Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective

According to the latest World Migration Report, 12 of the 20 top destinations for international migrants in 2020 were countries not belonging to what are considered traditional (Western) migrant-receiving countries in North America, Western Europe, and Australia.

Yet, despite these ever-growing migratory processes in non-Western migration locales, the mainstream literature remains largely focused on the study of migrants’ experiences and immigration policies in the context of traditional Western liberal democracies.

As a result, major non-Western migration destinations elsewhere in the world remain underrepresented by existing theories and comparative research within migration studies.

The overarching objective of the MARS is to increase our scientific understanding about global, regional and national governance of migration and mobilities and thereby to contribute to the global and national efforts to facilitate safe, regular and orderly migration. This aim will be accomplished by conducting research and a staff exchange programme on non-Western migration regimes.

More specifically, MARS is constructed around three interlinked goals, which are to 1) collect original empirical data on the interplay between migration governance processes and migrants’ experiences in non-Western migration locales; 2) engage with and situate our research in relevant theoretical and comparative debates within migration studies and thereby advance scholarly discussion on contemporary migration regimes (comparative migration studies) by developing new conceptual and methodological approaches to understanding migratory processes in non-Western locales; and 3) translate research findings into policy-relevant ways, including presentations and policy papers to provide strategic intelligence and policy insights for international organisations, development agencies, decision-makers, and practitioners inside and outside the EU on possible ways to improve migration governance practices.