Speaker
Description
The evolution of global and regional migration policies offers critical insights into how Türkiye has navigated its responses to migrant entrepreneurship. The EU’s migration strategy has been shaped by emerging labor shortages in Member States, driven by demographic shifts such as an aging population and declining workforce availability. These challenges underscored the economic necessity of legal migration pathways to attract talent, support economic growth, and ensure sustainable development. The focus on labor shortages highlighted the need to align migration policies with labor market demands, a recurring theme in the EU’s strategic documents.
With the Stockholm Programme (2009–2014), the EU expanded its migration policy by linking legal migration to labor market demands. This marked a significant shift in perspective, emphasizing the economic potential of migration while promoting integration policies that fostered social cohesion. The early strategic decisions laid the groundwork for shaping migration governance, which later adapted to pressing challenges such as the Syrian refugee crisis, the Lampedusa disaster (2013), the record number of Mediterranean migrant deaths in 2015, the Moria camp fire, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The focus then shifted towards supporting legal migration pathways to address labor shortages and attract qualified workers from third countries to the EU. Initiatives such as The Talent Partnerships, The Revised Blue Card Directive, The Labour Migration Platform, The European Year of Skills, The Skills and Talent Mobility Package, and The EU Action Plan on Labor and Skills Shortages highlight the EU’s strategic commitment to meeting labor market demands through the promotion of legal migration.
Türkiye has engaged with this evolving policy landscape through instruments such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), and the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRIT), as well as programs like the Digital Europe Programme. These funds and programs aim to enhance global development, democracy, and migration management, with a focus on areas such as climate action, sustainable development, good governance, and addressing the root causes of migration.
The focus on strengthening economic integration in host countries has been central to The Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021–2027). In this context, programs like ENHANCER (Enhancing Entrepreneurship Capacity for Sustainable Socio-Economic Integration) have been implemented in Türkiye, paving the way for ethnic entrepreneurship initiatives. These programs have created avenues for sustainable socio-economic integration, fostering opportunities for migrants to contribute to and thrive in the local economy.
This study has been prepared by examining all relevant strategic documents to draw a timeline and understand the process of the emergence and institutionalization of the concept of supporting ethnic entrepreneurship in Türkiye. By analyzing these policies, it explores their influence on Türkiye’s approach to migrant entrepreneurship, providing insights into the broader implications of these frameworks for promoting sustainable livelihoods and economic integration for migrants in the country.
References
European Council (2010), The Stockholm Programme: An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens, Official Journal of the European Union, C115, pp. 1–38.
European Commission (2020), Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021–2027, Available at: https://ec.europa.eu [Accessed 28 Jan. 2025].
| Keywords | Migrant Entrepreneurship; Economic Integration; European Union; Migration Governance; Türkiye |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
