ÖSTEN WAHLBECK

English

Research Papers in Economics

 
￿igration Letters, Volume: 6, No: 2, pp. 205 – 208                                October 2009  
ISSN: 1741-8984 & eISSN: 1741-8992                               www.migrationletters.com 
BOOK REVIEW
Transit Migration: The Missing Link 
between Emigration and Settlement
by Aspasia Papadopoulou-Kourkoula
 
 
 
REVIEWED BY 
ÖSTEN WAHLBECK
* 
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
ISBN 0-230-55533-0, 177 pp.￿  
 
This book deals with a key feature of contemporary migration movements. Migration 
is frequently not a straightforward process where people simply move from one 
country to another. Instead, many migrants are in transit for a considerable length of 
time, sometimes several years. In Europe, different measures have been introduced 
to regulate migration into the countries of the European Union. Rather than prevent-
ing people from migrating, many restrictive policies have left a large number of peo-
ple in precarious situations either inside or outside of the borders of the “Fortress 
Europe”. This book strives to describe the phenomenon of contemporary transit mi-
gration in Europe from different perspectives.  It describes how transit migration is a 
much more complex issue than only a question of restricted mobility. Thus, the book 
deals with topical and important questions and it will be valuable for anybody who 
has an interest in contemporary migration patterns in Europe, and for researchers of 
global migration developments. 
Transit migration is not easy to identify, although it is a very common aspect of 
migration processes. In the book, transit migration is understood as a situation be-
tween emigration and settlement that is characterized by indefinite migrant stay, 
legal or illegal, and a situation that may or may not develop into further migration. 
The duration of stay in a country is something we can only know retrospectively. 
Regardless of the intentions of migrants, their journey might be halted or travel plans 
might change over time. What was planned to be the final destination might turn out 
to be only one step in much larger journey, or a short stopover might develop into 
permanent settlement. The book presents some of the earlier attempts to theorize 
transit migration, but argues that it is not possible to clearly distinguish between 
transit migration and non-transit migration, since one type of migration easily devel-
ops into another type. Thus, the author argues that transit migration has to be con-
nected to the broader migration process. Consequently, the author argues, transit 
migration is not a migrant category, it is “a phase that cuts across various migrant 
categories: irregular migrants, asylum seekers, refugees granted asylum, regular-
ized migrants, students, trafficked persons may all find themselves in the condition 
of transit at some point” (p. 5). According to the author, “irregular migration” and 
transit migration are not synonyms, although the two often overlap. Thus, the phe-
nomenon of transit migration is not very easy to study and the book uses a number 
of different perspectives and case studies to describe this particular migration phase. 
To describe transit migration the book uses three examples from the fringes of 
Europe: Greece, the North African countries, and Eastern Europe. Through these 
different case studies we get a good insight into the dynamics and processes behind 
contemporary transit migration in Europe. The arguments are based on extensive 
                                                 
* Helsinki University, Finland.   
www.migrationletters.com  206 
background research of the three areas as well as fieldwork in Greece during the 
period 2001-2003. The larger political context is also described in a separate chapter 
outlining European Union asylum and migration policy. The structural and political 
context is in the book combined with a discussion of the actual migration develop-
ments in the regions as well as with the experiences of the migrants themselves. 
Especially in the case of Greece, the author provides personal narratives of people 
experiencing transit migration. The interviews with Kurdish asylum seekers living in 
Greece give a good insight into the experiences and intentions of transit migrants. 
The description of the situation in North Africa is partly based on the author’s own 
experience of living in the region and working with the UNHCR. Thus, the book uses 
both a top-down and a bottom-up perspective to discuss the issues under study. It is 
very valuable that the book does not only provide a theoretical discussion of transit 
migration, instead the analysis is related to the real experiences of people in transit. 
This gives the book a valuable depth. 
Some readers might wish to find more detailed information and data of the differ-
ent cases and regions in question. However, the strength of the book is perhaps not 
in the description of actual migration patterns in the three regions, but in the bal-
anced and insightful description of transit migration as a general phenomenon. The 
descriptions of the three regions provide examples, which illustrate more general 
developments. Transit migration is clearly difficult to delimit, but this book has done 
a very good job in describing this increasingly important aspect of contemporary 
migration patterns. The detailed notes, references and an index also give the book 
an added value. 
In conclusion, the book provides a very good introduction to the phenomena of tran-
sit migration. A particular strength of the book is the combination of a top-down and 
a bottom-up perspective. The book describes how transit migration is created and 
sustained by political decisions and opportunity structures, as well as how the inten-
tions of migrants influence the developments. The outcome depends as much on the 
social and political structures as it is by social networks and other individual factors.  
Contrary to popular belief, few migrants heading for Europe have specific plans be-
fore leaving their homeland. As the book describes, it is while in transit that the mi-
gration plans take shape. Clearly, the author’s extensive practical and theoretical 
knowledge of the phenomenon has contributed to a balanced book on a difficult sub-
ject. The complexity and urgency of transit migration is very well described in this 
valuable book.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
excellent resource for migration researchers 
practitioners and students 
 
￿
2010 Special Volume  
on  
RESEARCH METHODS IN ETHNIC AND  
MIGRATION STUDIES￿
￿
Collaborated by HERMES  
 
Edited by Annalisa, Deianira Ganga and Carla De Tona 
 
 
This special issue presents revised and improved versions of a 
fine selection of invited papers presented at the 9
th European 
Sociological Association Conference in Lisbon, September 
2009. 
 
 
 
http://www.migrationletters.com 
￿

Transit Migration: The Missing Link between Emigration and Settlement by Aspasia Papadopoulou-Kourkoula

http://www.migrationletters.com/200902/Fullissue_2009_vol6_no2_review_WAHL.pdf

Transit Migration: The Missing Link between Emigration and Settlement by Aspasia Papadopoulou-Kourkoula

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