Editorial

The rise of nationalism of which we spoke last issue has, regrettably, continued unabated, fueled by not only the Brexit vote which has played into the hands of nationalist political interests in other countries but by the series of terrorist attacks in a number of European countries which has further increased fears of immigrants and refugees and produced calls for ever greater restrictions on migration. One such control mechanism, the agreement between the EU and Turkey, has had the perhaps predictable effect of shifting migration routes back to the Mediterranean crossing to Italy together with a return to high numbers of deaths at sea, at over 3,100 for 2016 at the time of this writing, according to the IOM. The future of this agreement remains uncertain, especially now with the increased tensions between the EU and Turkey resulting in part from the Turkish government's responses to the attempted coup on July 15. The United Nations General Assembly's September 19 High Level Summit to “address large movements of refugees and migrants with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach” was designed to forge a new path for the international community in responding to these flows in ways that are humane while preventing them from developing into a crisis. Success here will require a deep commitment on the part of the governments of UN member states and a willingness to work multi-laterally, and perhaps by pooling sovereignty. We can hope that the International Organization for Migration's becoming an agency of the United Nations, with the agreement to be signed at the September Summit, will stimulate the sorts of international co-operation required. We open this issue with a set of papers that examine the impacts, intended or otherwise, of the institutions of society on migrants. The highly regulated societies of today have established a myriad of institutions to deliver services to their populations and to maintain social order. These regulatory frameworks have adjusted to the reality of large scale migration in a variety of ways, some supportive, some less so, and some creating unintended effects that can undo the good that was their principal objective. The complexity of modern government programs is evident, for example, in Sweden's old-age pension system. Ekberg and Lindh take us through the effects of a highly differentiated system on immigrants, some of whom have done better than others as a result of recent changes to the system and its attempts to manage the reality of some immigrants bringing pensions with them from their homelands. Political institutions tend to offer voting rights to only those who are citizens, but non-EU citizens in the Italian province of Bologna can take advantage of an innovative Foreign Citizens Council which Sredanovic looks at from the migrant residents’ point of view, discovering that their motives for voting are many and varied, and sometimes surprising. Health care institutions are primary in any society and are among the most costly to operate, and restricted access to migrants is not uncommon. Demintseva and Kashnitsky explore the limits to health care faced by migrants from some of the former Soviet states and the strategies they use to overcome the barriers. In general, access to the institutions of a society feature prominently in the lives of immigrants, and the labour market is regarded as among the keys to successful integration. Pendakur and Pendakur take advantage of the rich data sources on labour market outcomes in Canada to reveal the trajectories of those who came to the country as children. They find regrettable disparities, especially for visible minority male immigrants. It is not only countries of reception whose institutions matter to the lives of migrants, but those of homelands as well. Concerned about the number of women leaving for employment as domestic workers in countries not well-known for protecting their interests and concerned about the well-being of their children left behind, Sri Lanka introduced measures to restrict this type of emigration. Although the numbers of emigres has declined, Weeraratne describes how many have chosen to skirt the new regulations by using irregular means of migrating and thereby subjecting themselves to greater vulnerabilities in their countries of destination. Multi-lateral institutions, too, have their effects on migrants, and Malit and Naufal show how the oft-revealed vulnerabilities of migrant workers in the GCC countries are exacerbated by inadequate flows of information among the institutions within the Kafala system. Another example of migration governed through multi-lateral arrangements is Canada's program for seasonal agricultural workers. Silverman and Hari argue that its success as measured by the ability and willingness of the workers to return year after year amounts to coercion arising from consent. Remittances remain top of mind for many studying the relationship between migration and development, and in this issue, Hassan, Chowdhury, and Bhuyan analyze the long-term effects of remittances on economic growth in Bangladesh, finding a dynamic pattern over time. Mourao offers an extensive examination of remittances sent by Portuguese migrants in 59 countries, linking their ability to remit to levels of income inequality in their country of destination. Taking our cues from the ever-widening concept of remittances, we look at human capital exchanges as a form of what Peggy Levitt calls social remittances. Petroff looks at how a Romanian “brain networking organization” mitigates the effects of human capital losses through virtual forms of brain mobility. We close this issue with a return to student migration, specifically the effects of foreign students on host populations. The arrival of nearly a million migrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union towards the end of last century offers Chachashvili-Bolotin, Lissitsa, Shavit, and Ayalon a chance to test the effects of the presence of those of student age on the educational outcomes of Israeli-born students with whom they shared classrooms. They are pleased to report positive results. In an effort to counter population decline, Poland has joined the club of countries seeking not only immigrants in general but international students in particular. Kubiciel-Lodzińska and Ruszczak tell us the extent of their success in one region of the country.

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