The International Network for Immigration Research (INIR)

The current academic discourse on immigration is ruled by a humanitarian perspective which has been promoting unsustainable policies, centered around the benefits of human mobility while disregarding and diminishing the long-term consequences for both the countries of origins and host countries.

Academic and research organizations that promote this one-sided viewpoint maintain close cooperation, enhancing their ability to effectively influence decision makers, and the public. Their pro-immigration discourse shapes political debates, as well as the agendas of governments and international institutions. Additionally, it jeopardizes academic integrity and limits the possibility of developing a more complex and nuanced understanding of immigration.

To combat this pro-immigration imbalance, a number of independent research centers and think tanks which consider immigration as a topic that should be assassed with a multifaceted approach that takes into account both the benefits, as well as the challenges, have established an International Network for Immigration Research.

Accordingly, the members of the network share the bedrock principle that host countries, as sovereign nation states, have the right to pursue and enforce their chosen immigration policies, which reflect the perspective of host countries and societies. Instead of merely making normative declarations based on an ideologically driven approach dominated by a strong humanitarian agenda, member organizations address the political, social, economic, and security considerations of immigration as well in order to form realistic, long-lasting and responsible policy on this crucial issue.

Joint Statement