Terrorism Abroad and Migration Policies at Home
In this article, Vincenzo Bove, Tobias Böhmelt and CSS’ Enzo Nussio argue that migration policy becomes more restrictive in countries that neighbor states targeted by terror attacks. Why? The authors contend that politicians may choose to restrict migration policy after terrorist attacks in their vicinity based on pressure from public opinion, political opportunism, and in anticipation of their neighbors’ policy choices.
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As one of the core items in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the facilitation of the safe and orderly migration of people with well-managed migration policies is crucial. Immigration can contribute positively to a destination country’s economy, but it can also create tensions between immigrants and native populations. In this article, the authors explore how terrorism in neighboring states shapes policy for addressing migration.
The authors write that migration policy can be influenced by terrorism, even though there is no objective linkage between the two. This is the result of a connection made in public discourse. Polish president Andrzej Duda, for example, said in 2017 that there “is no doubt that the growing wave of terrorism is linked to migration”. Nussio and his colleagues argue that in countries that neighbor those targeted by terrorism, migration policy is thus an ideal field of engagement for politicians who want to signal their activism without incurring major costs. This is also what the authors find in their empirical analysis of data on 33 OECD countries, that migration policy becomes more restrictive in the vicinity of targeted states.