ABSTRACT

In theories of international migration, economic factors tend to prevail and far too little attention is paid to the role of the state. However, in periods of strict immigration control, such as the present, the significance of state policies is on trial. Control systems are not perfect, though, and clandestine migration and illegal trafficking of migrants are unavoidable problems. Since the door was closed for labour migrants in the beginning of the 1970s, the main legal forms of entry have been through the asylum 'door', the humanitarian 'door' or through family reunification. Immigration and emigration are population movements across national boundaries. Individuals who migrate to a country and then reside there for longer than a short period of time are immigrants from the perspective of the receiving country, and at the same time emigrants in relation to the country of origin.