ABSTRACT
During the communist era labour migration in the Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) was regulated by means of a system of intergovernmental agreements and business contracts. The entry of foreign workers was based on the planned economy system and on the provision of international aid to the other countries of the former socialist bloc (IOM/ICMPD, 1999). However, the effectiveness of state-enforced migration control measures was limited to the formal sector of the economy. The crisis of both the economy and the state, which became increasingly visible in the 1980s, led to the mushrooming of informal economic activities. For example, informal trading activities – so-called ‘suitcase trading’ (Wallace, 1999: 35) – often involved cross-border movements. In the late 1980s, other informal and/or seasonal/temporary activities became more important (Bedzir, 2001).
