Migratory tides
The plight of immigrants in modern Europe detailed in new book
Archived article from Nov 10, 2000
By Irene O'Brien
When the Berlin Wall fell, thousands of East Germans moved west. Since then, Europe has seen several significant migratory waves as refugees fled Iraq, Bosnia, Haiti, Rwanda and other nations experiencing political turmoil or war.
Reynold Koslowski, assistant professor of political science on the Newark campus, has examined the impact of these recent events, as well as the history of migration. In his book, “Migrants and Citizens: Demographic Change in the European State System” (Cornell University Press), Koslowski argues that international migration has become central to international politics in the post–Cold War world.
In Europe, Koslowski points out, the nation-state and the political institutions established to address migration were developed during the centuries when European countries were net exporters of people, a trend that reversed less than a generation ago. In recent years, however, declining native population growth, the post–Cold War migration of guest workers and the recent influx of asylum seekers have changed European demographics by increasing the proportion of aliens within West European populations. As a result, Koslowski says, many countries are scrambling to deal with the political and policy demands brought on by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants.
Koslowski became interested in the topic of migration during a 1989 trip to Germany, where he was attending a language institute. “It was a language immersion program, and the participants were from all over the world, including many people who had immigrated to Germany, where they were now living and working,” he recalls.
“Most of these immigrants and a large proportion of their children were excluded from citizenship because the nationality laws that developed in many European countries are based on ancestral lineage. For the most part, citizenship based on lineage is the norm in continental Europe and much of the world.
“I found it fascinating that some immigrants were able to claim German heritage, and they were automatically granted German citizenship and all of the rights that went along with that. In contrast, the children of guest workers who had immigrated to Germany to work — children born in Germany — were not born as German citizens.”
As foreigners increasingly make up greater proportions of a state’s population, long-established notions about political identity have greater difficulty withstanding even casual scrutiny, Koslowski maintains. Statements like “Germany is not an immigration country” ring hollow in the face of the demographic reality that 13 percent of all children born in Germany are not born German citizens and 6.5 percent of children born in Germany as German citizens have one foreign parent.
Why the shift? Koslowski thinks it can be partly attributed to globalization. It is easier than ever before for people to travel the globe, crossing borders into one country from another. And advances in telecommunications and the Internet have made it affordable for people to maintain close ties with relatives and friends in other countries. Today, there are millions of people living and working in foreign countries for a variety of reasons, whether it be for purposes of asylum, to escape a war in their homeland or to better their standard of living.
“What are the social and political rights of these people?” Koslowski inquires. “Can they vote, can their children get an education, do they have access to health care?”
According to Koslowski, the mere existence of international migration in the face of opposition from many nations calls into question the ability of countries to control their borders, usually considered a fundamental attribute of sovereignty. “Yet how can countries stop their citizens from leaving, or stop citizens of other countries from entering, particularly in democratic societies?” he asks.
Some recent political situations have caused migration crises in Europe of tremendous proportions. One example is the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. At one point, 10 percent of all Bosnians lived in Germany, where they were given temporary protection by the German government. Once peace was established, however, these people were required to leave Germany and return home.
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