Circular migration — Sustainable migration

Circular migration: making migration a choice rather than a necessity

Circular migration is the regular flow of migrants from their homelands to a foreign country and back again, usually for the purpose of work

Circular migration vs return/temporary migration

Circular migration is different from “return migration” or “temporary migration”, that are situations where individuals return to their homeland after a prolonged period away or they move for a short stay (eg seasonal workers).

Which are the benefits?

Promoting circular migration can bring significant benefits to both origin and destination countries as well as to migrants and if properly implemented and managed can bring to a win-win-win scenario. All parties can benefit from it.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻

it can bring substantial remittances

it helps to lessen unemployment stresses and labour market imbalances

it can help to mitigate “brain drain” and to promote “brain gain” (the knowledge and skills that return workers can bring back)

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

can help to fill seasonal or cyclical labot shortages

it can politically more acceptable due to its temprary nature

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀

provides learning opportunities to migrants

it can help them to find a better job or start an activity in their country of origin.

How to facilitate circular migration?

Circular migration can be implemented both:

• with legislative measures in destination countries that create the conditions for circular migration flows; and
• with cooperation agreements between origin and destination countries with the specific aim of regulating and facilitate circular migration.

Examples of legislative measures

1. some countries allow migrants to return hom for periods of time without having to re-apply for residence permits on their return
2. in other countries a migrant may take absence without losing residence status
3. a number of EU countries issue seasonal employment permits that allow for repeated back-and-forth mobility over a specified period of time
4. Sweden is the EU country with specifc measures aimed as incentivising circular migration for example by allowing migrants to have their income-based pension paid in their countries of origin upon reaching 61 years of age

Cooperation agreements between origin and destination countries

Some examples in the EU are:

• Belgium began a pilot project facilitating one-year paid internships for Senegalese university graduates in Belgian companies
• Germany has “Contract Worker Agreements” with third countries permitting companies from these countries to send employees to Germany for a limited time period in order to complete a work project in conjunction with a German firm
• Greece has reached “bilateral seasonal labour agreements” with Albania and Egypt
• A Netherlands Pilot Circular Migration programme allows a limited group of semi-skilled workers from South Africa and Indonesia in the Netherlands to work in jobs matching their skills for a limited period after which they must return to their country of origin
• Spain has a number of projects focussed mainly on the circular migration of farmers. One such project, the Temporary and Circular Labour Migration project, also includes training of circular agricultural migrants to help them in establishing community or family projects in their countries of origin upon their return.

Conclusions:

Circular migration must be encouraged for many reasons and could be a way to reduce the rise in many destination countries of irregular migration flows as well as illegal human smuggling services.

Migration is not necessarily a ‘permanent’ decision, but it can be a temporary investment process.

For many economic migrants the decision to move to a high earnings labour market is not with the goal of remaining there but rather as a way of accumulating a stock of savings, perhaps for marriage, to buy a house or a piece of property, or to start a business in their home country.

In addition, return migration may take place either because workers prefer to consume in their home country, also as they have a higher purchasing power there, or accumulated human capital is more valued in the home country.

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References:

IOM World Migration Report 2020 — https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr_2020.pdf

OECD — International Migration Outlook 2019 — https://www.oecd.org/migration/international-migration-outlook-1999124x.htm

World Bank — Leveraging economic migration for development — http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/167041564497155991/pdf/Leveraging-Economic-Migration-for-Development-A-Briefing-for-the-World-Bank-Board.pdf

United Nations — International Migration 2019 Highlights — https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2020/Jan/un_2019_internationalmigration_highlights.pdf

European Commission — Study on the movement of skilled labour — https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=20453&langId=mt

ICID — Towards sustainable migration — https://www.aics.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Towards_sustainable_migration_ENG.pdf

Constant, A. F., Nottmeyer, O. and Zimmerman, K. F. (2012). The Economics of Circular Migration. IZA Discussion Paper, 6940

Vertovec, S. (2007) Circular migration: the way forward in global policy. University of Oxford, IMI Working paper, №4

This article was prepared and submitted by Marco Mazzeschi in his personal capacity. All opinions and views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the opinions of the paradiGM community. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any ethnic group, gender identity, organization, company or individual.