The Politics of Return
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The Politics of Return Dynamics of Depoliticization and Institutionalization in the Domestic and International Governance of Migrant Return Anne Koch Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.) Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies Hertie School of Governance Quartier 110, Friedrichstraße 180 10117 Berlin 2014 First supervisor: Prof. Markus Jachtenfuchs Hertie School of Governance Quartier 110, Friedrichstraße 180 10117 Berlin Second supervisor: Prof. Ruud Koopmans Wissenschaftszentrum für Sozialforschung Berlin (WZB) Reichpietschufer 50 10785 Berlin 2 Whoever claimed that the state is “retreating” has obviously never studied migration policy. (Menz 2009: 257) 3 Overview Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 13 2. Theorizing the Politics of Migrant Return ........................................................................... 24 3. Research Design and Methodology...................................................................................... 59 4. Trends in Non-Citizens’ Security of Residence and in State-Induced Migrant Return: Legal Inclusion versus Restrictive Enforcement ............................................................................... 82 5. Migrant Return on the Domestic Political Agenda: Shifting Target Groups and Obstacles to Return Enforcement .............................................................................................................. 120 6. Overcoming Obstacles to State-Induced Migrant Return: Preventing Social Integration and Facilitating the Actual Return of Unwanted Immigrants ...................................................... 155 7. The Development of an International Infrastructure of Migrant Return............................ 200 8. Summary and Outlook: The Depoliticization and Institutionalization of Migrant Return 234 Annexes.................................................................................................................................. 245 Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 254 4 Table of Contents Overview .................................................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 5 Tables and Figures ..................................................................................................................... 8 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 9 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 11 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 13 Investigating the politics of migrant return....................................................................... 14 Dynamics of depoliticization and institutionalization ...................................................... 15 Key contributions.............................................................................................................. 18 Outline of the dissertation................................................................................................. 21 2. Theorizing the Politics of Migrant Return ........................................................................... 24 2.1 Carving out a space for the study of state-induced migrant return................................. 26 2.1.1 The triad of migration-related policies..................................................................... 28 2.1.2 Defining state-induced migrant return ..................................................................... 32 2.1.3 Analytically salient characteristics of state-induced migrant return........................ 34 2.2 The value of existing explanatory approaches for understanding trends in return-related policies.................................................................................................................................. 38 2.2.1 Factors driving restrictive or liberalizing changes in migration-related policies..... 39 2.2.2 The relevance of the policy process: Looking beyond policy formulation ............. 43 2.2.3 The influence of international actors: An open-ended question .............................. 45 2.3 Beyond political will: Building state capacity to implement migrant return.................. 47 2.3.1 Migrant return on the domestic political agenda: Episodic policy initiatives and shifting target groups ........................................................................................................ 48 2.3.2 Encountering obstacles to state-induced migrant return: Liberal constraints revisited ........................................................................................................................................... 50 2.3.3 Overcoming obstacles to state-induced migrant return: Depoliticization and institutionalization as key mechanisms in enhancing state capacity................................. 52 2.4 Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 57 3. Research Design and Methodology...................................................................................... 59 3.1 On the value of case study research................................................................................ 60 3.2 Scope of the research project.......................................................................................... 62 3.2.1 Country case selection ............................................................................................. 62 3.2.2 Temporal scope........................................................................................................ 64 5 3.2.3 Conceptual scope ..................................................................................................... 65 3.3 Research methods and operationalization ...................................................................... 68 3.3.1 Researching trends in migrant return policy............................................................ 68 3.3.2 Accounting for restrictive developments in the implementation of migrant return. 71 3.3.3 Data collection: Availability and quality of relevant empirical data ....................... 74 3.4 Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 80 4. Trends in Non-Citizens’ Security of Residence and in State-Induced Migrant Return: Legal Inclusion versus Restrictive Enforcement................................................................................ 82 4.1 Legislating return and stay: Legal changes affecting non-citizens’ security of residence .............................................................................................................................................. 83 4.2 Implementing migrant return: Substantiating the deportation turn .............................. 101 4.3 Conclusion: Countervailing trends in legal security of residence and in de facto returns ............................................................................................................................................ 118 5. Migrant Return on the Domestic Political Agenda: Shifting Target Groups and Obstacles to Return Enforcement ............................................................................................................... 120 5.1 Migrant return on the political agenda in Germany...................................................... 120 5.2 Migrant return on the political agenda in the United Kingdom ................................... 136 5.3 Comparative analysis of return-related debates in the UK and Germany .................... 151 6. Overcoming Obstacles to State-Induced Migrant Return: Preventing Social Integration and Facilitating the Actual Return of Unwanted Immigrants ....................................................... 155 6.1 Enhancing state capacity to implement migrant return in Germany ............................ 156 6.1.1 Preventing social integration.................................................................................. 157 6.1.2 Facilitating the actual return of unwanted non-citizens......................................... 160 6.1.3 Centralizing migrant return and the limits of institutionalization.......................... 174 6.2 Enhancing state capacity to implement migrant return in the UK ............................... 175 6.2.1 Preventing social integration.................................................................................. 176 6.2.2 Facilitating the actual return of unwanted non-citizens......................................... 178 6.2.3 Building up a dedicated return bureaucracy .......................................................... 193 6.3 Comparative analysis of return-related policy initiatives in the UK and Germany ..... 194 6.4 Conclusion...................................................................................................................