Circular Temporary Labour Migration: Reassessing Established Public Policies

Circular Temporary Labour Migration (CTLM) is being promoted as an innovative and viable way of regulating the flow of labour migrants. Based on a specific empirical case study, we identify an unexpected outcome of CTLM programmes: the emergence of a new empirical migrant category, the circular labour migrant, which is as yet theoretically unnamed and lacks recognition by public institutions. We argue that, to date, there have been two historical phases of circular labour migration: one with total deregulation and another with partial regulation, involving private actors supported by public institutions. In a developed welfare state context, it would be normatively pertinent to expect a step towards a third phase, involving the institutionalization of this new trend in mobility by the formulation of a public policy. Current legal, political, social, and economic frameworks have to be reassessed in order to recognise the category of the circular labour migrant. 1. Introduction In the search for new ways to channel human mobility, Circular Temporary Labour Migration (CTLM) has recently become a basic course of action promoted by relevant economic and political agents. Although the phenomenon of Temporary Labour Migration (TLM) originally emerged after the Second World War, a new type is now appearing: circular labour migration. Indeed, in the 1940s and 1950s, many workers from developing countries emigrated to the United States and Europe for temporary periods, in response to the needs for national reconstruction and the lack of low-skilled workers. However, the beginning of the twenty-first century saw a new boom in TLM programmes that share some traits with previous ones (economic sectors, skills level), but also have their own distinctive features. First, these new programmes are often managed by business actors who are directly involved in hiring. Second, and more importantly, there has been a tendency towards creating workers’ programmes that are circular in nature, involving the same individuals year after year, with an annual return that is assumed rather than implied. International organizations have pointed out the potential benefits of this new system of mobility. These virtues are said to be a result of the link between three development processes: the country of origin, the receiving country, and the temporary workers. It is precisely because of this “triple win” effect that different institutions promote it. Some examples of this include the EU pilot circular migration and mobility partnerships, as defined by the 2839th Council of General