University of Ljubljana

Faculty of Administration

Migration Crisis in Europe

Student: Vedran timac

Student ID: 70079128

Mentor: Alenka KUHELJ, PhD, Associate Professor

Course: European Union Constitutional Crisis

Contents

1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1
2.1. Causes of Migration.......................................................................................................... 2
2.1.1. Pull factors................................................................................................................. 2
2.1.2. Push factors ............................................................................................................... 3
3.1. Migration Crisis Situation in Europe: Is it really a crisis? ............................................... 4
4. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 10
5. References .............................................................................................................................. 11
 1. Introduction

In modern world history, mass long distance migrations have been an important issue. A
global perspective on migration provides insights not only into the global reaches of an
expanding industrial economy, but also into how this integrative economy grew concurrently
with political and cultural forces that favored fragmentation into nations, races, and
perceptions of distinct cultural regions (McKeown, 2004). According to Massey (1999), the
modern history of international migration can be classified in to four periods: Mercantile
period, from 1500 to 1800, world immigration flows were dominated by Europeans so that
they inhabited most parts of Americas, Oceania, Africa and Asia. The second period of
emigration, industrial period, began early in the 19th century and stemmed from the economic
development of Europe and the spread of industrialization to former colonies in the New
World. During this period, more than 48 million people left the industrializing countries of
Europe in search of new lives in the Americas and Oceania. The third period of emigration,
period of limited migration, brought European emigration to an abrupt because of the
outbreak of WWI, the Great Depression and the restrictive immigration laws passed by the
USA. The fourth period of emigration is postindustrial migration. During this time migration
became a global phenomenon as the number and variety of sending and receiving countries
increased and the global supply of immigrants shifted from Europe to developing countries.

From the beginning of 2014 onwards, approximately 800,000 people have arrived at borders
of the EU through irregular channels, escaping violence and conflicts at home or in search of
a better life abroad. This migration surge is rapidly becoming the largest and most complex
facing Europe since WWII. Even if it is not unique in either in its causes or its drivers, it has
become a highly sensitive political issue, generating intense political and public debate and
exacerbating pre-existing weaknesses in immigration systems across Europe (Metcalfe-
Hough, 2015). As a result, nowadays, migration stands on top of the European policy agenda.

Though the EUs proportion of the global burden is very low, the growth in the number of
migrants arriving in EU member states to seek asylum has risen exponentially applications
in the last quarter of 2015 were 130% above those in the same period the year before 1. The
dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers and the relative cost has been the subject
of a significant amount of media attention making migration a central topic of mainstream
public discourse (ACF international & iRiS, 2016).

The aim of this paper is therefore to present the causes of migration by linking with the
different international migration theories, describe the existing migration crisis situation, the
adopted legal and policy instruments to manage migration crisis and the challenges to
implement them.

2.1 Causes of Migration

Europe is currently witnessing a mixed-migration phenomenon, which includes economic

migrants, asylum seekers and refuges all together (Usenko et al, 2015/16). Causes of
migration can be explained by pull and push factors and these factors can be linked with the
different international migration theories.

2.1.1 Pull factors

There are certain factors that attract potential migrants to Europe. Firstly, the better economic
opportunities in Europe are the primary pulling factors for many people to migrate. In spite of
the hardship and danger they face on their way, once migrants reach Europe, they have fairly
good opportunities to engage in different economic activities and can lead descent life.

Secondly, the social cohesion and support system that exist in Europe among migrants is a
strong pull factor. Earlier migrants provide the newly arriving migrants financial support,
adequate information and help them to settle and start working. This argument can be
supported by social capital international migration theory. This theory states that migration
networks are sets of interpersonal ties that connect migrants, former migrants and non-
migrants in origin and destination areas through ties of kinship, friendship and shared
community origin (Massey, 1999). This network speeds up the migration rate to the EU.

1
Eurostat http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_quarterly_report accessed on
13 March, 2017

2
Thirdly, the refugee and migration policy of countries have also attracted many economic
migrants. In line with its international obligations, migrants, once arrive in the country (in this
case EU) are allowed to apply for asylum and live in the country until a decision is given on
their application (Asnak and Zerihun, 2015; Horwood, 2009).

Finally, immigration can be seen as providing labor for low wage service jobs that are not
occupied by natives; the expanding downgrading of manufacturing sectors in the global cities
like London or New York, including but not exclusively, declining industries in need of cheap
labor for survival and the immigrant community itself (Sassen, 1990). Her idea could also be
supported by the segmented labor market migration theory. This theory argues that
international migration is caused by a permanent labor demand that is inherent to the
economic structure of developed nations. According to this theory, immigration is not caused
by the push factors in sending countries, but by pull factors in receiving countries (chronic
and unavoidable need for low-wage workers). The built-in demand for inexpensive and
flexible labor stems from the demand for cheap, flexible labor which is augmented by social
constraints on motivation embedded within occupational hierarchies. Acute motivational
problem arises at the bottom of any job hierarchy because there is no status to be maintained
and few avenues for upward mobility. Therefore, for a variety of reasons migrants satisfy
these positions in the job hierarchy (Massey, 1990). The segmented labor market that is
primary and secondary facilitates the migration process to fill the jobs in the secondary
market which are not demanded by the native citizens of the developed world.

2.1.2 Push factors

Besides the pull factors discussed above, there are also negative or push factors that instigate
people to migrate from the place where they used to live. First, unemployment and poverty or
relative deprivations of households are the major factors that insist people decide to migrate.
Because of population pressure and the resulting shortage of arable land in most developing
countries, people use migration as a solution. Because of supply of and demand for labor
difference, people always migrate and secure job in different countries of the world.
According to neoclassical economics theory, international migration is caused by geographic
differences in the supply of and demand for labor. A country with large endowment of labor
relative to capital will have a low equilibrium wage, while a nation with a limited endowment
of labor relative to capital will be characterized by a high market wage. The resulting

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differential in wages causes workers from the low wage or labor surplus country to move to
the high wage or labor scarce country (Massay, 1999).

A key insight of new economics of migration theory is also argued that migration decisions
are made not by isolated individual actors but within the larger units of interrelated people-
families or households-in which people act collectively to maximize not only income but also
minimize risks to income and maximize status within an embedded hierarchy and to
overcome a variety of local market failures and relative deprivation (Massay, 1999).

Secondly, war and political turmoil are another push factors that caused people to move
towards Europe. Most of the people coming to Europe are from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
These countries are under state of turmoil or crisis. Hence, in order to save their lives people,
escape from their countries and trying to reach Europe and some other neighboring countries
such as North Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon (UNHCR, 2015).
Furthermore, people could displace because of the following reasons: insecurity caused by
armed interventions from non-state actors; chronic insecurity and poor government capacity
resulting limited economic development and basic service provision; natural shocks
exacerbated by a lack of resilience and political repression and authoritarianism (ACF
international & iRiS, 2016).

3.1 Migration Crisis in Europe: Is it really a crisis?

The impact and consequences of migration both for the countries of origin and destination is a
topic of intense debate and rather polarizing views. Many people view migrants as assets and
others see them as threat. For example, migrants can solve the aging problem in Europe; they
are asset for the development of labor market. Others may also see the disadvantage of
receiving migrants from security and demographic dimensions. Migrants could be cost for
Europe in the short to medium term but in the long run after integration of migrants and skill
development, they could be asset for both receiving nations and sending countries2.

The label Migrant Crisis refers to the increase in migration flows towards states of the
European Union, coined in April 2015, is more reflective of the public reaction to the

2
http://www.eib.org/attachments/migration_and_the_eu_en.pdf accessed on April 2, 2017

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phenomenon than its scale. When considered in the context of global displacement and
response, the EU is receiving a small fraction of international protection claims. The
Eurocentric nature of the debate around the Migrant Crisis contradicts the fact that countries
in the global south continue to host over 86% of the worlds displaced population3.

The number of people globally that are forcibly displaced increased by 50 percent between
2011 and 2015. The changing dynamics of global displacement have not only been in overall
numbers but in location-2014 was a notable year in that Pakistan was, for the first time in a
decade, surpassed by Turkey as the largest refugee hosting country in the world. With an
increasing number of refugees hosted on Europes borders, the number of migrants attempting
to reach the EU in search of better conditions and more rights has also dramatically increased
(ACF international & iRiS, 2016).

The EU has been witnessing unprecedented challenges due to the inflow of migrants. The
number of migrants and refugees is constantly increasing. The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) counted that the number of irregular migrants and refugees to the EU had
crossed one million in 2015 on 21 December. According to Eurostat statistics, the number of
first time asylum applicants exponentially increased by more than 150 percent in the third
quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter in 2014. Around 413,800 people have applied
for asylum from non-EU countries in the EU during the third quarter of 2015. Out of the
430,600 total asylum applicants including repeat applicants, 413,800, which account for 96
percent, were first time applicants (Eurostat, 2016).

The European Union (EU) is facing the largest refugee crisis since the end of World War II.
The current situation has to be seen in a broader context of violent conflict and destabilization
in other parts of the world. It is a crisis of unprecedented magnitude that largely originates
from conflicts and persecutions in Europes wider neighborhood. The violent conflicts in
Syria and Iraq or instability and poverty in parts of Africa have forced millions of women,
men and children to flee their homeland in search of protection and a decent life, including to
the European Union (European Commission, 2015). In addition, the recent trends in the
inflow of the migrants and refugees into Europe reflects a combination of several factors such
as political instability, social unrest, violence, emerging geo-strategic dynamics in West Asian

3
UNHCR, 2015: http://www.unhcr.org/statistics/country/576408cd7/unhcr-global-trends-2015.html accessed
on 17 March, 2017

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region, quest for better political and socio-economic conditions, social security system, etc
(Upadhyay, 2016). Global trends point out that the number of displaced people has been
rising. The Figure below indicates that the number of displaced people has reached around 60
million (UNHCR, 2015), which is the highest after the World War II (European Commission,
2015).

Figure 1: Number of Displaced People Worldwide (in millions)

Source: UNHCR, 20154

According to UNHCR (2015), in 2015 more than 80 percent of the people arriving in Europe
by sea are from the worlds ten top refugee producing countries such as Syria, Afghanistan,
Eritrea, Iraq, Kosovo, Albania, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran and Others. Over 50 percent are from
Syria, 15 percent from Afghanistan, 6 percent from Eritrea and 4 percent from Iraq-all
countries are in conflict or crisis.

Even though Germany received 4,441,800 asylum applications in 2015, classifying it as top
destination country, Hungary had had the highest number of applicants in proportion to its
population, in spite of its attempt to reduce this number by closing its border with Croatia, in
October that year. The figure below shows the ratio between the asylum applications per 100,
000 local populations in different European countries in 2015. Hungary is at the top of the
classification, with almost 1,800 migrants claiming asylum, followed by Sweden and Austria
with 1,667 and 1027 respectively. German was in six positions with 587 claims while the EU
average was below 260 claims. Italy and Greece, on the other hand, were below average, with

4
http://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/latest/2015/6/558193896.html accessed on March 17, 2017

6
138 and 122 respectively, mainly due to their nature as transit countries (Usenko et al,
2015/16).

Figure 2: Asylum applications per 100,000 local populations, 2015

Source: BBC5
Overwhelmed by more than 2 million asylum seekers reaching Europe in 2015, the EU and
individual member states have worked to gain greater control over illegal migration by
increasing the fortification and policing of borders, both internal and external. While the
fencing of borders, encampment and the restriction of certain nationalities has decreased the
total number of migrants compared to May 2015, hundreds of thousands of people still reach
Europe by ever more dangerous and irregular paths. While transit routes are still chosen
based on proximity, ease and cost, the March 2016 EU-Turkey deal and the greater challenges
along the West Balkans route due to the fencing of borders in the Macedonia, Hungary and
Serbia has decreased the number of migrants arriving in Greece borders and the ease with
which they travel north through Europe. The successful implementation of the deal rests on a
series of conditions that could fail to be met by both the EU and the Turkish government,
including the Central Mediterranean or through Bulgaria or Albania could increase in
prominence.

5
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/DB17/production/_88578065_asylum_claims_pe
r_capita_624gr.png retrieved on March 17, 2017

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Source: National Geographic: Sea Migrant Routes6

The above map vividly showed the main sea migration routes being used by migrants to reach
Europe. The Western Mediterranean route is the Morocco to Spain route which had been a
noted pressure point for years-certainly since 2005, when thousands of sub-Saharan migrants
reach Spain. Co-operation between Spain and Morocco has since kept migrant numbers
comparatively low on this route. Migrants are also more inclined to depart from Libya
because the likelihood of being returned by EU authorities is much lower. A decade ago,
migrants from Morocco to Spain were typically economic ones from Algeria and Morocco,
hoping for jobs in Spain, France and Italy. Since then, however, they have increasingly been
joined by sub-Saharan Africans, driven northwards by conflicts in Mali, Sudan, South Sudan,
Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic. In 2015, Syrians accounted for
the biggest share of detections on this route7.

The Central Mediterranean route remained under intense migratory pressure in 2015, although
the total number of migrants arriving in Italy fell to 154 000 - about a tenth lower than the
record set in 2014. The main reasons for the drop were the shift of Syrians to the Eastern

6
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/rights-exempt/nat-geo-staff-graphics-
illustrations/2015/09/Sea_Migrant_Routes_Map.jpg accessed on 23 March 2017
7
http://frontex.europa.eu/trends-and-routes/western-mediterranean-route/ accessed on 23 March 2017

8
Mediterranean route and a shortage of boats faced by smugglers in the latter part of the year.
Smuggling networks remain well established in Libya, where migrants gather before crossing
the sea. In 2015 Eritreans, Nigerians and Somalis accounted for the biggest share of the
migrants making the dangerous journey8.

In 2015, some 885,000 migrants arrived in the EU via the Eastern Mediterranean route 17
times the number in 2014, which was itself a record year. The vast majority of them arrived
on several Greek islands, most on Lesbos. The numbers increased gradually from January to
March, but began to climb in April, peaking at 216,000 in October. The numbers eased
slightly in November and December with the onset of winter, but were still well above the
figures from the same months of 2014. Throughout 2015 Frontex deployed an increased
number of officers and vessels to the Greek islands to assist in patrolling the sea and
registering the thousands of migrants arriving daily. In December, the agency launched
Poseidon Rapid Intervention after the Greek authorities requested additional assistance at its
borders. Most of the migrants on this route in 2015 originated from Syria, followed by
Afghanistan and Somalia. There are also increasing numbers of migrants coming from sub-
Saharan Africa. Most of the migrants continued their journeys north, leaving Greece through
its border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Frontex also deploys officers at
Greeces northern land border to assist in registering exiting migrants9.

8
http://frontex.europa.eu/trends-and-routes/central-mediterranean-route/ accessed on 23 March 2017
9
http://frontex.europa.eu/trends-and-routes/eastern-mediterranean-route/ accessed on 23 March 2017

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4. Conclusion

The EU has been witnessing unprecedented challenges due to the inflow of migrants since WWII. The
number of migrants and refugees is constantly increasing. The current situation must be seen in a
broader context of violent conflict and destabilization in other parts of the world. It is a crisis of
unprecedented magnitude that largely originates from conflicts and persecutions in Europes wider
neighborhood. Because of this, migration became the top priority agenda in the European Union. The
reasons for migration could be understood as pull and push factors in the sending and receiving
countries. The major migrant sending countries into Europe are Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq,
Kosovo, Albania, Pakistan, Nigeria and Iran. The most widely used sea migration routes are Western
Mediterranean, Central Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean and East Africa.

To deal with the migration crisis, the European Union and member states have established legal and
policy instruments such as temporary relocation system, hotspot system, safe third countries, fund and
improving border management.

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 5. References

Asnake Kefeale and Zerihun Mohammed. 2015. Ethiopian Labor Migration to the Gulf and South
Africa, Forum for Social Science, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Carrera S. and Guild E., 2015. Can the new refugee relocation system work? Perils in the Dublin logic
and flawed reception conditions in the EU , No.334/2015 Available at:
https://www.ceps.eu/system/files/PB334%20RefugeeRelocationProgramme.pdf

Carrera S., Blockmans S., Gros D., and Guild E., 2015. The EUs response to the refugee crisis:
Taking stock and setting policy priorities, No. 20/16 Available at:
https://www.ceps.eu/publications/eu%E2%80%99s-response-refugee-crisis-taking-stock-and-
setting-policy-priorities

Church, R., 2001. The effective use of secondary data, Learning and Motivation 33, 32-45 Available
at: http://www.brown.edu/Research/Timelab/archive/Pdf/2002-02.pdf

European Commission, 2015. Joint Communication to the European Parliament and the Council:
Addressing the Refugee Crisis in Europe: The Role of EU External Action, Brussels,
September 9, 2015, JOIN(2015) 40 final Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52015JC0040

Eurostat Statistics Explained, Asylum Quarterly Report (2016), Available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_quarterly_report

Inter-agency regional analysts network: An ACF and IRIS initiative, 2016. Responding to the migrant
crisis: Europe at a juncture Available at:
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk/publication/responding-migrant-crisis-europe-
juncture

Massey, Douglas S. 1999. "Why Does Immigration Occur? A Theoretical Synthesis." The Handbook
of International Migration: The American Experience, Charles Hirschman, Philip Kasinitz,
and Josh DeWind, editors. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

McKeown A., 2004. Global migration, 1846-1940, Journal of World History, Volume 15, Number 2
pp. 155-189, University of HawaiI press

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