Signal Borders stratify by skill and wealth as humanitarian routes tighten

Summary

Migration policy is fragmenting into two directions at once. Controls on humanitarian entry are tightening, while governments selectively liberalise access for people with in-demand skills or significant wealth. EY cites Germany's fast-track visa routes, an expanded EU Blue Card and premium residency schemes introduced by Gulf Cooperation Council states. The result is a stratified border regime in which a person's skills and money increasingly determine whether they can move. EY warns that this stratification widens the gap between those who can cross and those who cannot, even as forced displacement keeps rising.