Keywords: EU, migrant, refugee, decision-making

"Essays on the decision-making processes of irregularised migrants over the course of their migration trajectories" 

Migrant decision-making is not simply an one-off decision to leave a country of origin in order to reach a specific destination country. Rather, migrants may revisit and revise their decision-making and plans in response to new information, experiences, opportunities and constraints. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with Afghan, Albanian, Iraqi and Syrian nationals, this dissertation examines the decision-making of irregularised migrants (people who migrate outside of – or are excluded from – legal channels for migration) over the course of their migration trajectories towards and through Europe. This dissertation provides an exploratory study of the strategies adopted by Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian refugee families in order to overcome controls on their movement and access to asylum. Furthermore, it examines the lived experiences and resistance to return demonstrated by rejected Afghan asylum-seekers who are subject to prohibitions on access to basic welfare in the Netherlands. Besides that, this research shows how Albanian asylum-seekers have navigated information and uncertainty in pursuit of their migratory aspirations and over the course of their migration trajectories. Also, an examination in greater depth regarding the return decision-making of rejected Albanian asylum-seekers in Germany is provided and the role of opportunities for legal re-migration to the EU is highlighted, and the perceived fairness of the return orders received, in motivating acceptance of return. Taken together, these studies contribute insights on three under-studied aspects of migration decision-making. These are: 1) family-level decision-making; 2) the role of social, psychological and emotional factors; and 3) the role of policies in migration decision-making.

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Language: English