Are Temporary Work Programmes for Intra EU Migrants Ethically Justified?

Abstract

Temporary labour migration has become a major component of global migratory flows and global economic development. The upward trajectory of temporary labour migrants points to an increasing reliance of contemporary economies on foreign temporary labour. This issue has been extensively discussed at the policy level as well as in academia. The focus, however, has been on the socioeconomic perspectives regarding the advantages and disadvantages of temporary labour migration, while little attention has been given to the normative aspects of this expanding phenomenon. This paper aims to apply arguments from liberal theories of justice to find ethical justifications either in favour of or against the expansion of temporary labour migration, specifically in the intra-EU temporary labour migration setting.

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