Migrant remittances in times of economic decline: Coping with protectionist policies in Slovenia

Abstract

Faced with financial crisis and recession, many countries may promote return migration as a measure to combat economic decline. This affects the transnational migration and thus likely to contribute to a decline in remittance flows. At the same time, human agency proves the resilience of the migrants’ coping strategies, since many migrant workers – though faced with heightened pressure and increased precariousness of their positions – nevertheless persevere and thus sustain the flow of remittances. Drawing on biographical narrative interviews with migrants in Slovenia, this article analyses migrants’ position in the time of financial crisis and critically evaluates the governmental measures that restrict the migrants’ access to the labour market. We argue that protectionist policies are short-sighted and, rather than combating the crisis, they force many workers into even more vulnerable positions.