Europe Immigration Issues

Migration issues have been especially troubling for Europeans in recent years. The number of immigrants has been increasing among Europeans and from outside Europe (Figure 3-59). The ease with which people are able to cross borders into Europe and among countries within Europe has been controversial.

Immigration In Europe, 2017

Guest Workers

Until recently, immigrants were regarded as useful additions to the labor force in Europe. With most European countries in stage 4 or 5 of the demographic transition, characterized by stagnant or declining population, immigrants took low-status and low-skill jobs that local residents didn’t want to do. In cities such as Berlin, Brussels, Paris, and Zurich, immigrants provide essential services, such as driving buses, collecting garbage, repairing streets, and washing dishes.

Germany and other wealthy European countries operated guest worker programs, in which people from poorer countries were allowed to immigrate temporarily to obtain jobs. They were protected by minimum-wage laws, labor union contracts, and other support programs. The guest worker programs, operated mainly during the 1960s and 1970s, were expected to be examples of circular migration, which is the temporary movement of a migrant worker between home and host countries to seek employment. Guest workers were expected to return to their countries of origin once their work was done.

However, rather than circular migrants, many immigrants who arrived originally under the guest worker program have remained permanently in Europe. They, along with their children and grandchildren, have become citizens of the host country. The term guest worker is no longer used in Europe, and the government programs no longer exist.

Although relatively low paid by European standards, immigrants could earn far more than they would at home. By letting their people work elsewhere, poorer countries reduce their own unemployment problems. Immigrants also help their native countries by sending remittances back home to their families.

Attitudes Toward Immigrants

Hostility to immigrants has become a central plank in the platform of political parties in many European countries. These parties blame immigrants for crime, unemployment, and high welfare costs. Above all, the anti-immigration parties fear that long-standing cultural traditions of the host country are threatened by immigrants who adhere to different religions, speak different languages, and practice different food and other cultural habits. From the standpoint of these parties, immigrants represent a threat to the centuries-old cultural traditions of the host country

Questions For Discussion

1. The European Union has official immigration policies. Search for European Union immigration policy or scan the QR. Summarize what European countries have agreed to do for immigrants.

2. Based on, do individual European countries seem to agree with the European Union's regional policy?

Anti-immigrant attitudes in Europe were heightened with the arrival of more than 1 million refugees from Asia beginning in 2015. Around half of these refugees came from Syria, and Afghanistan and Iraq were the states of origin of most of the remainder. These refugees were escaping from threats of murder, rape, torture, and loss of property in their home countries. Most arrived in Europe without authorization after travelling across the Mediterranean Sea in flimsy boats or walking overland through Southeast Europe. Compounding the tensions, the vast majority of the unauthorized immigrants were Muslims arriving in predominantly Christian Europe during the same time as a series of terrorist attacks in Europe were carried out by supporters of radical Muslim organizations (see Chapter 8).

Pause & Reflect 3.4.4

What demographic characteristics of European countries justified policies allowing a certain amount of immigration? Why have European attitudes toward immigrants changed in recent years?