Chinese Migration to Eastern Europe

Most of the work on the early history of Chinese migration to eastern Europe, that is, the first half of the twentieth century, has been written by Russian scholars. Contemporary sources — accounts of Russian travellers and government documents — are overwhelmingly preoccupied with migration to the Russian Asian territories. But the interest in Chinese immigration since the 1990s has resulted in considerable attention being paid to the historical background as well, notably by Larin (1998, 2000) and Saveliev (2002). Chinese scholarship on Chinese labour in Europe during World War I (e.g. S. Chen, 1986) only devotes little space to eastern Europe. Yet, Chinese migration to eastern Europe has a particular policy interest because in the past decade it has proven to be predictive of trends in Europe as a whole. A new flow of entrepreneurial migrants, who often had no connection to the historical, rural‐based chains of migration that produced the earlier Chinese migrant populations of western Europe, found it possible and profitable to do business and settle on the European periphery during a brief period of liberal migration controls. Erratic crackdowns on illegal migration in the absence of thought‐through migration regimes resulted in a volatile situation, periodically generating migration flows from one country in the region to another. These were facilitated by, and gave further rise to, networks of kinship and information spanning both eastern and western Europe. While this paper focuses on Hungary, it also attempts to review information on other eastern European countries (particularly Russia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and the Czech Republic) where it is available. In doing so, it intends to fill a gap in information on Chinese in eastern Europe until more substantial research is produced, as well as to highlight the common features of, and links between, Chinese migration into individual eastern European countries as well as into western Europe.     

Some Migration Dynamics Specific to Southern Europe: South-North and East-West Axis

This article examines the magnitude and determinants of migration from east to west (Europe) following the collapse of communism, and from south (Africa) to north (Europe).
Special attention is given to assessing numbers and characteristics (including illegal) of the flows, and also to reasons for and success of bilateral agreements and cooperative projects by the governments of Italy and Spain designed to check and control the flows.
Notwithstanding tighter controls on visas for Third World nationals, migration to western Europe does not seem to have abated. In Italy, illegal migration from the east (Albania in particular) is connected, directly or indirectly, with the criminal underworld.
The inventory of legal texts and agreement protocols between Spain and Morocco designed to resolve many issues relating to migration, reflect long-standing relations between the two countries. Political and economic relations between Italy and Albania, on the other hand, have developed only within the framework of recent policies.
While the presence of Moroccans in Spain and Albanians in Italy is not yet demographically significant, the authors predict that, in the absence of further appropriate political and economic measures, numbers will increase.     

Migration of Highly Skilled Chinese to Europe: Trends and Perspective

Since China's economic opening and reforms in 1978, the country has broadened and deepened its exchanges and relations with other countries. This has contributed to the increase in the scale of international migration of highly skilled Chinese abroad. The impact of the migration of highly skilled Chinese on China and the relevant nations particularly deserve attention and study. Following the earlier migration flows mainly to the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the migration of highly skilled Chinese to Europe has become a notable new trend. Currently, the flow of international migration of highly skilled Chinese personnel is mainly oriented toward Europe and the United States. While studying abroad has been the main form of migration of the skilled, this has now been joined by the migration of technical and professional staff, and the trend is increasing. The main country of destination for Chinese students is the United States, which absorbs more than half of the total, while Australia and Canada receive the largest number of skilled Chinese manpower. The United States also receives a large number of Chinese technical personnel, but its proportion has declined, while the flow to Europe has sharply increased. This development may be attributed to the global expansion of economic, scientific and technological, as well as cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation. But it is also the result of an increase in the educational investment made by the Chinese people following the continuous increase in China's economic strength and the population's personal income. Of greater importance are the gaps between China and Europe at the scientific, technological, and educational levels and the research and marketing environment. The intervening changes in labour market and immigration policies in European and American countries accelerate the trend further. For all of these and other reasons, the spatial distribution of Chinese students will become more balanced and play a positive role in the promotion of mutually beneficial exchanges between China and other countries.     

New Chinese Migration to Germany: Historical Consistencies and New Patterns of Diversification within a Globalized Migration Regime

Chinese migration to Germany is not very well documented, even though sojourners arrived in this country as early as the first half of the eighteenth century. There is some research on particular issues in specific historical contexts, such as the discrimination and persecution during the Third Reich (Yü‐Dembski, 1996, 1997), Chinese students in Germany between 1860 and 1945 (Harnisch, 1999), Chinese‐German mixed marriages (Groeling‐Che, 1991), and irregular immigration and human trafficking during the 1980s and 1990s (Giese, 1999a). Yet, no systematic research on the history of Chinese migration or continuous analysis of more recent migration trends and related political issues has been carried out so far. Some of the reasons for this include: Chinese communities have always formed only a small minority among the non‐German population; after World War II, Chinese communities were dispersed over the whole of (West) Germany and they have not created any visible “Chinatown” yet; and, until very recently, there seemed to be virtually no political or social problems related to Chinese migrants, and the few emerging political issues still appear insignificant compared to those related to other ethnic groups. As a result, Chinese immigration and the lives of Chinese migrants — widely ignored as a potential research topic for Modern China Studies in Germany — have not yet received attention from scholars of social sciences. This article will attempt to offer a comprehensive summary of the history of new Chinese migration to Germany from the early 1970s to the end of the second millennium. Mainly based on official statistics, it will then discuss recent trends in Chinese immigration for different groups of migrants since the 1990s, focusing on policy‐related issues and political implications of these recent and potential future developments.     

Arab Migration to Europe: Trends and Policies1

Growing Arab migration to Europe is a likely scenario for the coming years, poorly prepared for by current policies. The paper examines three reasons for this scenario: new patterns of family‐building in Arab countries; aging in Europe; and the emergence of a new demand for migrant labor. While the ongoing establishment of free trade may increase migratory pressures, government policies remain potentially conflicting – on the Arab side, optimizing the economic benefits drawn from emigrants and reviving their sense of belonging to their culture of origin; on the European side, restricting further immigration and integrating former migrants in the host society and culture.     

Migration Trends and Migration Policy in Europe

This paper summarizes the latest information on both stocks and flows of migrants in Europe, focusing specifically on arrivals from developing countries. It starts out by setting this into its historical context by showing how flows of labour migrants were followed by flows of family members, and later by asylum seekers and refugees. Then it looks more closely at recent migration data, though it finds these to be frequently incomplete and inconsistent. The most comparable cross–national data come from the OECD and Eurostat, which indicate that Germany had the largest flows of migrants in the 1990s followed by the United Kingdom. In addition to these arrivals there are probably between 2 and 3 million undocumented immigrants in Europe – accounting for 10 to 15 per cent of the total population of foreigners. The paper also traces the countries from where immigrants are leaving. Sources vary considerably from one immigration country to another, reflecting a number of factors, of which the most important are former colonial links, previous areas of labour recruitment, and ease of entry from neighbouring countries. In recent years, however, immigrants have been coming from a wider range of countries and particularly from lower–income countries. The paper also examines changes in immigration policy. National policies were fairly liberal during the 1950s and 1960s, before becoming restrictive from the 1970s on. Recently, however, a number of governments have been revising their policies to take better account of employment and demographic needs. The paper also traces the emergence of a cross–national European response to immigration, as European Union (EU) countries have become more concerned about their common external frontier. Thus far European countries have done little to try to control migration through cooperation with sending countries. They could, for example, direct Official Development Assistance to those countries most likely to send immigrants, though few appear to have done so in a deliberate fashion. The paper concludes that in the future immigration to the EU is likely to increase, both as a result of the demand for labour and because of low birth rates in the EU. In the short and medium term many of these requirements are likely to be met by flows from Eastern Europe, particularly following the eastward expansion of the EU. But, the longer–term picture will probably involve greater immigration from developing countries.     

The Role of Migration Policy Changes in Europe for Return Migration to Senegal

This study questions the role of migration policy changes in France, Italy, and Spain for return migration to Senegal, by analyzing biographic data from the Migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE‐Senegal) survey and the contextual data of the Determinants of International Migration (DEMIG) VISA and DEMIG POLICY databases that cover major changes in migration policies in these destination countries for the different categories of migrants. Event history logistic regressions reveal that Senegalese migrants are less likely to return when the entry restrictions have become tighter. This result suggests that the decision to return depends on the possibility of migrating again after the return, which is crucial for both theory and policy regarding Western democracies' attempts to regulate migration.     

Back to the South: Social and Political Aspects of Latin American Migration to Southern Europe

When migration from the Latin American and Caribbean countries to Europe is studied, a preferential stream can be noted towards southern Europe. There would also appear to have been a remarkable growth in the volume of flows in this direction in recent years. The flows themselves vary: in the case of Spain, nationals from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Argentina predominate; Portugal is the recipient of Brazilians; and Italy mainly plays host to nationals from Peru and Ecuador. These flows reveal the importance of various factors: economic push and pull mechanisms; the former presence in the region of Spain and Portugal as erstwhile colonial powers; the earlier waves of emigrants in that direction from Spain, Portugal and Italy; a relatively more favourable social reception; and political initiatives that favour the new sending countries. In other words, economic gaps, former historical links, cultural and linguistic affinities, family ties and diplomatic channels suggest that a special route exists for migrants from Latin America. The topics that will be expanded upon in this paper include the factors explaining recent immigration to southern Europe; the economic incorporation of immigrants; the social framework of flows, including reactions from local populations; and the tentative and multiple policy responses to immigration. Conclusions indicate that the potential for movements from Latin America, resulting from both previous and current links, has proved to be a favourable response to the need for immigrant workers in the case of southern European societies. Despite the familiar path (albeit in the reverse direction), the economic incorporation of immigrants has mainly occurred in the low‐ranking jobs, as was the case with other inflows. This stemmed from market needs, state failures and the importance of the family. However, given the numerous links between Latin America and southern Europe, the social and policy responses adopted towards these immigrants seem to have been more beneficial than towards other groups.     

Chinese Labor Migration to Europe, 2008-16. Implications for China-EU Mobility in the Post-crisis Context

The article examines the evolution of Chinese labour migration to the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Italy in order to elucidate how the flows and stocks of Chinese workers have evolved since the Global Economic Crisis, and what implications this has have for Sino-European mobility partnerships in the post-crisis context. It explains: (1) What comparative data are available on Chinese labour migration to the six principal countries of destination in Europe; (2) How have Chinese labour migration flows and stocks evolved since the GEC; (3) How may the new Chinese workers’ mobility to Europe affect their rights?