Law as an Agent of Social Transformation: Trends in the Legal Regulation of Migration

Abstract

The movement of people around the globe is at once an inevitable concomitant of scientific and social development and a site of tremendous contest. The technological advances that feed globalization have facilitated exponential growth in both regular and irregular migration, as people cross borders in search of economic opportunity or security. The overall percentage of people on the move may have remained relatively stable, but the sheer numbers are astonishing. For example, in 2013 the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR, 2014) recorded over 51 million refugees and ‘persons of concern’ displaced by war or other catastrophes. The phenomenon of modern migration has fostered a process of internationalization within and between states. Within states, it has fuelled endless debates about the burdens attending immigration in any form. Do migrants make jobs or take jobs? Do they offer protection against an ageing population or do they put strains on scarce public resources in areas such as education, health and housing? Do they enrich societies with their diverse cultures or do they cause harm by congregating in ghettos that spawn crime and social unrest? Migration also affects relations between states — and not just because crossing borders obviously implicates (at least) two countries.