A hierarchy in migrants’ access to basic rights? Insights from the Civic Stratification Index (CSI)

Migrants can hold various legal statuses based on their classification under migration law. Each status grants and/or restricts certain social, economic, and political rights. The concept of 'civic stratification' describes these systems of differentiated rights. However, civic stratification has never been analysed in a multi-country comparative perspective. Existing quantitative analyses focus only on a certain type of migrants and not on others (or not together at least). As a result of this, it is not possible to compare rights for different kind of migrants (based on their legal status) as well as understand the effect of civic stratification on migrant integration. To contribute to closing this gap, we introduce and illustrate the Civic Stratification Index (CSI), a set of indicators on access to basic rights linked to migrants’ inclusion (e.g. access to employment, education, social security and healthcare). CSI employs a comparative approach by analysing the legal framework for different categories of migrants (Long-term/Permanent Residents; Residents on temporary work permits; Residents on family reunion permits; Asylum Seekers; Refugees; Beneficiaries of subsidiary protection; Undocumented migrants). The CSI is then used to analyse the legal framework of 20 European countries (19 EU countries and Switzerland). The findings of this research fully confirm that there is a hierarchy in access to rights. They show that the legal framework often creates barriers that make it more difficult for certain categories of migrants to access certain rights. For example, the opportunity of finding a (decent) job seems to vary depending on the type of residence permit, as most countries (partially) restrict access to labour market for certain categories of migrants, e.g. residents on temporary work permits or asylum seekers. All in all, this article's findings suggest that the fact that (some groups of) migrants face more challenges in their new society may be explained by the dearth of (institutional) opportunities for them.