity to transform internal crises into productive forces. This research contributes to a better understanding of the links between refugee aid, host states’ domestic and international politics, and migration diplomacy.

Migration diplomacy and its role in the ECOWAS region

Migration diplomacy and its role in the ECOWAS region

Fragments of solidarity: the social worlds of African migrants moving northwards

ABSTRACT The article provides a framework through which to analyse the experiences and social trajectories of migration from East Africa to North Africa and Europe. On the one side, it explores the systematic relationship between war and mobility, and on the other, it highlights the social worlds generated by such mobility. The article argues that these social worlds represent crucial elements for understanding contemporary (Eastern) African societies and their political dynamics, in relation to (a) the increased relevance of migration diplomacy, (b) the spatial interconnectivity constructed through mobility and (c) the transnational and diasporic spheres that lie at the core of the social and economic reproduction of states and societies in the Horn and more generally in Eastern Africa. We highlight, through these interconnections, the genealogies and transformations of the systems of violence composing the reality of migration in the regions explored, but also the various and interconnected systems of solidarity which, although fragmented and even misused at times, sustain migrants’ trajectories, social projects and resistance. In doing so, the article argues that it is necessary to explore present and historical local understandings and conceptualisations of migration, in relation to solidarity practices, forced migration, migrant smuggling, imaginaries of mobility.

Solidifying the Concept of Political Will to Promote Decoloniality and Migration Diplomacy in South Africa

Solidifying the Concept of Political Will to Promote Decoloniality and Migration Diplomacy in South Africa

‘Açık Kapı’ Politikasından ‘Göç Diplomasisi’ne İran’da Afgan Mülteciler Meselesi

Dünyanın en kalabalık göçmen popülasyonlarından birini topraklarında barındıran İran, kırk yılı aşkın bir süredir önemli miktarda Afgan nüfusa ev sahipliği yapmaktadır. Bununla beraber, İran’a yoğun Afgan göçlerinin yaşanmaya başladığı seksenli yıllardan bu yana İran’ın duruma yaklaşımında belirgin farklılaşmalar yaşanmış, İran’da göç yönetimi, ‘açık kapı’ politikası uygulamaktan, göçmenlerin diplomaside araçsallaştırılmasına dönük çabalara dek uzanan bir skalada önemli ölçüde dönüşüme uğramıştır. Bu çalışma, İran’ın Afgan göçmenler hususunda izlediği politikayı süreç bağlantılı ve çoklu etkenler bağlamında değerlendirmektedir. Çalışmada, İran’ın Afgan göçmenlere yönelik ‘açık kapı’ politikası izlediği ilk on yıllık evrede dönemsel koşullar dahilinde davrandığı ve yanı sıra rejimin konsolidasyonu adına belirli kimliksel ilkeler ekseninde politikalar takip ettiği ifade edilmekte, ancak doksanlı yılların “yeniden inşa” evresiyle birlikte Afgan mültecilere yönelik politikanın da bir dönüşüme uğradığı ve meselenin günümüze ulaşılıncaya dek geçen süreçte yeni koşullara adapte edildiği belirtilmektedir. ‘Göç diplomasisi’ kavramını odağına alarak göçün diplomatik bağlamda araçsallaştırılması hususunu vurgulayan literatürden yola çıkılan çalışmada, Türkçe literatürde henüz çok fazla yer bulamamış olan bu kavramsal çerçevenin İran’da bugün Afgan mültecilerin dış politikaya konu edilme biçiminin ve göçmenlere dönük edimlerin anlaşılmasında kolaylaştırıcı bir rol üstleneceği savlanmaktadır.

Reframing coercive engineered migration theory: Ceuta and the Western Sahara

ABSTRACT By opening the gates on the border to Ceuta in May 2021, Morocco explicitly engaged in coercive engineered migration (CEM) to establish a tradeoff of sovereignty claims over the Spanish exclave city and the Western Sahara territory. In this article, we test Greenhill’s theory on why stronger liberal democratic states yield to this strategy by weaker autocratic states against the public debate in Spain on how the government devolved the migrants and relinquished the future of its ex-colony in the desert, with evidence from the mass media, official documents and personal interviews. We offer an alternative conceptual model for CEM by critically recalibrating factors within her domestic account and shifting the focus to geopolitical considerations. We argue that externalization of border control has tended to blur expected differences among political regimes, reducing the risk of ideological polarization and hypocrisy costs, typical of democracies according to theory, and leaving fear of swamping of hosting resources as the main domestic explanation of successful CEM across regimes. It has embedded border control in multiple issue-linkages, increasing the leverage of countries of origin and transit in the multi-scalar international tapestry of migration diplomacy.

Entangled migration states: mobility and state-building in France and Algeria

ABSTRACT This article develops the concept of ‘entangled migration states’ as a means of highlighting the centrality of migration governance to state-building processes, the constitution of state sovereignty, and interstate relations. Drawing on the example of France and Algeria, it demonstrates the key role that migration played in three phases of state-building: the colonial period of Algérie française; the Algerian nationalist independence movement; and postcolonial state-building. In the case of France and Algeria, at least three actors constructed and instrumentalised migration and mobility regimes as sources of power and control – the French imperial state; the non-state Algerian independence movement; and the newly sovereign postcolonial Algerian state. A focus on the entangled nature of migration management allows for a deeper historicisation of contemporary migration regimes and draws attention to the central role played by migration diplomacy and transnational governmentality in contemporary migration management regimes, thus calling into question some of the spatial assumptions undergirding the ‘migration state’ concept. The article traces the evolution of mobility patterns and control in the Franco-Algerian case; their relationship to state-building processes; and the implications for rethinking the ‘migration state’.

Book Review

Book Review

The Geopolitics in the Global Compacts: Sovereignty, Emerging Norms, and Hypocrisy in Global Migration Governance

ABSTRACT The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCM) were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018. After nearly five years, it is time for a critical reflection on the geopolitical interests that motivated the negotiations, agreements, and implementation. The purpose of this special issue was to critically examine how states used the Global Compacts to achieve their strategic interests using migration diplomacy. Each article attempts to question and problematise the assumptions, logics, and rhetoric put forward in the Global Compacts and resulting implementation by states and international organisations. The special issue also highlights the emerging norm of state responsibility for well-managed migration within the Global Compacts, and the notable silences around non-refoulement, internal displacement, and climate migration. The authors in this special issue worked to understand the gaps, hypocrisy, and contradictions in the implementation, now five years after the adoption of the Global Compacts. This introduction article lays out the driving questions for the special issue, along with our main themes, concepts, and contributions.

Canada’s Implementation of the UN Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees: Advancing Foreign Policy Objectives and the Status Quo?

Abstract Canada has been a strong supporter of the 2018 United Nations Global Compacts (GCs) on Migration and Refugees. This article examines Canada’s reception and implementation of the GCs in the policy domains of refugee resettlement, complementary protection pathways, gender equality, and migration governance capacity building. It draws on the analytical framework of “migration diplomacy” to argue that Canada’s efforts to carry out the GC objectives in these areas are primarily motivated by foreign policy considerations, including those with significant domestic implications, rather than efforts to ensure domestic alignment with the GC principles enhancing migrants’ rights and freedoms. By supporting the GCs, Canada has positioned itself as a global leader in migration management. Migration diplomacy has also legitimised the implementation by Canada of exclusionary refugee policies.

Leveraging the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) program to facilitate talent mobility

ABSTRACT This paper examines the potential for leveraging the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) Program to facilitate the mobility of Ukrainian Information Technology (IT) professionals from Ukraine into Canada. The paper revisits the situation following Russia’s invasion of Crimea (2014), the redirection of specific talent flows prior and during the pandemic and aims to assess Canada's attractiveness as a talent destination. It focuses on the implications of the war on Canada's attraction and retention of IT skilled workers from Ukraine, and whether the measures implemented by the Government of Canada were effective in providing incentives. Ultimately, this paper considers the CUAET, which was recently extended to continue assisting Ukrainians fleeing the war, as a model to replicate and utilize when responding to displacement crises – thus adding it to Canada’s migration diplomacy and foreign policy toolkit.

Symbolic Rewards as Migration Diplomacy: Crisis and Containment in EU–Turkey Migration Cooperation

Symbolic Rewards as Migration Diplomacy: Crisis and Containment in EU–Turkey Migration Cooperation

How strategies of refugee host states are perceived by donor states: EU interpretations of Jordanian migration diplomacy

ABSTRACT Research in the field of migration diplomacy has empirically focused mainly on host and transit states, meaning that their interaction with donor states and the effect of their strategies on the donor states’ decision-making has been left implicit. Building on original interviews with decision-makers, this paper provides a unique insight into the interaction between host state and donor state, and sheds light on how the strategies of the former translate into policies of the latter. The paper addresses the following research questions: how do donor countries interpret the actions of host countries, and what makes donors respond? To address these questions, the paper investigates EU decision-makers’ perceptions of the negotiations with Jordan, which led to the establishment of the EU-Jordan Compact in 2016 and its revision in 2018. Through analysis of 19 original interviews with the negotiation participants and official documents, the paper demonstrates how the EU perceived Jordan's proposal as morally justified and how this made it difficult for them to decline. Furthermore, that the threats that Jordan made were not perceived as credible and had little effect. The case demonstrates the importance of bringing donor states into the analysis when concluding on the efficiency of host state strategies.

Re‐spatialising migration governance: From ‘multi‐level’ to ‘entangled’

AbstractPolicy actors engaged in migration governance operate in complex environments characterised by spatial entanglements that bring together different levels and jurisdictions. While “levels‐of‐analysis” and multi‐level governance (MLG) frameworks capture some of this complexity, they undertheorise the extent to which migration and mobility are both causes and consequences of other forms of spatial entanglement. This article sets forth an “entangled” approach to migration governance and applies it to the Turkish case. It discusses how historical legacies and regional ties produce enduring cross‐border connections, examining diaspora engagement policies; migration diplomacy; and conflict and security in Turkey through the lens of entangled migration governance.

Pułapka „ciepłych portretów”. Wybrane przykłady ukraińskich heteroobrazów w literaturze i kinie polskim na początku XXI wieku

The expressions of Polish solidarity with Ukrainians after the aggression of the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022 was absolutely unprecedented. Undoubtedly, such a radical historical breakthrough would not have been possible without the contribution of Ukrainian migration diplomacy, implemented, often unknowingly, by hundreds of thousands of migrants who, through direct contact with Poles, reduced the conflict-causing potential of Ukrainian-Polish history. The aim of this paper is to examine the evolution of Ukrainian heteroimages appearing in Polish cinema and literature at the beginning of the 21st century, e.g. Lady from Ukraine by Paweł Łoziński, Ukrainian girl by Barbara Kosmowska and reportages written by Marta Mazuś and Monika Sobień-Górska. The author also focuses attention on the migration counter-discourse in Guest Worker Literature, the role of the Polish-Ukrainian theater and the intercultural perspective for future literary and artistic searches.

Deal-making, diplomacy and transactional forced migration

Abstract Former US President Donald J. Trump was infamous for his nakedly transactional approach to politics. However, as we demonstrate in this article through the lens of migration politics, this kind of unabashedly transactional approach is less an outlier than a common feature of contemporary international politics. Drawing in part upon initial findings from our ongoing Diplomacy of Forced Migration Dataset Project, we explore historical and contemporary cases to illustrate how transactional migration management ‘deals’ such as the 2022 UK–Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership are not particularly new, unusual, or revolutionary. In this exploration of the long history of deal-making in the realm of forced migration management, we first define the phenomenon—which we term transactional forced migration (TFM)—and situate it within the growing literature on migration diplomacy, externalization and what is known as the instrumentalization and/or weaponization of migration. We then highlight illustrative historical precedents that presage what we are witnessing today. We additionally identify and unpack several of the under-appreciated connections between TFM schemes and other dimensions of diplomacy and international politics. We conclude with a summary of our argument, its implications for contemporary policy and a few thoughts about what current trends suggest the future is likely to hold.

Why is Syria a War but Not Afghanistan? Nationality-based Aid and Protection in Turkey’s Syria Refugee Response

Abstract This article argues that, following the most recent influx of Syrians, refugee reception and aid policies in Turkey has shifted to be differentiated depending on the nationality of refugee groups. This research relies on a case study methodology and assesses changes in reception and aid access policies undertaken in Turkey post the Syrian influx and European Union (EU)–Turkey deal. In doing so it critically analyses differentiated access by refugee nationality, specifically Syrians and Afghans. This begins with an analysis of differences between refugee groups in how protection status is issued, followed by an investigation of differentiated access to programmes and assistance, and the role that EU-led negotiations and aid programmes play in re-enforcing Syrian-focused inclusion. Through a methodology that combines a review of law, policy and relevant literature and semi-structured interviews with key informants, this article makes two conclusions: first, that policies in Turkey unfolded to differentiate and distinguish Syrian refugees, against other refugee groups, as part of the response to the influx. Secondly, as objects of migration diplomacy between the EU and Turkey, aid and assistance programmes for refugees were also distinct by citizenship and re-enforced this differentiation, characterising the response by a condition of nationality-based aid.

1874: Italian Migration Diplomacy in Egypt

1874: Italian Migration Diplomacy in Egypt

Belarus-Polonya Göç Krizi ve Genişletilmiş Aktörlerin Uluslarüstü Siyasi Kaygıları

This study seeks to examine the sociological, political, and humanitarian dimensions of the Belarus-Poland migration crisis and aims to discuss the differences between migration diplomacy and state-organized-engineered migration within the framework of the instrumentalization and weaponization of migrants. Statements made by EU authorities about the Belarus-Poland migration problem, sanctions, and measures implemented are investigated to evaluate the EU’s approach. Furthermore, in order to comprehend Belarus’ perspective, Lukashenko’s statements and press coverage of the incident are scrutinized. Theoretically, while following a descriptive analysis method, the article considers how Belarus-Poland border issue has given rise to a great deal of media interest due to Belarus’s balance and interest-oriented policies oscillating between the former Soviet world and the West and argues how Russia brought a global dimension to the issue as a result of its historical political pursuits. Finally, it concludes that the migration crisis between Belarus and Poland is not a simple crisis that concerns two countries, if anything, it is a reflection and precursor of multi-actor global politics serving different purposes in the region.