International mass migration: A threat to Europe's borders and stability?

Summary Western Europe has become an ‘epicentre’ of international migration. Theoretical considerations about the onset and persistence of international migration flows suggest that major inflows over extended periods would result if the migration process would be allowed to unfold in a natural fashion. However, massive migratory inflows would put severe strains on the receiving countries and, consequently, the governments will resist them. A systematic examination of current ‘entry gates’ shows that these gates have already narrowed down considerably. From that perspective mass migration does not, at the moment, seem to offer a serious threat to Western Europe's borders or stability. Nevertheless, for the longer term a largely administrative response to the phenomenon of increased migration pressure is likely to be inadequate. Those politically responsible should re-establish their primacy in this area of policymaking, and should insist on a Western European approach which is neither altruistic nor harsh, but seeks to combine humanitarian and socio-economic considerations in a way acceptable to both the major sending and receiving countries. Setting quota would have to be an essential element of that new approach.