Annual Overview of International Migration in Central and Eastern Europe - 2008

Seven commentaries from seven different countries on the important events and changes which took place in the field of migration last year

Annual Overview 2007 can be found here.
Annual Overview 2006 can be found here.

MigrationOnline.cz has published brief overviews on events in the field of migration that happened in the course of the last year in selected Central European and Eastern European states. Contributions from seven countries help to characterise developments in the field of labour migration and asylum in 2008. In this year, changes concerning asylum and migration legislatives took place in many countries, and the consequences of the entry of some countries into the Schengen agreement became evident. All the contributions consider the topic of the financial crisis and the different ways that it has affected labour migration, whether on the political, economical or social level. Although individual contributions do not provide an exhaustive overview, as a whole they provide the reader with an interesting perspective on the reality of migration in Central and Eastern European countries.


Bulgaria
The Czech Republic
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Ukraine

Bulgaria

Migration trends in Bulgaria have remained stable, continuing at a steady pace in 2008 after its accession to the EU in January 2007. The estimated rates of out-migration show no significant changes. However, for the first time Bulgaria was considered as a destination country for immigration and for return migration both on the level of public discourse and people's attitude. Three events have strengthened this trend.

The first is the "credit crunch" which has started to influence migration flows, if not always in practice, then on the level of intentions. Even though the crisis has not yet precipitated substantial numbers of returnees, at the end of the year many migrants in countries as diverse as Spain, the UK, and the US, began considering a return home. Those who have migrated most recently, and have not yet established themselves, are affected the most. One of the reasons is that the largest numbers of Bulgarian migrants are employed in low-skilled labour like construction, factory work, or agriculture. It is thought that Bulgaria will soon witness return migration.

The second event is the Bulgarian government's first attempt to devise a common policy on migration, as expressed in the National strategy for migration and integration June. One objective of the strategy is to attract migrants back to Bulgaria. Different stages include a survey among migrants on their present employment conditions and the conditions that they would look for in Bulgaria before any prospective return, followed by labour fairs with a predominance of construction companies offering jobs in Bulgaria. The initiative, although broadly advertised, remains largely ineffective, but it is an important joint first step by the state and the business community in establishing a link with emigrants.

Another aspect of the government's attempts for reconciliation with Bulgarians abroad is the decision to harmonize the health and social security system. Bulgarian citizens who have been out of the country for more than 183 days between 1999 and 2007, and have not used state covered medical assistance, no longer owe money for health insurance for that period. If they have paid for national health insurance then they can request a refund of the instalments they have already paid. This is a very important issue for many migrants who considered the requirement for double health insurance absurd and insulting.

The third issue related to Bulgaria's attempts to compensate for the lack of high and low-skilled labour in the country is the effort to import labour. Bilateral agreements were achieved with other countries such as Armenia, Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam. This was accompanied by changes in the legislation for the regulation and legalization of foreign labour. As a result a small number of Vietnamese electricians and welders were brought over. In addition, there are a large number of labour migrants with working visas from Turkey and Macedonia. These attempts to make the labour market in Bulgaria more flexible and accessible for foreign labour are a clear sign of the country's willingness to become a place of immigration.

In conclusion, membership of the EU not only creates opportunities for migration out of Bulgaria, but also includes Bulgaria in the group of countries which can offer a 'normal' standard of life. Bulgaria is thus seen as a European country, and is credited with a higher status, which may influence emigrants to return, while immigrants start flowing in. This marks the beginning of a repositioning of Bulgaria on the migration scene as a country of return migration and immigration.

Neda Deneva
Is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology (Central European University, Budapest).

The Czech Republic

Although the Czech Republic was not substantially affected by the financial crisis in 2008, thousands (an estimated 6000-8000) of agency employees - third country nationals - were dismissed. It is not possible to estimate the true number, mainly because the system has tolerated the semi-legal and illegal practices of intermediary agencies for such a long time. The position of the former agency employees is worsened by the fact that along with their work foreigners lose their legal residence. The situation has thus brought the neglected issue of intermediary agencies to light: in contravention of the law they neither take responsibility for the foreign workers that they bring to the Czech Republic, nor for the workers that they employ in the Czech Republic. This is not only due to the indifference of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs but also due to the complicated state of Czech migration politics which makes it difficult for foreigners to apply for visas and other crucial documents by themselves. The situation has also been worsened by the ongoing critical state of affairs at the Czech embassies in countries such as Vietnam, Mongolia and the Ukraine, which have appeared in the media due to accusations concerning corruption.

After the Czech Republic entered the Schengen zone, sections of the Foreign Police and the customs officers have focused on more frequent and robust actions targeting migrants without a right of residency. These kinds of actions have intensified the repressive attitude towards illegal migrants. The event which has evoked the greatest outcry in the Vietnamese community and more generally was the police raid in autumn which targeted the Vietnamese market Sapa in Prague. The market workers were surrounded by about eight hundred policemen, who were backed up with armoured transporters and helicopters. The result of this inspection of nearly 600 people which took place under deplorable conditions was the exposal of only five foreigners without a right of residence.

In August 2008 the agenda of integration of foreigners was moved from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, a move which thus intensified its already strong position. Thus it is now the case that only one department of the Ministry of the Interior drafts migration and asylum policy legislation, decides about asylum cases, evaluates the activities of the work agencies and simultaneously is responsible for the integration of foreigners. At present the Ministry of the Interior is also engaged in gradually taking over some of the responsibilities of the Foreign Police. These changes have thus disturbed the model which was originally designed so that each relevant ministry would be in charge of a specific part of immigration policy, and would coordinate their activities with the other ministries.

In 2008 the regulation requiring a compulsory Czech language exam in order to apply for the permanent residence permit was approved (valid from January 2009). Since the ministries could not agree on the financing of Czech language courses, it was decided that the compulsory exam would be of the easiest level A1. The state covers the cost of one exam for each immigrant; all other costs must be covered by the applicant. The exam falls under the agenda of the ministry of education which has launched a special website for it (http://check-your-czech.com).

Green cards for foreigners were introduced from the 1st of January,. In contrast with the existing arrangements, when it was necessary for citizens outside of the European Union to have two permits for work and residency in the Czech Republic (the residency permit and the work permit), from 2009 one permit should be sufficient - the green card. In December the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic published a list of countries whose citizens are entitled to apply for the green card. The list contains only 12 states (amongst them Australia and Canada). This attracted the criticism of many NGOs because the main objective of the green card was supposed to be to simplify the process of labour migration. Although the Ukraine is on the list of chosen countries, many of the other major migrant-sending countries- like Vietnam or Mongolia - are missing from the list.

Marie Jelínková a Barbora Tošnerová
The authors are editors of the www.migrationonline.cz website.

Hungary

Despite the limited number of applications for asylum in 2008, attention continues to be drawn to deficiencies in the reception and integration of refugees in Hungary. The Hungarian government has been reproached for prioritising complicated statutes and the financing of migration units over measures to support refugees, and issues such as family reunification. It seems that Hungary's policies on international migration are ultimately concerned with issues of public order and security. These problems have been compounded by the absence of a coherent migration policy during the period of accession to the Schengen area.

In 2007, new laws defining the rights and commitments of refugees were brought into effect. First, the State decided to provide free schooling to children younger than 18. Young people are also entitled to a special course of linguistic preparation if they want to attend higher education.

Adults may receive allowances for a number of reasons: if they accept work (whether conventional or community work), or follow a vocational training course. To receive this allowance, the refugees must follow a free Hungarian language course for 24 months after their status as refugees has been recognised. Another allowance is available for those who wish to move out from the dormitory, or shelter, and rent a flat of their own. The Hungarian State will also reimburse the costs of translating into Hungarian those documents which are necessary for a migrant's social integration.

The Global Service Centre of the UNHCR was relocated to Budapest. Meanwhile, the police and the Border Guard were unified in January 2008, with a resulting reduction in the number of persons involved in regulating external and internal borders.

In 2008 the three national refugee centres were reorganised: people are now accommodated in different centres according to the status of their application. At the beginning of the process, the applicants for asylum will stay in Békéscsaba for an average of 15 days. Next they are accommodated at the Debrecen Centre until their application has been assessed, which, in the case of an appeal, may take years. Those applicants who are rejected remain there until their case is settled. Meanwhile, those who are recognised as refugees by the Hungarian authorities are moved to the Bicske Centre for integration, where they will stay for an average of six months. These changes to the system were difficult for some children who had lived in the country for a while. They found it difficult to leave their established living environment, where they had already started to integrate, and start again in a new school and living situation.

Hungary has to deal with a key institutional problem before its issues with the asylum process can be dealt with: integration policy has never been the responsibility of one ministry or governmental agency. While the Office for Migration and Nationality, under the Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement, has a task to execute and co-ordinate administrative tasks related to the integration, return and resettlement of refugees, the Migration Department of the Ministry is developing on legislation relating to the facilitation of immigrants' social integration. The question now is to find how to include the core task of integration of migrants into the competences and responsibilities of the administration.

Judit Tóth
Hungarian Association for Migrants

Poland

The past few years have seen a high level of Polish labour migration to the United Kingdom, Ireland and other EEA countries. In 2008 the Polish migrants were supposed to start coming back. Their comeback was widely discussed by the media, though not to the same extent as the earlier outflow of Poles. The returns were in fact quite moderate. Certainly, it can be assumed that the number of Poles leaving to work abroad has decreased and the number of returnees increased, but there is little data on the real scale of either process.

A great number of Poles still remain abroad and it is difficult to say whether or not Poland will see a great wave of returns to match the wave of emigration observed from 2000 to 2007. This seemed a possibility in the context of the "world crisis", but it seems that most Polish workers abroad have decided to wait and see how the crisis will develop, to face it abroad rather than in Poland. It is worth adding that through most of 2008 the strong zloty did support the returns. As the crisis started to weaken the Polish currency, it was hoped that the consequences of staying abroad would be less painful than those of coming back.

With regard to immigration to Poland, apparently the most influential factor are the regulations allowing Eastern neighbours to work without a permit and to have less trouble with obtaining a work visa. The introduction of the new procedures was supposed to regulate the market for seasonal workers and, in a sense, compensate for the loss of the irregular seasonal workers due to the introduction of visas in 2003 (until then many Ukrainians and Belarusians worked in Poland illegally while staying on a tourist visa). The regulations introduced in 2007 and 2008 require that a person interested in hiring Ukrainian, Belarusian or Russian citizens register their wish to employ a given person at a local labour office. Labour migrants obtain a work visa on the basis of such a declaration and can work in Poland for six months in a year. In 2008, there were a total of 156 105 registered declarations of hiring citizens from abroad, 142 960 from Ukraine, 11 998 from Belarus, and 1 147 from Russia. The main area of employment was agriculture (77 187) and construction (23 949). The number of "standard" work permits issued during this time was over thirteen times lower at 11 530.

Overall, it can be said that the situation in Poland in terms of migration stabilized somewhat in 2008. It is difficult to predict the future, but certain initiatives which simplify employment procedures for foreigners, favour long-term immigration and support the integration of foreign workers who are already working in Poland will be introduced in the new labour market law that should come into effect in early 2009. This should lead to a further stabilization of immigration in terms of employment of foreigners. The other expectation is that a smaller number of Poles will emigrate and that a greater number of Polish emigrants will gradually return.

Mirosław Bieniecki
Assistant professor at Warsaw School of Social Psychology. Expert and researcher at Caritas Polska and the Institute of Public Affairs.

Romania

In its second year as a new member state of the EU, Romania continues to be a country of emigration. The migration patterns of the country in 2008 were the same as in 2007. The country remains amongst the top 10 countries in the world that are dependent on remittance in-flows, receiving about 9 million USD in each of the past two years, according to World Bank estimations.[1]

Since the volume of remittances in the past two years has remained the same, it appears that the number of temporary Romanian emigrants did not increase significantly in 2008 compared to 2007. It is hard to say how many Romanians were abroad at the end of 2008 due to the fact that short term circular migration makes up a large share of total temporary emigration. Combining different data sources on residence abroad and on remittances one could estimate the average number of temporary emigrants from Romania in 2008 at about 2.5 million.

Italy and Spain were still the main destination countries for Romanian emigration, with about 40-45 % of migrants residing in Italy and about 30-35 % in Spain. Emigration abroad became less and less selective with a flow composition that is to a large degree consistent with the demographic and socio-economic structure of the country population. The number of low and of highly skilled emigrants rose slightly in 2008 compared to 2007.

The typical male Romanian emigrant works in construction, and the typical female emigrant is a housekeeper; frequently they live abroad not as individuals but as families. That greatly complicates the decision to return home. Permanent emigration remains relatively small, with an average 11,000 persons settling abroad each year since 1998.

Survey data collected abroad indicates that at the end of 2008 a large number of Romanian emigrants started to be concerned about the future in the context of the global financial crisis. Among Romanian immigrants to Spain, the share of those having the intention to return to Romania was about one third[2]. Constraints on labour markets in origin and in destination countries in times of crisis will shape the re-migration patterns to a large extent. The empirical evidence suggests that some of the returns to Romania will only be temporary and that once the crisis is over re-emigration will take place.

Dumitru Sandu
Professor, Sociology Department, University of Bucharest

[1] Migration and Development Brief ,no. 5 and no. 8 from 2008.
[2] Unpublished results from the survey that I directed in October 2008, in Madrid area for a Soros Foundation research grant.

Slovakia

A number of significant events in the field of migration and asylum matters occurred on the territory of the Slovak Republic in 2008 that have influenced the rights, duties and status of third country nationals.

From a statistical point of view, it is important to point to a record drop in the number of applications for asylum, with only 909 applications for asylum being submitted in Slovakia in 2008. The number of applicants who were granted asylum increased slightly from 14 in 2007 to 22 in 2008, but the figure is still very low when compared with other EU Member States.

The EU Council Directive on minimum standards of procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status (the so-called Procedures Directive) was transposed into national legislation. This directive, among others, laid down time-limits for court proceedings on asylum matters as follows: a regional court must decide on a legal remedy against a decision of the Migration Office of the Ministry of Interior (MVSR Migration Office) within 90 days and the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic has to decide on an appeal against the decision of the regional court within 60 days.

The legislation change related to the setting of time-limits for court proceedings represents a significant acceleration of the decision-making process in the respective courts and prevents applicants for asylum from waiting for an examination of their applications by a court for a disproportionate length of time.

In December, another amendment to the law on asylum entered into force, which is related to the duty of the state to provide free legal assistance to those applicants for asylum whose applications were rejected in submitting an appeal against the decision of the MVSR Migration Office. Free legal assistance for third country nationals requesting international protection was newly secured by the Centre for Legal Aid, an organization at the Ministry of Justice financed from the state budget, as well as by non-governmental organisations. The amendment has also brought another significant change to the decision-making of the MVSR Migration Office - elimination of the double examination of a hindrance to administrative expulsion, performed by the Migration Office and subsequently by the Office of Border and Alien Police of the Ministry of Interior. The ability to decide the existence of a hindrance to administrative expulsion currently lies exclusively with the organs of the Office of Border and Alien Police of the Ministry of Interior.

In 2008, the first-ever work on integration of aliens, "Integrácia migrantov v Slovenskej republike, Výzvy a odporúčania pre tvorcov politík" (Integration of Migrants in the Slovak Republic, Challenges and Recommendations for Policy Makers) written by Zuzana Bargerová and Boris Divinský, was published in Slovakia. The publication has also been positively viewed by the Slovak Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, which has embraced individual parts of the work to such an extent that these were integrated into the Alien Integration Strategy being prepared by the ministry.

In 2008, the first more serious debate on the shortage of qualified labour in Slovakia started. The Slovak Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family in cooperation with other organisations arranged an international conference, From the Lack of Job Opportunities to the Lack of Qualified Labour, dealing with the necessity of employing migrants in the labour market and sharing the experience from other EU Member States.

The labour shortage in certain professions contributed to a withdrawal from the Agreement between the Government of the Slovak Republic and the Government of Ukraine on Mutual Employment of Citizens at the end of 2007, which made the access of Ukrainians to the Slovak labour market in 2008 easier, as quotas for their employment in Slovakia were abandoned.

Miroslava Šnírerová
Lawyer at the League for Human Rights, lecturer at the Department of the International Law and the European Law, Faculty of Law, Trnava University.

Ukraine

In 2008 the number of Ukrainian labour migrants abroad was officially declared to be 3 million. A half of these were working in Russia and the other half in the EU (Italy - 13,4 %, Czech Republic - 12,8%, Poland - 7,4%, Spain - 3,9%, Portugal - 3 %). The sum of money transferred to Ukraine in remittances was estimated between 5 and 8 billion USD.

More than a dozen institutions deal with issues of migration, and, in recognition of the need for a comprehensive concept of migration policy, the Ukrainian authorities had discussed establishing an institution responsible for the coordination of migration policy. Although this was slowed down by the political crisis, the concept, which was finally approved by the government in December, proposes the creation of a single coordinating body responsible for: providing social security to migrants abroad; creating an electronic system of migration control; preventing illegal migration; and supporting migrants' return. Until these visions are turned into practice, emigration is set to intensify, especially due to the economic crisis and the introduction of special schemes by neighboring countries for their minorities living in Ukraine. Poland, like Hungary, introduced the "Card of Pole" for Polish minorities abroad, granting them the right of employment in Poland and facilitating visa procedures. Many Western Ukrainians with Polish roots consider this a good opportunity for labour migration to Poland. The Czech "Green Card" could also intensify emigration.

Border control became much stricter and visa procedures more complicated and costly following Poland, Slovakia and Hungary's entry into the Schengen zone. Although Ukraine and the EU signed an agreement setting the price of a visa at 35 euros, and making several categories of Ukrainians eligible for a free visa, the agreement was enacted only by individual EU states.

The Ukrainian government negotiated the agreements about small-border movement with Poland, Slovakia and Romania. These negotiations intensified after protests and border blockades by Ukrainians in January and February, when Poland, Hungary and Slovakia entered the Schengen zone. An agreement between Ukraine and Hungary allowed a border zone with a 50 km boundary. Since September, the small-border zone with Slovakia has entailed a 30 km boundary and only Ukrainians living in the border zone for at least 3 years are eligible to receive the permit. The duration of this permit is 1 to 5 years. Ukraine signed a similar agreement with Poland, but its approval was postponed by the European Commission. The small-border movement zone had to be diminished from 50 km to 30 km before it was finally signed in December. The zone's inhabitants are eligible for multiple entry permits of between 2 and 5 years. This agreement is in the process of ratification in each state and its implementation is scheduled for mid-2009. A similar agreement with Romania is in the final stage of negotiations.

During 2008 Ukraine held negotiations with Moldova, Belarus and Russia regarding the demarcation of the border. This demarcation is necessary for Ukraine to have a visa-free scheme with the EU, and, in the long run, to integrate into the EU. In 2008, the Ukrainian and Russian parliaments ratified a readmission agreement.

The question of immigration to Ukraine was an important issue in the public discourse, which was intensified by several cases of racist attacks on immigrants. Ukraine remains one of the main transit-countries for migrants from China, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and post-Soviet countries. Some of those who were not successful in crossing the EU border stay in Ukraine, with the Ministry of Internal Affairs estimating that each year around 20 000 remain. In January Ukraine ratified a readmission agreement with the EU. As a condition of that agreement, Ukraine had to establish several refugee centers in 2008.

Some politicians expressed the need for a more restrictive immigration policy, and for limiting access to Ukrainian citizenship for some categories of migrants. There are plans to create a biometric data system for people entering Ukraine. The policy of Ukraine towards refugees and asylum seekers has been criticized by several civic organizations.

Myroslava Keryk
Teaching assistant at Lazarski School of Commerce and Law in Warsaw