Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Maltese Citizens Abroad

This chapter assesses the social protection policies enacted by the Maltese government to support Maltese citizens living abroad. First, the current status of the Maltese diaspora and their engagement with the homeland is contextualized, and key infrastructure and policies outlined. In the Maltese legal system, there is no domestic law granting the right to consular or diplomatic protection, however this is offered as a matter of practice based on respect for the fundamental rights of the individual. The strength of historic ties with the destination countries of Maltese emigrants is mainly reflected in the number of Reciprocal Agreements signed between Malta and partner countries. An overview of these formal treaties and their assured benefits is provided. Thereafter, five areas of concern for the social security needs of Maltese diaspora are addressed: unemployment, healthcare, pensions, family-related benefits, and economic hardship. The chapter concludes by acknowledging the communication initiatives between the Maltese government and its citizens abroad; however, it recognises that there is still a long way to go in terms of ensuring democratic participation of citizens in elections. Throughout, the evidence has been compiled primarily as a result of consultation with primary source material, as well as interviews with a range of experts within relevant Maltese governmental bodies.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Spanish Citizens Abroad

This chapter outlines the social protection policies that Spain has adopted to target Spanish nationals abroad. First, it describes the diaspora infrastructure and the key engagement policies developed in the last years by Spain. Subsequently, the chapter focuses on five social protection policies: unemployment, health care, pensions, family-related benefits, and economic hardship. The findings reveal that Spain has adopted a diaspora strategy that targets different emigrant groups such as exiles of the Civil War and early Francoism and their descendants, Spaniards that emigrated to other European countries during the 1950s and 1960s, and new emigrants that left the country due to the consequences of the financial crisis of 2008. Findings also show that, although Spain has developed a wide array of services to target its diverse diaspora, it still lacks a comprehensive scheme of social protection abroad. Moreover, the results suggest that Spain has adopted a subsidiary social policy strategy abroad that is triggered when the social protection offered by states of reception is lacking.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Danish Citizens Abroad

This chapter provides an overview of the policy infrastructure and key policies in place concerning the social rights of Danish citizens residing abroad. It builds on evidence from legal and administrative documents, on communications with key informants, as well as on existing studies and reports concerning the Danish Government’s approach to emigration and diaspora policies. Concrete cases for this study are five countries where the largest Danish diaspora concentrate: Sweden, Norway, Germany, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. It argues that reliance on supra-national agreements, previous rather negative public opinion about emigrants as well as the residence principle embedded in the qualifying conditions for social benefits are three main factors which explain the limited attention currently given by the Danish Government to diaspora policies, in particular the social protection of Danish citizens residing abroad.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Finnish Citizens Abroad

With 1.6 million Finnish-origin individuals abroad, the focus in Finland has traditionally been on Finnish cultural associations and educational programmes over any other type of engagement with this population. This chapter provides an overview of Finland’s diaspora policies, with a focus on social protection. It shows that Finland does not have a specific global policy of supporting Finns abroad, but rather a regional approach with Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). Similarly, this chapter shows that Finland has a somewhat decentralized approach to diaspora engagement by which its strong network of non-profit organizations abroad perform a role traditionally given to public authorities in the area of social protection and consultation. The diaspora policy of the Finnish Government could be characterised as reactionary, since Finnish missions increasingly help Finnish tourists abroad. A strong Nordic cooperation in the field of social protection has widened after huge immigration of Finnish people to Sweden, and bilateral social agreements have been established with countries where Finns have immigrated historically like the United States and Australia.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Irish Citizens Abroad

This chapter will show that Irish policies for citizens abroad are characterized by an intention to maximise the usefulness of the diaspora for Irish national interests and by a commitment to address the welfare, cultural and other needs of the Irish abroad and strengthen links between Ireland and its diaspora. The chapter addresses the main demographic characteristics of the Irish diaspora, the chief structures and policies of the Irish Government’s engagement with its diaspora and examines the social protection policies that include the Irish abroad, indicating the main principles that underpin this aspect of engagement with the diaspora. Finally, some of the ways in which Irish diaspora policies are changing are noted.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Cypriot Citizens Abroad

The diaspora policies that Cyprus has implemented have been largely overlooked in the literature and in empirical studies. While several pieces of work have explored Cypriots abroad, there are no systematic studies that delve into the diaspora policies that the Cypriot government has put forward for non-resident nationals. Hence, this chapter aims to discuss the diaspora engagement policies that Cyprus implements at the economic, political, and socio-cultural levels, as well as to explain the Cypriot diaspora engagement based on the particular historical and political context of the country and the characteristics of its diaspora. In addition, the chapter sheds light on the niche area of social protection policies towards the Cypriot diaspora, with a particular focus on the policy areas of unemployment, health care, pensions, family-related benefits, and economic hardship.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Bulgarian Citizens Abroad

This chapter demonstrates that the Bulgarian diaspora policy is characterized by inconsistent implementation and dissonant institutional context. It is intertwined with the country’s migration policy which is focused, among other priorities, on attracting historic kin communities and Bulgarian emigrants, in order to overcome its demographic decline. Against this backdrop, the country lacks overall social protection policies towards Bulgarians abroad and prioritizes providing information rather than financial support. Firstly, the chapter presents the general institutional framework by which home country authorities interact with nationals abroad, as well as the main engagement policies with this population outside of the area of social protection. Secondly, the chapter focuses on the policies, programmes and services offered by home country authorities in response to social protection needs of Bulgarian nationals abroad across five specific policy areas: unemployment, health care, pensions, family-related benefits and economic hardship.

Do EU Member States Care About their Diasporas’ Access to Social Protection? A Comparison of Consular and Diaspora Policies across EU27

Despite the growing literature on sending states’ engagement with their populations abroad, little is known so far about their role in helping the diaspora deal with social risks. As argued in this chapter, this is mainly because past studies on sending states’ policies and institutions for the diaspora have failed to systematically focus on social protection, while also ignoring that regional integration dynamics often constrain domestic responses to the welfare needs of nationals residing abroad. This volume aims to fill this research gap by comparatively examining the type of diaspora infrastructure through which EU Member States address the vulnerabilities faced by populations abroad in five core areas of social protection: health care, pensions, family, unemployment, and economic hardship. Drawing on data from two original surveys with national experts, we operationalize the concepts of descriptive infrastructure for non-residents (i.e. the presence of diaspora-related institutions) and substantive infrastructure (i.e. policies that provide and facilitate access to welfare for nationals abroad) in order to propose a new typology of states’ engagement with their diaspora in the area of social protection.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for German Citizens Abroad

This chapter presents an overview of German policies vis-à-vis German nationals living abroad. For the most part, the German Government does not reach out to or encourage engagement from or with German nationals living abroad. This is in contrast to a concerted cultural outreach to ethno-national German minorities in Central and Eastern Europe. Rights in Germany are largely residence-based, and access to rights is thus associated with (legal) residence in Germany, rather than with holding German citizenship. There are two clear exceptions: one is a robust system that enables voting from abroad for German citizens, and the other is facilitated access from abroad to pensions for years worked in Germany. With respect to other measures of social protections, no clear policy can be said to exist. Access to other forms of social protection is on the basis of exception, with consular officials exercising discretion in such cases.

Diaspora Policies, Consular Services and Social Protection for Polish Citizens Abroad

This chapter is devoted to case of Polish diaspora and current diaspora policies and social protection of Poles abroad. The first part presents the general overview of Polish diaspora and its diversification. The second part describes the institutional framework, general strategy and concrete activities the Polish state offers its citizens and persons of Polish origin residing abroad, such as voting rights, repatriation and return, and education. The main part of the chapter focuses on diaspora policies and social protection activities in five areas: unemployment, health care, pensions, family benefits and guaranteed minimum resources. Overall, we show that the main goal of Polish diaspora policies is to consolidate the diversified and dispersed Polish communities abroad and strengthen the cultural links with the country of origin. The priority of diaspora policies is thus to maintain national identity and promotion of Polish language and culture among Poles residing in other countries.