Immigration Policy Formation in New EU Member States: The Case of Estonia

Trei, Mariliis

doi:10.1007/978-981-33-6823-1_12

Mariliis Trei³

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Abstract

Although immigration policy formation on the European level has been researched extensively, less emphasis has been on analysing the asylum policy field of EU member states from the Central and Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004. This chapter looks at the formation of immigration policy in Estonia from 1991 to 2019. The establishment of the immigration policy framework and the debates around migration are analysed. The qualitative case study shows that there have been three key topics in the Estonian immigration politics that have framed political debates and legislation. The topic of sovereignty, preservation of the Estonian culture and the ethnic composition of the demographic continue guide the narrative in the Estonian immigration policy.

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Notes

1.
In order to follow the political discussions on the topic of immigration policy, a keyword search was conducted using the Estonian Parliament verbatim records database. Keywords included immigration, immigration policy and migration policy. All together 91 transcripts were analysed from 1990 to 2019. These included legislation proceedings, information sessions with government representatives, discussions of nationally important questions and other presentations.
2.
Immigratsiooniseadus, RT 1990, 2, 25.
3.
Välismaalaste seadus, RT I 1993, 44, 637.
4.
Pagulasseisundi konventsioon, RT II 1997, 6, 26.
5.
Pagulaste seadus, RT I 1997, 19, 306.
6.
Välismaalasele rahvusvahelise kaitse andmise seadus, RT I 2006, 2, 3.
7.
Data received from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board in June 2020. This figure does not include refugees that were received through the European migration scheme in 2016.

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Writing of this chapter has been supported by the Estonian Research Council grant PUT1461.

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Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
Mariliis Trei

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European Union Research Centre, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien County, Taiwan
Chin-Peng Chu
Knowledge based Technology and Energy, Korea Polytechnic University, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (Republic of)
Sang-Chul Park

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Trei, M. (2021). Immigration Policy Formation in New EU Member States: The Case of Estonia. In: Chu, CP., Park, SC. (eds) Immigration Policy and Crisis in the Regional Context. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6823-1_12

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6823-1_12
Published: 02 April 2021
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
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