Migration: the limits of governmental control.

Abstract

Abstract Although migration is not a modern phenomenon, the number of people involved in migration processes have increased tremendously in the past decades. This increase has made migration a politically sensitive issue. Governments of states at the receiving end of migration flows are under pressure to show that they can control migration. Most countries have implemented new laws and stricter regulations, designed to enable governments to manage international migration in an era of increased population mobility. These measures only rarely appear to achieve their aims. The first issue addressed in the present article is why it is so difficult for governments to intervene successfully in migration processes. Within the analytical framework of the article, the point is made that the variables addressed by governmental measures form only a small part of the relevant variables. Addressing these variables effectively is further hampered by the conflicting interests of various economic sectors and by the confl...