Impact of Circular Migration on Human, Political and Civil Rights

Global movements and migrations have been part of human history forever. In recent decades, the global migration stock has increased more than in any other point in history, posing new questions and challenges not only concerning its political management but also regarding the persistence of global economic disparities. An element which is new are the increasing opportunities for mobility and communication that have deeply transformed the experience of those whose lives are touched by migration, including both the ones leading it or those left behind. Migratory movements are not only quantitatively more relevant but also distinct in their scope, extent, context, origin and nature. Migration projects are less unidirectional, definitive or permanent and are instead open-ended, multidirectional, and flexible. Migration is much more complex than flows of people from poor countries heading to richer countries in search of better opportunities. In this regard, South-South migration has gained importance in both academic and policy circles since most of the world migratory movements take place between countries of the global South. Furthermore, migration involves persons from diverse gender, ages, educational levels and social positions. The global economic recession has encouraged additional layers to emerge (e.g. return management, xenophobic attitudes, welfare system stability, limitations of nation-states and so on) on top of the existing panorama, all deserving closer attention. It has also put on the political and research agenda the mobility patterns within the immigrant population, as part of the strategies developed to better cope with the crisis. Yet migration studies, along with policies, have been approaching migration as a unilinear process, with a clear stated beginning and ultimate end.