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Temporary Migration Projects, Special Rights and Social Dumping

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Abstract

It is often argued that in order to prevent migration from having social dumping effects, a strict enforcement of equal labour and welfare rights for both migrants and local workers is required. However, we claim that the specific circumstances of those migrants who engage in temporary migration may require a regime of special rights and labour standards that protect and further their distinctive interests and needs. We defend this claim by appealing to the principle that labour and welfare rights should accommodate the life plans of workers and we show that not only these special arrangements are fairer to the migrants involved, but they could also help to prevent social dumping.

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Notes

  1. We are not referring here to migrants who hold temporary visas or migrate under temporary migration programs, although they may sometimes do so. What defines this migratory patterns is the intention of the migrants themselves to remain temporarily. In fact, existing temporary migration programs are not congenial to this type of migratory plans. Quite apart from their often exploitative and demeaning character (Anderson 2010; Lenard and Strahele 2012), these programs are usually designed to prevent permanent settlement and to serve the labour market needs of the receiving countries, rather than the plans of migrants. This means that for example many migrants may be forced to return at a time that is highly unsuited to their overall plans (Dustmann 2003; Dustmann and Görlach 2016).

  2. While temporary and circular migration have been on the rise for a number of years, it may be wondered whether this trend is likely to continue in the future. In fact, the general tightening of border controls and the rise of anti-immigration sentiment might induce migrants who fear losing access to the labour market of the host country to abandon their traditional patterns of mobility for permanent migration. This seems to be the case at the Mexico-US border (Massey et al. 2016). However, in some cases the same anti-immigration forces have aimed at diminishing the rate of permanent migration, resulting in an increase in temporary migration (See Oke 2012; Bedford et al. 2017). Moreover, recent studies on the Mexico-US border itself have found an ambiguous effect of migration policies on overall migration duration (See Carrión-Flores 2018); any general prediction on these trends, especially at the global level, remains therefore somewhat speculative.

  3. Similar patterns of migration exist also towards other areas, for example from Asia to the Gulf States. We do not include such patterns in our discussion because given the general lack of labour protections and access to permanent settlement and citizenship in these countries our argument here is not relevant in this context (See De Bel-Air 2018; Kanchana 2018).

  4. Ottonelli and Torresi 2012.

  5. Contratto Nazionale Collettivo Colf e Badanti 2018.

  6. See ILO’s Recommendation concerning Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning (n. 195 of 2004), and European Social Charter, Part II Article 1(4).

  7. We have reviewed these new forms of organisation in Ottonelli and Torresi 2014; see also Krings 2009; Wills 2008.

  8. See Thomas and Tufts 2016; Hermann 2014; Moreira et al. 2015; Wilson 2018. Thus, we are not assuming any particularly robust set of protections for all workers.

  9. For an insightful account of the structural injustice involved in temporary migration, see Nuti 2018.

  10. We have discussed the conditions to be met for migration to be considered voluntary in Ottonelli and Torresi 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Classics, Philosophy and History, University of Genova, via Balbi 2, 16126, Genoa, Italy

    Valeria Ottonelli

  2. Department of Politics and International Studies, School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Napier Building, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Tiziana Torresi

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  1. Valeria Ottonelli
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  2. Tiziana Torresi
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Correspondence to Valeria Ottonelli.

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Ottonelli, V., Torresi, T. Temporary Migration Projects, Special Rights and Social Dumping. Ethic Theory Moral Prac 22, 267–281 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-018-9971-x

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