Return and Circular Migration Motives of Nordic and Baltic Citizens during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Diaspora Engagement

• In Event: Migration from the Baltic States

Abstract

The contribution of this paper is to evaluate developed country citizen migration motives during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-March 2021) by concentrating on return and circular migration to the Nordic and Baltic countries. The focus of the article is on trying to understand who returned and why, and if these individuals are likely to stay or engage in further circular migration. This paper, through engagement with existing migration theories and by utilizing original empirical data, makes the claim that the current scholarship on migration causes is unable to account for return migration motivation during a crisis situation. As such, the study makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion on the effect of COVID-19 on migration patterns, especially of the highly qualified, and calls for further investigation into the impact of emotions, social relations, and obligations in the scholarship on return and circular migration motivations. This study also reveals how governments, with established diaspora policies and initiatives promoting return migration, engaged with the returning citizens.

Short Bio

Dr. Didzis Kļaviņš is a Senior Researcher at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Social Sciences and Advanced Social and Political Research Institute (ASPRI). Didzis has obtained a Ph.D. in International Politics at the University of Latvia. He holds the Europaeum’s M.A. in European History and Civilisation, jointly offered by Leiden University, Université Paris I—Panthéon-Sorbonne, and the University of Oxford. He has also studied at Uppsala University, the University of Oslo, and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He is the author and co-author of several publications focusing on changes in diplomacy and foreign policy. His research interests include: the transformation of diplomacy, innovations, artificial intelligence (AI) and diaspora diplomacy.

Dr Ieva Birka is the Lead Researcher at the University of Latvia Advanced Social and Political Research Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Latvia, MSc with Merit in Russian and Post-Soviet Studies from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Rochester in the United States. She has previously completed post-doctoral projects at the University of Lucerne, and at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (JEMS), Patterns of Prejudice, Diaspora Studies Journal, Journal of Baltic Studies, and the Baltic Journal of Law and Politics, among others.

Authors

• Didzis Kļaviņš, University of Latvia

• Ieva Birka, University of Latvia