Policy Briefing
Migration policy: Why deterring people from moving is not a solution
Many people today want to know: How can policymakers manage migration better? In the first issue of our new Policy Briefing publication series, our experts Jessica Bither and Hannes Einsporn offer ideas for key building blocks of a humane and sustainable migration policy.
While today the total number of people forced to leave their homes or move across borders has reached record highs, the routes people take to escape war or persecution have become ever more perilous and dangerous. People who leave their homeland in hopes of a better future also use these so-called migration routes. Many asylum systems and government reception capacities are strained, while labor shortages in many countries remain unfilled.
The illusion of control
In their latest publication "Escaping the Deterrence Trap – Key Building for a Better Migration System," Jessica Bither and Hannes Einsporn, experts in the Migration Team at the Robert Bosch Stiftung, show how a combination of different policy measures can respond more quickly and flexibly to the growing challenges in migration policy. In the first issue of the Foundation’s new publication series, "Policy Briefing," the authors argue that restrictive measures alone will not lead to more "control" in migration policy. In fact, they can have the opposite effect.
They also criticize that political debates and government measures in many countries often take an overly simplistic view of migration. In practice, this means deterrence measures – for example, threats of intercepting or detaining migrants along migration routes. However, relying only heavily on deterrence can actually be counterproductive: When more asylum or visa applications are rejected, for example, this could potentially lead to an increase in irregular migration as people seek other access routes, Jessica Bither and Hannes Einsporn write.
“The key question is how governments and political decision-makers can embrace complexity and uncertainty in managing migration, rather than seeing them as obstacles to overcome and doubling down on measures that only give the illusion of control.”
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In their paper, the authors recommend that migration policy focus more on different and flexible policy measures and present practical examples from different regions of the world. The examples point to core building blocks for a system that more sustainably and legitimately orders migration. The prevailing migration policy often falls short of what is needed to meet the current and, above all, future challenges of migration.
“Political decision-makers need to take the new global realities driven by climate change, geopolitics, and technological disruption and innovation serious and shift their mindset and policies. Migration and mobility will not go away and its dynamics will only become more complex.”
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According to the authors, the current over emphasis on deterrence to control migration in many countries – through pushbacks of migrants and efforts to outsource asylum responsibilities – is fueling a global race to the bottom for standards and principles and leads to ever harsher measures to keep people out.
In contrast, a migration policy that relies more on flexible instruments, the interplay of different measures and options for migrants could strengthen governments' ability to act. This would also boost trust in politics in the long term, write Jessica Bither and Hannes Einsporn.