INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION: A GLOBAL ISSUE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY; NEW REPORT NOW AVAILABLE

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION:  A GLOBAL ISSUE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST

CENTURY; NEW REPORT NOW AVAILABLE

NEW YORK, 6 February (UN Population Division) -- Around 175 million persons currently reside outside the country of their birth, and almost one of every

10 persons living in the more developed regions is a migrant.  The more developed regions receive each year about 2.3 million migrants coming from the less developed regions, accounting for two thirds of their population growth.  These are some of the data from the International Migration Report 2002, issued by the United Nations Population Division.  This report complements findings from the wall chart International Migration 2002issued on 28 October 2002.

The issue of international migration has moved to the forefront of national and international agendas, raising many questions.  The report attempts to address some of these questions by providing an overview of international migration levels, trends and policies, and of the workers’ remittances they generate, for countries and regions and for the world as a whole.

The first part of the report deals with the following general issues:

Data and Policy Issues 

Discussing some of the challenges faced in gathering and analyzing data on levels and trends of international migration, the report illustrates some of these challenges with recent examples from the work of the Population Division.  It also provides a summary of major trends in international migration policies in developed and developing countries since the mid-1970s.

Migration Issues in the General Assembly

Also presented is the report of the Secretary-General to the United Nations General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session in 2001:  “International migration and development, including the question of the convening of a United Nations Conference on international migration and development to address migration issues.”  This document summarizes the views of governments and describes recent activities carried out by the relevant organizations at the regional and international levels.  Also included is the resolution adopted by the General Assembly following its consideration of the report.

The second part of the report presents international migration profiles for each individual country and for regions, major areas and special groups of countries.

Some of the major findings are as follows:

Migrant Stock

Around 175 million persons currently reside in a country other than where they were born -- about three per cent of the world’s population.  The number of migrants has more than doubled since 1975, and sixty per cent of the world’s migrants currently reside in the more developed regions, with 40 per cent living in the less developed regions.  Most of the world’s migrants live in Europe

(56 million), Asia (50 million) and Northern America (41 million).  Almost one of every 10 persons living in the more developed regions, but only one of every

70 persons in developing countries, is a migrant.  In the 10 years from 1990 to 2000, the number of migrants in the more developed regions increased by 23 million persons, or 28 per cent.

Net Migration

In the five years from 1995-2000, the more developed regions of the world received nearly 12 million migrants from the less developed regions, about

2.3 million migrants per year.  The number of net migrants amounted to 18 per cent of the number of births, and the net migration accounted for two thirds of the population growth in the more developed regions.  The largest gains per year were made by Northern America, which absorbed 1.4 million migrants annually, followed by Europe with an annual net gain of 0.8 million.

Number of Refugees

About nine per cent of the migrants are refugees.  At the end of 2000, the number of refugees in the world stood at 16 million, of which 12 million were under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and 4 million were under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  The largest number of refugees was found in Asia -- 9 million -- and in Africa -- 4 million.  Three million refugees were in developed countries with 13 million in developing countries.

Workers’ Remittances

Remittances sent back to the home country by migrants are a major source of foreign exchange earnings for some countries and are an important addition to gross domestic product.  For example, in 2000, at least nine countries received remittances from abroad amounting to more than 10 per cent of their gross domestic product. 

Governments’ Views and Policies on Immigration

In 2001, almost a quarter of all countries viewed immigration levels as too high; 44 per cent of developed countries had policies aiming to lower immigration levels, as did 39 per cent of developing countries. 

Governments’ Views and Policies on Emigration

Developed and developing countries are strikingly similar in their views and policies concerning levels of emigration.  About three-quarters of all countries view their level of emigration as satisfactory, and one in five countries have policies in place to lower levels of emigration.

Parties to United Nations Instruments

The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, ratified by

141 countries, establishes legal protections and a clear definition of the status of refugees.

The 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, ratified by

139 countries, extends the scope of the 1951 Convention to persons who became refugees after that date.

The 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, came into effect last month, after the report was sent for printing, when Timor-Leste became the twentieth country to ratify it.

The 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, has been ratified by 18 countries.

The 2000 Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, has been ratified by 17 countries.

For further information, please contact the office of Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs; tel:  1-212-963-3179; fax:  1-212-963-2147.

The International Migration Report 2002 is available for $39.95 (Sales No. E.03.XIII.4, ISBN 92-1-151375-8) from United Nations Publications, Two UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, Dept. PRES, New York NY 10017 USA, Tel.1-800-253-9646 or 1-212-963-8302, Fax.1-212-963-3489, E-mail:  publications@un.org; or Section des Ventes et Commercialisation, Bureau E-4, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland, Tel.41-22-917-2614, Fax.41-22-917-0027, E-mail:  unpubli@unog.ch; Internet: http://www.un.org/publications.

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