Temporary labour migration
Temporary labour migration programmes: global vs domestic justice
Temporary Labour Migration Programmes (TLMPs) are controversial because they are caught in a dilemma between global and domestic justice. From a global justice perspective, TLMPs expand opportunities for workers in poor countries to access labour markets of rich countries and they improve the situation of origin countries through remittances. From a domestic justice perspective, TLMPs violate principles of domestic equality because they always afford migrant workers more restricted rights than those enjoyed by citizens and long-term residents of the host country. Although this dilemma cannot be fully resolved, we argue that TLMPs can be morally justified and recommended if they are characterised by ‘fair representation’ in policy design and implementation and also meet certain democratic legitimacy conditions. TLMPs can be justified if they provide triple benefits for destination and origin countries as well as for migrants themselves, yet the relevant benefits can only be achieved cooperatively through transnational governance in which each of the three groups of actors is fairly represented. This conclusion is supported by our interpretation of the democratic principle of including all affected interests. Under such conditions, some rights of temporary migrant workers in host countries can be regarded as a legitimate outcome of negotiations, while others need to be fixed in advance under a democratic principle of equal protection of all subjected to the laws. Democratic legitimacy also requires that migrants enjoy protection and participation rights as citizens of their countries of origin as well as local citizenship in their countries of residence.
We see Bauböck and Ruhs’s analysis as an important step forward in the debate on TLMPs, especially because of their focus on democratic legitimacy as a crucial variable to include in the normative assessment of such programmes. However, in response to their thought-provoking proposal, we would like to raise a few critical points, especially concerning the conditions necessary for migration to be considered voluntary. We argue that, in the absence of exit options for migrants to leave their condition of temporary residence in the host country, fair representation is not sufficient to guarantee the voluntary nature of migration. We believe that exit options must include not just the possibility of return to the migrant’s country of origin but also the possibility to stay in the host country. We further contend that the availability of the option to stay is not only an essential condition of voluntariness, but also a crucial element of the democratic credentials of TLMPs. If the option is not guaranteed, migrants do not have enough means of political leverage in TLMP negotiations and enter such negotiations with a diminished status.
Bauböck and Ruhs argue that TLMPs can be morally justified. According to their triple win argument, these programmes can be designed in ways that maximise their justice-promoting capacities and eradicate their objectionable features. TLMPs that fulfil these two conditions can lead to a so-called triple win: a situation in which the three parties involved in temporary labour migration all reap its benefits. In a nutshell, the triple win argument claims that TLMPs are morally justified when they (i) benefit the three parties involved, (ii) fulfil the requirements of social justice, and (iii) are democratically legitimate. This short piece will zoom in on the latter element of morally justified TLMPs: democratic legitimacy. I will argue that the triple win argument fails to secure migrant workers’ equal protection by the law. This should cast doubt on the triple win arguments’ capacity to live up to the democratic legitimacy requirements that morally justified TLMPs must satisfy.
Bauböck’s and Ruhs’s notion of ‘fair representation’ captures our attention and is the focus of this commentary, which is organised around three interrelated points. First, we problematise the underlying assumption of the status of the ‘playing field’ presented in the paper, given the current power asymmetries not only among countries but also between capital and labour that condition ultimate ‘fairness’ in TLMP design and implementation. Second, we question the notion of representation, with a special focus on migrant workers, as this continues to be a thorny area. Finally, speaking as practitioners, we focus on the role of social minima for the achievement of fairness and protection of rights, and on the difficulty of realising ‘fair representation’ as depicted by the authors in practice.
In this response, I agree that Bauböck’s and Ruhs’ proposal represents a significant improvement over the status quo, but worry about how the triple benefit route might affect individual temporary migrants, and especially women and their status, in the host society and in the country of origin. Pursuing triple benefits could possibly instrumentalise individual migrants for purposes of economic benefit for both sending and host states, rather than providing them with the rights protection that Bauböck and Ruhs hope to establish. Ultimately, access to citizenship remains essential as the best protection of the catalogue of rights that guarantees that migrants benefit from their migration projects.
Can temporary labour migration programmes (TLMPs) contribute to goals of global social justice without undermining receiving states’ commitments to domestic social justice? Can they be beneficial for migrants, receiving and sending states? In our essay, we proposed that the policy dilemmas lurking behind these questions can be addressed through minimum standards of human and democratic rights and fair representation of all three parties in the negotiation and governance of TLMPs. We are very grateful that our critics have all engaged constructively with this idea. All contributions contain helpful summaries of our argument and seem to share our goal of searching for action-guiding principles under real-world conditions. They also raise important points and insights that we are happy to take on board. In the spirit of critical exchange, we focus in this rejoinder on selected objections that we think are particularly important for us to address.