International Migration Institute

Chris Moreh presents his paper 'From post-socialist to post-accession pioneering: the shaping of Romanian migration networks to Spain and the UK' in Parallel session IV(E) of the conference Examining Migration Dynamics: Networks and Beyond 24-26 Sept 2013 This paper examines the dynamics of Romanian migration networks following the fall of socialism, by comparing two receiving countries, Spain and the United Kingdom. While Spain is a well-established destination for Romanian migrants, who constitute the most numerous foreign-born group in the Iberian country, the United Kingdom has seen more moderate levels of immigration from Romania, slightly ascending following the latter's EU accession in 2007. The question posed in the paper is why movements to certain places have been more able to develop into systems than others. To answer this question, the paper analyses the development of particular migration networks in the two countries, showing the complex relationships and contingent events that led to the emer