Anastasia Bermudez

Is Spain becoming a country of emigration again?: data evidence and public responses

Spain is one of the EU countries most affected by the economic crisis and its deleterious impact on the labour market. With unemployment at record levels and specially affecting the young, men and foreign nationals, it is no surprise that emigration has increased significantly. Thus, after being a country of emigration and then attracting large inflows of migrants, Spain’s migratory balance has become negative again. Nevertheless, there is little clarity as to how important these new outflows are numerically and their main characteristics, something that is reflected in the policy responses and public debate. To help throw light on this, the current chapter first reviews the main official statistics in order to ascertain how many people are leaving, where and who they are. Although in absolute numbers current outflows do not reflect the severity of the socioeconomic context, emigration is on the rise and affects both Spaniards and non-natives. However, there are differences in the sociodemographic characteristics and main destinations of both groups. Second, the chapter argues that policy responses have been almost absent and the public debate polarized along ideological lines. While certain political parties and media denounce these flows as economically motivated and alert about the negative consequences, the government and others portray the phenomenon as mainly affecting return migration and young people in search of new experiences.

Colombian Migration to Spain, the UK and Belgium

This chapter offers information on the Colombian case that illustrates the analysis of migrant transnational politics, conflict and gender. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that in 2010 there were more than 4 million people from Latin America and the Caribbean settled in Europe, Colombians being one of the largest national groups. These Colombian flows are composed of economic migrants, refugees and others, with the conflict in Colombia being a cause of displacement. Spain is the main European country of reception, with significant communities present in the UK and Belgium. The author provides a snapshot of the Colombian migrant communities studied and the home and host contexts, with emphasis on the conflict, politics and gender situation in Colombia, as well as the transnational connections of the diaspora.

Trajectories of Colombian Migrants in Europe

This chapter introduces readers to the heterogeneity of Colombian migration, focusing on the experiences of labour migrants, students and professional flows and family migration. The author presents the stories of migrants arriving in the UK, Spain and Belgium from the 1970s up until our days. As well as representing a variety of experiences, differences between men and women based on social background are explored. Migrant destinations are chosen based on networks, information available and conditions of entry and settlement, with many migrants experiencing more than one or multiple migrations before their final destination. These mobilities have helped diversify personal, social and economic transnational links, maintained not only with the home country but also between different migrant communities within Europe and beyond.

The Colombian Diaspora: Settling and Integration

This chapter concludes Part II of the book, dedicated to exploring in some depth the migration and integration stories of Colombian migrants in Europe and their wider transnational links. This serves as a contextualisation of the migrant communities studied, prior to the analysis of their transnational politics in the rest of the text. As well as having different reasons for migrating and choosing a destination, Colombian migrants in Spain, the UK and Belgium have varied experiences of arrival and settlement. However, they also share concerns and difficulties around the issues of immigration status, access to the labour and housing markets, as well as health and discrimination. The recent economic crisis in Europe highlights the vulnerability many Colombian migrants in Europe still face.

Transnational Migration, Politics and Conflict

In this chapter, Bermudez revises the literature on transnational migration and diasporas, and migrant political participation and diaspora involvement in conflicts and peace efforts in home countries, from a gendered and an intersectional perspective. This review helps identify progress and gaps in knowledge, as well as key concepts and approaches for her research. The author’s own theoretical framework incorporates a wide definition of transnational migrant politics, including both ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ politics, and takes into consideration ‘immigrant’, ‘homeland’ and ‘diaspora’ politics. This is applied to the study of recent Colombian migration to Europe, integrating the micro, meso and macro levels and taking into account transnationalism from ‘below’ and ‘above’. Another key concept used is that of migrants’ ‘political capital’, which helps bring forward migrant agency.

Migrant Participation in Electoral Politics

Colombian migrants in Europe provide a good example of how the local-transnational political field functions, given the political rights they enjoy vis-a-vis the home and host countries. This chapter shows that participation in formal politics through the external vote and homeland political parties is low. However, this has to be understood in a context of political disaffection and distrust, as well as institutional barriers. Some migrants have a strong political capital and have continued participating from abroad, even if in different forms. In addition, often political engagement in home- and host-country politics is combined. Refugees display high levels of political activism, even if not always at the formal level, while participation can differ between men and women and according to education and class.

Actors ‘From Above’ in Transnational Politics

Colombia has been developing an integrated migration policy since the 1990s. This has contributed to the emergence of a transnational social field, with initiatives from above connecting migrants with the homeland. As this chapter shows, such efforts promote diaspora philanthropy and the use of migrants as informal ambassadors. Some respondents identify with state and private-led programmes fomenting nationalist and patriotic feelings or seeking to use the diaspora as a resource, but others see them with distrust and criticism. In general, Colombian migrants in Spain, the UK and Belgium argue that initiatives from above should focus more on improving their conditions vis-a-vis the home and host societies. Participation in these programmes is gender and class mediated, and depend also on other factors.

The Experiences of Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Although refugees share experiences with other migrants, their stories can be very different, both in terms of the causes leading to their exile and in how they reach their destination. In addition, refugees can face more severe challenges in the host society and in their transnational links. This chapter seeks to make visible the experiences of Colombian refugees in Spain, the UK and Belgium. Such experiences can vary depending on when and where refugees arrived, who or what they were escaping from, their human, social and political capital, as well as factors such as gender and family status. Still, there are common threads through their narratives, in terms of the repression and persecution suffered, the traumas of exile and their transnational connections.

Migrant Organisations and Diaspora Politics

Although migrant involvement in formal politics might be limited, this is not necessarily the case with informal politics. This chapter explores the myriad other ways in which Colombian migrants in Europe get involved in transnational politics, focusing first on the work of migrant organisations. Colombians have played a significant role in the emergence of a Latin American ethnic public presence in the three countries studied, with migrant organisations being involved in immigrant and emigrant politics. In addition, diaspora politics organised around the conflict in Colombia and efforts for peace have become a significant part of migrant civil society, in connection with home and host country as well as international civil society. This chapter completes the gendered analysis of the Colombian migrant transnational field.