Reading: International Migration
The UN defines as an international migrant a person who stays outside their usual country of residence for at least one year. One in every 35 people in the world today (till 2005) is an international migrant. About 3 per cent of the world's population today (till 2005) is an international migrant.
Before 1990 most of the world's international migrants lived in the developling world; today (2005) the majority lives in the developed world and their proportion is growing.
It has been estimated nevertheless that at least 35 million Chinese currently live outside their country.
International migration today affects every part of the world.
Very nearly half the world's migrants were women in 2005; just over half of them living in the developed world and just under half in the developing world.
Three Trends:
Women have more independence to migrate than previously. Especially in Asia, there has been a growth in the migration of women for domestic work (sometimes called the 'maid trade'); organized migration for marriage (sometimes refered to as 'mail order brides'), and the trafficking of women into the sex industry.
The traditional distinction between countries of origin, transit, and destination for migrants has become increasingly blurred. Today almost every country in the world fulfils all three roles.
While most of the major movements that took place over the last few centuries were permanent, today temporay migration has become much more important. The traditional pattern of migrating once then returning home seems to be phasing out.
Migration has supported the growth of the world economy; contributed to the revolution of states and socities, and enriched many cultures and civilizations. Migrants have been amongst the most dynamic and entrepreneurial members of society; people who are prepared to take the risk of leaving their homes in order to create new opportunities for themselves and their children.
In many developing countries, the money that migrants send home is an important source of income; in certain developed countries, entire sectors of the economy and many public services have become highly dependent on migrant workers and would collapse almost literally overnight if their labour were withdrawn.
Throughout much of the world, migrants are not only employed in jobs that nationals are reluctant to do, but are also engaged in high-value activities that local people lack the skills to do.
Migrants and migration do not just contribute to economic growth; in fact their impact is probably most keenly felt in the social and cultural spheres of life.
migration and security
terriorism, irregular/illegal migration, national sovereignty, extremism and violence
There has probably been too much attention paid to the challenges posed by migration for destination countries and societies in which migrants settle; and not enough to those that arise for the migrants themselves, their families, as well as for the people and societies they leave behind. Migration matters just as much because of its negative consequences for migrants themselves as it does for the challenges it poses for destination societies.
expliotation, human rights abuses, discrimination/prejudice, brain drain
Overall, the real diversity and complexity of migration is often ignored.
Internal migration deserves far more academic attention that it has received to date.
migration policy
