GLOBAL MIGRATION

WHAT IS MIGRATION?
There are two types of Migration:

 Internal Migration – refers to people moving

from one area to another within one country
 International Migration – in which people cross
boarders of one country to another
 5 Groups of Migrants
permanently moves to another country (known as immigrants)
workers in another country for a fixed period of time: 6 months
to a year. (overseas workers)
iIllegal immigrants
petitioned to move to the destination country
refugees (asylum-seekers)
Demographers estimate that 247 million people are currently living
outside the countries of their birth. 90% of them moved for ECONOMIC
REASONS while the remaining 10% were REFUGEES and ASYLUM-
SEEKERS

TOP 3 REGIONS OF ORIGIN

1) Latin America
2) Eastern Europe and Central Asia
3) Middle East and North Africa
 50% of global migrants have moved from the developing countries to the
developed zones of the world and contribute anywhere from 40-80 % of their
labor force.

 Their growth has outstripped the population growth in the developed

countries, such that today, according to the think-tank McKinsey Global
Institute,

“first-generation immigrants constitute 13% of the population in Western Europe,

15% in North America, and 48% in the GCC countries”

 The majority of migrants remain in the cities

Table 1. Migrant Contribution to Destination Country, in dollars and as
percentage of National GDP, 2015
COUNTRY CONTRIBUTION PERCENTAGE OF
GDP
United States $2 trillion 11 %
Germany $550 billion 17 %
United Kingdom $390 billion 14 %
Australia $330 billion 25 %
Canada $320 billion 21 %

The MIGRANT INFLUX has led to a debate in destination countries over the issue
of whether migrants are assets or liabilities to national development.
 2011 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL SURVEY
ON THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION

Concluded that the “likelihood and magnitude of adverse labor market than often
perceived”

 The fiscal impact of immigration on social welfare was noted to be “very

small”
 Furthermore, the 2013 report on government welfare spending by
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) clearly
shows that native-born citizens still receive higher support compared to
immigrants.
BENEFITS AND • Benefits for the Sending Countries

DETRIMENTS
– $580 billion remittances in 2014
– $ 70 billion in India

FOR THE – $62 China

– $28 Philippines

SENDING – $25 Mexico

COUNTRIES
• Detriments
BRAIN DRAIN
• Siphoning… qualified personnel…”
 THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
 The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation lists
HUMAN TRAFFICKING as the “World’s third largest criminal
activity”
 In 2012, the International Labour Organization (ILO) identified
21 million men, women, and children as victims of “FORCED
LABOR”, an appalling 3 out of every 1000 persons worldwide.
90% of the victims are exploited by private enterprises and
entrepreneurs
22% are sexually abused
68% work under compulsion in agriculture, manufacturing,
infrastructure, and domestic activities
HUMAN TRAFFICKING has been very profitable, earning
syndicates, smugglers, and corrupt state officials profit of as high
as $150 billion a year in 2014
 INTEGRATION
• This issue relates to how migrants interacts with their new home
countries.
China, India, and Western Europe – migrants from here have more
success migration.
Middle East, N. Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa – migrants from here
face greater challenges in securing jobs.
United States & Singapore: White collar & Blue collar Filipino
workers

Switching citizenship may just be a formality. Different factors may

create cleavages between migrants and citizens of receiving
countries:
-Linguistic differences
-Differing religions
-Customs from “old country”
“local network of fellow citizens” – serve as the migrant’s safety net
from the dislocation of uprooting oneself from migrant’s anxiety

Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (California)

Advantage: provides initial support for new Chinese migrants
Drawback: instead of facilitating integration, they exacerbate
differences and discrimination
Governments and private businesses have already made policy
changes to address integration problems:
-Using multiple languages in state documents
-Training programs with counselling (Germany)

-Whether these initiatives will succeed or not remains an open

question.
Conclusion • Global migration entails the migration
of people. And like the broader
globalization process, it is uneven.
• Migration produces different and often
contradictory responses.
• Different forms of global
interdependence will ensure global
migration will continue to be one of the
major issues in the contemporary
world.