Rethinking Family Reunification Policies in Europe – between Discourses of Integration and Mobility Restrictions (cases of France and Switzerland)

In this paper, we will demystify some assumptions that are often taken for granted, even in critical migration studies, such as the idea that family reunification policies for workers and seasonal workers in Europe are a progressive achievement that respects migrants' human rights. Challenging this common narrative around the inclusion of migrant workers' families and family reunification laws, we will examine the visa restrictions and borderisation that followed these policies, which limited the mobility of regularised migrants and their families who benefited from family reunification. In addition, we will show how these restrictive policies create competition among migrant workers to respond to economic needs and are consistent with selective migration policies.

Our presentation will share findings from research into migration context in Switzerland and France conducted between 2015 and 2020. The data includes participant observation among migrant communities in France and the analysis of secondary literature in Switzerland since the start of the Schengen Agreements (1995). We test the hypothesis that family reunification and the introduction of visas were designed not only to prevent additional unselected migrants from entering Europe, but also to restrict the freedom of movement of former and future migrant workers - a freedom that was relatively guaranteed before Schengen. The regulation of immigration rights through border closures thus aims to prevent back-and-forth migration, reduce the potential for resettlement in countries of origin, and tie migrants' existence to the fulfilment of labour and immigration policy objectives.