ABSTRACT
From the 1990s onwards, the map of migration changed considerably as more migration to Western Europe started to take place from countries with which no links existed before. It became apparent that migrants do not always move because they are invited by family members or even by governments, but that they, themselves, take initiatives – or are sometimes forced to do so. As a result, immigration processes have became more fragmented than they were during the relatively transparent guest worker and colonial migration era (Böcker et al. 1998; Brubaker 1994). Governments generally reacted to the increase of ‘spontaneous’ migration by tightening national restrictions and increasing European cooperation on border control. Despite tightened admissions policies, there does not seem to be a decline in the numbers of migration to Western Europe. The difference is that these ‘spontaneous’, ‘non-invited’, or ‘unwanted’ immigrants often depend on intermediaries in their migration process, which may impact the process considerably. Restrictive migration policies have therefore had limited effect on the continuation of migration processes, though they have affected the way migrants move, along with costs and risks involved.
