ABSTRACT
There are many Europes: the Europe of the European Union with its 28 member states, the Europe of the Council of Europe with its 47 member states, and some historical ideas of Europe that even included North African Mediterranean regions. Some aspects, such as whether or not Turkey is European or qualifies for membership in the EU, are hotly disputed. Migration within this region and its neighbourhood, the European migration space, is diverse, complex and constantly changing over time. The principal poles of attraction for migration flows are the European Union, though not all its member states, and Russia; other relevant destination countries are Kazakhstan, to some extent Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Libya. Four major migration systems can be identified: the post-Soviet migration system, the Central and Western European migration system, the Turkish/ Middle Eastern migration system and the North African migration system. Each migration system can be distinguished by sub-systems of destination countries as, for example, between Kazakhstan and some of its neighbours; Egypt, Libya and various refugee and labour migrants sending countries; or Turkey and various countries from the Black Sea or Middle Eastern region, such as Moldova and Iran. Migration within this space is not simply east-west or south-north as often suggested in conventional thinking, but far more diverse. Instead, any direction is possible. Indeed, considerable numbers of migrants move south-east, from Turkey to Russia, or from east to east, e.g., Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan, or south-south, such as from Mali to Libya. Finally, there are also north-south movements, as of citizens from France to Morocco, or Germany to Turkey, which is often either return, retirement or sunshine but also highly-skilled migration.
