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MiReKoc. LABOUR DIMENSION OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION IN TURKEY. Prof. Dr. Ahmet İç duygu Director, Migration Reserach Program (MiReKoc) Dept. of International Relations Koç University, Istanbul , Turkey ABCDE Tokyo , May 2006. CONTENT. Introduction
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MiReKoc LABOUR DIMENSION OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION IN TURKEY Prof. Dr. Ahmet İçduygu Director, Migration Reserach Program (MiReKoc) Dept. of International Relations Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey ABCDE Tokyo, May 2006
CONTENT • Introduction • Research question: relationship btw international migration and informalization of economies • Irregular migration in Turkey • Transit migration • Circular migration • Asylum seeking • Irregular Migrant Labour in Turkey • Do immigrants create the conditions of the informality? • Do immigrants come into picture after these conditions are created? • Concluding Remarks • International migration and informalization of economies as a part of the structural patterns or transformations in our economies
Introduction • Research question: relationship btw international migration and informalization of economies • Are immigrants the direct causes of informalization? • Do immigrants take the less desirable jobs generated by informalization? • And, do immigrants led to a decline in the costs of production?
Irregular Migration in Turkey • Irregular migration in Turkey as a part/product of the international migratory regime(s) in • Europe • the Mediterranean Basin • the West Asia • Irregular migrant labour in Turkey as a part/product of the structural patterns or transformation in our economies • Irregular migration in Turkey as a part/product of the economic, social, political transformations in the neighbouring regions • Circular migration: after the collapse of the communist system • Transit migration: after political unrest in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq • Asylum seeking: after political unrest in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq
Irregular Migration in Turkey • Circular migration: after the collapse of the communist system • Transit migration: after political unrest in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq • Asylum seeking: after political unrest in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq
A Historical Synopsis • 1980s - Afghan asylum seekers/settlers: a couple of thousands • 1980s – Polish suitcase traders • 1980 onwards – Iranians fleeing: 500,000 – 1,000,000 • 1988 onwards – Iraqis (mostly Kurds): 50,000 (1988); 60,000(1990); 500,000 (1991) • 1989 – Turks from Bulgaria: over 300,000 people • 1992 - Bosnians: 20,000 -25,000 • 1999 – Albanians: 20,000 • 1990 onwards – People from the Eastern European and CIS countries: suitcase traders, shuttle/circular migrants, clandestine workers • 1990 onwards – People from the countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: transit migrants • 1990 onwards: orderly migrations of professionals, students, retired people
Transit Migration and Main Routes from and to Turkey Turkey as a Country of Immigration and Transit
Irregular Migrants in Turkey Irregular Migrants 1995-2005 Irregular Migrants 2000-2005
Irregular Migrant Labour in Turkey • In Turkey • Do immigrants create the conditions of the informality? • Do immigrants come into picture after these conditions are present? • The large extent and long-establishment of informality in the Turkish economy is obvious • It is not a pop-up problem in Turkey (often not considered as a problem), it has its own rationality within the developments of Turkish economy (Colak and Bekmez, 2004) • The informal sector employs more than half of all workers (OECD, 2004) • Who involves informal economic activities: those who – are relatively small scale, are sub-contractor, do not have economies of scale, with low capital requirement, with regional and/or family based formations, do not have social security protection, are irregular in terms of time dimension (seasonal, or part time)…
Irregular Migrant Labour in Turkey • The large extent and long-establishment of informality in the Turkish economy is obvious • But also there is an increase in the weight of informal sector, particularly in urban areas, in the country mainly because • there is an ongoing flows of migrants from rural to urban • entry to the market is very easy, and does not require any sunk cost • there is a need for a competitive structure of the economy due the liberalization and globalization • there is an increase in the number of small businesses and intra-family economic activities • there is still labour intensive economic activities • Economic policies/practices in the country may encourage (or at least do not discourage) such activities • “high level labour taxes, in particular social security charges, and stringent regulations constitute barriers to becoming formal which trap firms and workers in the informal economy, where they are deprived of access to public and banking services and cannot reap benefits from economies of scale” (OECD, 2004)
Irregular Migrant Labour in Turkey • Based on these reports, migrant workers can be classified in terms of their major sectors of activity: • Moldavian women providing household services, • female nationals of Eastern European countries and the Russian Federation and Ukraine working in the entertainment and sex sectors, • mostly men from Eastern European countries and some from various Asian and African countries working in the construction sector, • mostly female nationals of Eastern European countries and the Russian Federation and Ukraine working in the textile and clothing industries, • mixture of various foreign nationals engaging in employment in restaurant and other food-related sectors, and, • mostly men from the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan working in agricultural sectors. • The migrant workers usually engage in low paying, dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs, typical of the informal labour market. This picture confirms the stereotypes of irregular migrant workers, as a “reserve army of labour” or as a “secondary labour force”.
Concluding Remarks • International migration and informalization of economies as a part of the new international migratory regimes in the globalized world, • International migration and informalization of economies as a part of the structural patterns or transformations in our economies in the globalized world, • Immigrants do not create the conditions of the informality although they come into the picture after these conditions are created; they do the less desirable jobs generated by informalization, and they led to a decline in the costs of production of formal industries; in so doing, they facilitate informal production and engage in the distribution of certain activities.
