Drivers of migration. The role of aspirations, capabilities, and perceptions

While empirical studies on migration increased numerically over the time, migration theories relating to drivers and combining the forces of structural external factors with subjective aspects that influence migration decision, seem to be at an impasse. However, understanding the motivations and factors driving so many people to reach Europe, often through extremely dangerous journeys and despite the challenges deriving from the migrant status, is of huge importance. This paper aims to dis- entangle drivers of migration to Europe as narrated by migrants and stakeholders working on the field of migration. It builds on data from 100 qualitative interviews with migrants and a quantitative survey with 788 stakeholders (law enforcement and first-line practitioners) implemented within PERCEPTIONS project. We investigate factors that have driven migrants to reach Europe since 2015, trying to understand the role of perceptions, aspirations and capabilities and personal or external factors. Results show that in the complex reality of migration, voluntariness, temporality, trajectories, categories and legal status are nuanced concepts shifting during the individual’s experiences. From the qualitative survey with migrants, we found that human rights’ protection, security, freedom and self-determination seem to be the main drivers of recent migration to Europe. The operators working in the field of migration believe that migration is mainly driven by external push factors such as conflicts, insecurity and political instability, more than on migrants’ aspirations and capabilities to migrate. Migration to Europe is still considered as a political and humanitarian crisis rather than a structural aspect of broader social changes. Migration governance is entrenched in exceptionality and emergency, polarizing the public discourse, constrained by the need for political consensus, while migrants’ reception system, protection and support are often delegated to civil society associations, charitable bodies, NGOs.