ABSTRACT

What is the role of non-state actors in the international politics of labour migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries? This paper employs a ‘migration diplomacy’ framework in order to examine the politics of regional mobility while interrogating the assumed centrality of the state in this process. It focuses on labour migration into the United Arab Emirates and draws on a range of primary sources in order to identify four types of non-state actors that seek to maximise their interests within the workings of Emirati migration diplomacy: public-private partnerships, namely the Tadbeer (‘procurement’) centres; corporations within the Emirati construction sector; business elites managing subcontracting companies; and, finally, non-governmental organisations and foreign consulting firms. The paper identifies how each of these four sets of actors pursues strategies that are able to strengthen, supplant, or undermine the state’s formal migration diplomacy aims. Furthermore, the Emirati case debunks the myth of the state as a centre of power in Gulf migration management via the kafāla (‘sponsorship’) system. Overall, the paper demonstates how a range of non-state actors can navigate migration management policymaking, thereby underlining the complexity of Gulf migration diplomacy.

摘要

非国家行为者在海湾合作委员会国家劳务移民的国际政治中扮演什么角色？本文采用“移民外交”框架来检验区域流动的政治，同时询问在这一过程中假定的国家中心地位。它侧重于进入阿拉伯联合酋长国的劳务移民，并利用一系列主要来源来确定四种类型的非国家行为者，它们寻求在阿联酋移民外交的运作中最大化其利益：公私伙伴关系，即塔德比尔（“采购”）中心；阿联酋建筑行业的公司；管理分包公司的商业精英；最后是非政府组织和外国咨询公司。本文确定了这四组参与者中的每一个如何追求能够加强、取代或破坏国家正式移民外交目标的战略。此外，阿联酋案例揭穿了国家通过kafāla（“赞助”）系统作为海湾移民管理权力中心的神话。总体而言，该论文展示了一系列非国家行为者如何驾驭移民管理决策，从而强调海湾移民外交的复杂性。