Demographic Aspects Of Migration

Dr. Albert Schmid President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees According to the United Nations, about 200 million people of the estimated world population of 6.8 billion are international migrants – that corresponds to about three per cent of the total world population. The proportion of international migrants in the global population has increased only marginally in the last 40 years. But, as a result of global population growth, the absolute number of migrants has increased, and their structure and spatial distribution has changed considerably. A structural shift has taken place primarily in the industrialised countries, where less than 20 per cent of the global workers are now living, but where more than 60 per cent of all migrants worldwide reside. Since 1990, more than 16 million people have moved to Germany, while about 11 million have left the country in the same period. Altogether, 15 million people of international migration origin are living in Germany, comprising almost 19 per cent of Germany’s current population of 82 million. At the end of 2006, about 64 million people out of Europe’s population of 732 million, or nine per cent, lived in a European country they were not born in. But why does anybody migrate at all? People decide to leave because, in general, they expect to find better conditions and opportunities in other countries or regions.

This Handbook offers a comprehensive collection of essays that cover essential features of geographical mobility, from internal migration, to international migration, to urbanization, to the adaptation of migrants in their destinations. Part I of the collection introduces the range of theoretical perspectives offered by several social science disciplines, while also examining the crucial relationship between internal and international migration. Part II takes up methods, ranging from how migration data are best collected to contemporary techniques for analyzing such data. Part III of the handbook contains summaries of present trends across all world regions. Part IV rounds out the volume with several contributions assessing pressing issues in contemporary policy areas. The volume’s editor Michael J. White has spent a career studying the pattern and process of internal and international migration, urbanization and population distribution in a wide variety of settings, from developing societies to advanced economies. In this Handbook he brings together contributors from all parts of the world, gathering in this one volume both geographical and substantive expertise of the first rank. The Handbook will be a key reference source for established scholars, as well as an invaluable high-level introduction to the most relevant topics in the field for emerging scholars.

Because forced migration situations are often physically dangerous and politically complicated, estimates of these populations are often difficult to make. Estimates of forced migration vary, but it is probable that there are about 23 million refugees and more than 30 million internally displaced people.In order to assist specific groups of forced migrants and also to better understand the general plight of forced migrants, good demographic data are needed. However, collecting data on forced migration presents tremendous challenges for normal data collection processes and standards.To explore a range of issues about internally displaced persons and refugees, the Committee on Population of the National Research Council organized a Workshop on the Demography of Forced Migration in Washington, D.C., in November 1997. The purpose of the workshop was to investigate the ways in which population and other social scientists can produce more useful demographic information about forced migrant populations and how they differ. This report summarizes the background papers prepared for the meeting, the presentations, and the general discussion.

About international migration procpects, by Hania Zlotnik.

Includes statistics.

This publication presents a series of studies conducted by the European Population Committee between 1998 and 2001 together with specialised research institutes in eight European countries: Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Portugal and Estonia. These focus on groups that are well established in several countries to enable comparison. The studies describe the origin of migrants, inflows and outflows of immigrant populations, fertility, family formation, intermarriage, mortality and the spatial distribution in the countries of settlement. They also include a co-ordinated modelling exercise to estimate the demographic impact of immigration on receiving populations since the Second World War.

Introduction to International Migration introduces students to state-of-the-art knowledge on international migration, a contemporary issue of central importance to virtually all countries around the globe. Original chapters by prominent women migration scholars cover a complex and multifaceted issue area including various types of migration, the mechanisms of migration governance, the impact of migration on both host and home societies, the migrants themselves in a transnational space, and the nexus between migration and other aspects of globalization. Key topics include labor, gender, citizenship, public opinion, development, security, climate, and ethics. Refugee flows are tracked from beginning to end. Photos, figures, text boxes with real-world examples, discussion questions, and recommended readings provide pedagogical structure for each chapter. Intended as a core text for courses on migration and immigration and a supplement to more general courses in global studies, this book is appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students in the variety of disciplines that deal with the challenges of international migration. Special Features Consistently structured original chapters by notable scholars include an Introduction, Empirical Overview, Theoretical Evolution, Continuing Issues, and Summary for every chapter. Chapter pedagogy includes Discussion Questions, Suggested Readings, and References as well as a Data Appendix for the book. Photos with thematic captions and Text Boxes on hot topics round out the visual and substantive appeal of the text.

The view that international migration has no impact on the size of world population is a sensible one. But the author argues, migration from developing to more industrial countries during the past decades may have resulted in a smaller world population than the one which would have been attained had no international migration taken place for two reasons: most of recent migration has been from high to low birth-rate countries, and migrants typically adopt and send back to their home countries models and ideas that prevail in host countries. Thus, migrants are potential agents of the diffusion of demographic modernity, that is, the reduction of birth rates among nonmigrant communities left behind in origin countries. This hypothesis is tested with data from Morocco and Turkey where most emigrants are bound for the West, and Egypt where they are bound for the Gulf. The demographic differentials encountered through migration in these three countries offer contrasted situations-host countries are either more (the West) or less (the Gulf) advanced in their demographic transition than the home country. Assuming migration changes the course of demographic transition in origin countries, the author posits that it should work in two opposite directions-speeding it up in Morocco and Turkey and slowing it down in Egypt. Empirical evidence confirms this hypothesis. Time series of birth rates and migrant remittances (reflecting the intensity of the relationship kept by emigrants with their home country) are strongly correlated with each other. Correlation is negative for Morocco and Turkey, and positive for Egypt. This suggests that Moroccan and Turkish emigration to Europe has been accompanied by a fundamental change of attitudes regarding marriage and birth, while Egyptian migration to the Gulf has not brought home innovative attitudes in this domain, but rather material resources for the achievement of traditional family goals. Other data suggest that emigration has fostered education in Morocco and Turkey but not in Egypt. And as has been found in the literature, education is the single most important determinant of demographic transition among nonmigrant populations in migrants' regions of origin. Two broader conclusions are drawn. First, the acceleration of the demographic transition in Morocco and Turkey is correlated with migration to Europe, a region where low birth-rates is the dominant pattern. This suggests that international migration may have produced a global demographic benefit under the form of a relaxation of demographic pressures for the world as a whole. Second, if it turns out that emigrants are conveyors of new ideas in matters related with family and education, then the same may apply to a wider range of civil behavior.