International Migration

Migration has been a widely debated issue in recent years. Events in Africa and the Arab world have led to migration to the European Union on an unprecedented scale and pushed the subject to the top of the political agenda. Globalization, demographic trends and changing geopolitics provide a backdrop to the current discourses and policies on migration. Humanitarian impulses conflict with public concerns about the 'welfare burden' of migrants on host societies. The increase in numbers and diversity of migrants is recognised as posing significant challenges for social and public policies. Simultaneously the policy landscape on migrants' entitlements to public services, as well as notions of social protection are in a state of flux in the context of the adoption of 'austerity policies' across the European Union and beyond. Philomena de Lima provides a contemporary understanding of migrants and migration processes and trends with a particular focus on issues related to the wellbeing of migrants and their access to services. The book will inform and educate social science students, policy-makers and those wrestling on a practical level with the implications of migration.