CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Migration for employment is an important global issue, which nowaffects most countries
in the world. Two major labour market forcesare in operation today that result in
increased migration for work many people of working age either cannot find
employment or cannotfind employment adequate to support themselves and their families
intheir own countries, while some other countries have a shortage ofworkers to fill
positions in various sectors of their economies. Otherfactors include demographic
change, socio-economic and politicalcrises, and widening wage gaps within, as well as
between,

developedand

developing

countries.

There

is

consequently

much

movementacross borders for employment, with women independently migratingfor work

in considerably greater numbers than in the past and nowcomprising about half of all
migrant workers.
Labour migration can have many beneficial elements for those countries which send and
receive migrant workers, as well as for the workers themselves. It can assist both origin
and destination countries ineconomic growth and development. While acknowledging the
sovereign right of States to develop their own labour and migration policies,it is
important to direct attention to the need to adopt coherent and comprehensive national
policies to effectively manage labour migrationand to protect migrant workers. Special
attention should be given to themultiple disadvantages and discrimination often faced by
migrantworkers on the basis of gender, race and migrant status. Further, issuesrelated to
the movement of workers across national borders cannot beeffectively addressed when

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countries act in isolation; hence, international cooperation in managing labour migration

can be valuable inaddressing national interests.
The ILO Multilateral Framework comprises non-binding principlesand guidelines for
labour migration. It is derived from extensiveresearch, as well as compilation and review
of labour migration practices in all regions of the world. It has been drawn from
principles contained in relevant international instruments and international andregional
policy guidelines, including the International Agenda forMigration Management.
Governments and the social partners areinvited to give effect to the principles and
guidelines therein. TheFramework includes examples of best practices in Annex II.
Relevantinstruments that relate to the principles are referenced below under theprinciples.
The provisions of the Framework shall not limit or otherwise affect obligations arising
out of the ratification of any ILO Convention. It is designed to provide practical guidance
to governmentsand to employers and workers organizations with regard to the
development, strengthening and implementation of national and international labour
migration policies. It can also guide other parties interested in labour migration issues. In
the broader context of commitment to promoting decent work forall, the Multilateral
Framework aims to foster cooperation and consultation among and between the tripartite
constituents of the ILO andthe Office, and in partnership with other international
organizations,to assist them in implementing more effective policies on labourmigration,
including on rights, employment and protection of migrantworkers.
Our world is very unequal. For many people around the world moving away from their
home town or village can be the best sometimes the only option open to improve
their life chances. Migration can be hugely effective in improving the income, education

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and participation of individuals and families, and enhancing their childrens future
prospects. But its value is more than that: being able to decide where to live is a key
element of human freedom. There is no typical profile of migrants around the world.
Fruit pickers, nurses, political refugees, construction workers, academics and computer
programmers are all part of the nearly 1 billion people on the move both within their own
countries and overseas. When people move they embark on a journey of hope and
uncertainty, whether within or across international borders. Most people move in search
of better opportunities, hoping to combine their own talents with resources in the
destination country so as to benefit themselves and their immediate family, who often
accompany or follow them. Local communities and societies as a whole have also
benefited both in places of origin and at destinations.
People have different motives for migrating such as: economic reasons (to find work,
escape famine, etc.) social reasons (for a better quality of life or to be closer to family or
friends)

political reasons (to escape cultural/political/religious persecution or war )

environmental reasons (natural disasters such as flooding, drought) The migration

dynamic reflects the interplay of push factors (which make the people leave their home)
and pull factors (which make people move to a particular area). Here are some examples:
Push factors -lack of jobs and services, poor safety or security, high crime levels, famine,
drought, flooding, poverty, war, political or religious persecution.
Pull factors- more jobs and services better quality of life low crime levels good food
supplies better climate and fertile land less risk of natural hazard wealth political security.

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1.1 BACKGROUND TO LABOUR MIGRATION

The first section covers the background to international labourmigration and looks at the
key issues from a global and UK national perspective.It highlights the main initiatives
taken by the UK both in the interests of migrant workers themselves and those of the UK
economy. Among the key findings:
There are around 190 million people globallyliving in a country not of their birth. The
ILO estimates that there are more than 42 million migrant workers worldwide, not
including the millions of illegal migrants, many of whom are open to abuse and
exploitation
Health care workers make up an increasingproportion of migrant workers in the UK
the majority of whom are from sub-Sahara Africa and South East Asia. This haemorrhage
of health workers from developing countries is having a devastating effect on those
countries
In 2005 the government published a 5-year strategy for asylum and immigration which
proposed a points-based system for those coming into the UK to work or study. This
strategy favoursskilled workers.
The UK has not ratified the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and their Families, which would protect migrant workers and their
families from abuse and exploitation.

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1.2 BENEFITS AND LOSSES LABOUR MIGRATION

The second section sets out the benefits and lossesof labour migration to receiving and
sending countries. It is concerned in particular with the losses to sending countries, in
sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, with special emphasis on health service workers and
the impact their loss has on health service systems in their countries. Some of the benefits
and losses are:
Migrant workers make a positive net contributionof around 2.5 billion to the UKs
public accounts
Overseas-qualified doctors account for 51 per cent of the increase in the number of
doctors working in the NHS. This has saved the NHS time and money without redress to
investing more in training.
Most migrant workers, including a number ofhighly qualified, take on low-paid,
insecure work
There are huge implications for sendingcountries; the most crucial is the loss of
expertise. South Africa said it spent US $1b educating health workers who migrated.
High levels of out-migration from Sub-SaharanAfrica resulted in a struggle to provide
basic health services. It is estimated that annually between 30 and 50% of health
graduates leave South Africa for the US and UK
The biggest blow from the loss of healthcare professionals is felt by HIV/AIDS
sufferers who are desperately in need of medical attention but are unable to receive it as
doctors and nurses leave to work abroad

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 Migration should be voluntary rather than forced by social or economic circumstances.

Development aid and commitments from governments in developing countries can play a
part in improving social and economic infrastructures
Many migrants have to leave their families behind who depend on the money sent
home. It is estimated that as much as US $150b was remitted globally in 2004
Migrant workers entering the UK have strong cultural and family ties with the country
of their birth and many do not intend to take up permanent residence in the UK. Those
who do return take back experience and knowledge which benefits the home country as a
whole by adding to its pool of talented workers.

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1.3 TYPESAND SOURCES

As is the case with some other types of migration data, there is no one denitive source of
labour ows data. They tend to be a by-product of one of anumber of administrative
processes. For example, a countrys work permitsystem is used to control labour market
access to foreign nationals. The number of new work permits (that is,. as opposed to the
number of renewedwork permits) can be used as an indicator of the inow of foreign
workers,but the aim of the work permit system is not to record this inow. For thisreason,
there may be complications in the data that limit their use.The types/sources of data that
can be used as an indicator of ows of foreign
workers include :
Work permits.
Migration surveys where reason for migration is recorded.
Social security registrations.
Population register registrations.
Labour Force Survey data.
Border workers permits/data.
Seasonal workers schemes/data.
Bilateral agreements for supply of labour between countries.
The majority of these sources record inows and the gures they give may

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range widely. For example, for the United Kingdom in 2001, the
International Passenger Survey recorded 151 000 foreign employed immigrants ; 85000
work permits were issued ; and the Labour Force Survey (LFS)counted 76 000 foreign
workers who were living outside the UnitedKingdom one year before.
There are few data on emigration of workers. Some migration surveys recordsuch
information but these sources are scarce. Work permits are onlyrequired to enter a
countrys labour market, not to leave it. Population and
International labourmigrationsocial security registers do require unregistering but there is
little incentive todo this. And, nally, as always, inows are seen as a more
importantissuethan outows, at least in Europe. The differing amounts of data for
inowsandoutows reects this fact.Seasonal workers (usually workers coming to work
in the agricultural ortourism sector for a short period during a seasonal increase in
demand forlabour in that sector) are by their nature different from other forms of
labourmigration. Often their movement is governed by a separate administrativescheme
and data on them are provided separately from the main labourows data. However,
sometimes their numbers can be included in totallabour ows gures.
Cross-border workers are different again, working across a national borderfrom the
country in which they live. Their movements are frequent, usuallyon a daily or weekly
basis. Data on cross-border workers are provided separately from those on other types of
labour migration.

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1.4 CONCEPT
Migration And Migrants
Migration is usually defined as the movement of a person or group of persons from one
geographical unit to another across an administrative or political border, and wishing to
settle permanently or temporarily in a place other than their place of origin. Since the
movement between two geographical units does not have to occur directly, one can
further differentiate between the place of origin or sending region, transit regions, and the
place of destination or receiving region Movements within a country are usually defined
as internal migration and, accordingly, movements across international borders are called
international migration.Henceforth, we exclusively focus on international migration.
The broad concept of migration comprises many different forms of migration flows and
distinct types of migrants. To organise our ideas about this phenomenon, we briefly
develop a typology of migrants based on three key characteristics. Different combinations
of thesefactors comprehensively describe the various modes of migration. The three main
questions affecting migrants and is represented by a triangle:
(a) Who is making the decision;
(b) What is the motive for the migration decision; and
(c) What is the regulatory environment?
In terms of migration motives one can differentiate three types of migrants: those seeking
economic opportunity in the destination economy; migrants who aim to accumulate
savings or human capital while abroad in order to have increased economic opportunities

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upon their return; and migrants who move because of political, ethnic or religious
oppression in their home country. For the majority of migrants, the main driving force
behind the migration decision is the desire to improve their material living conditions or
quality of life. Usually it is that these migrants plan their move and invest in information
and those aspects of human capital that are necessary for a successful integration into the
labour market and society of the receiving country (Chiswick, 1978).
A related motive for working abroad is the accumulation of savings or skills with the
objective of returning to their place of origin and building a better future there. Migrants
with these motives may not be obvious in the data.By contrast to these two motives,
ethnic migrants, asylum seekers and refugees migrate either because they are
discriminated against in their country of origin because of their ethnicity, race or
gender,or they are forced to move because of armed conflict in their home country.Even
though this is coerced migration, empirical evidence suggests that their choice of
receiving country is determined at least partly by economic considerations (Rotte and
Vogler, 1998).In general, the migration decision can be made by individuals, families or
an extended family network. In contrast to individual migrants, the decision of family
migrants is only partly driven by their own social and economic considerations (Mincer,
1978). Rather, the opportunities and restrictions of all family members influence the
decision. Thus it might not be sufficient to examine only individual motivations to
understand migration decisions. It might even be the extended family which makes the
migration decision.

A member of the network might be sent away to work in a

locationwhich is characterised by a better economic climate to ensure the extended family

against economic instability at home.

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Regarding the regulatory environment, one can differentiate three possibilities: legal
permanent migrants who wish to settle in their place of destination indefinitely; legal
temporary migrants who aim to stay in the receiving region only for a limited period
before returning to their place of origin or moving on to another destination area; and
illegal migrants. The legal status has direct consequences on the living situation of a
migrant in the receiving area. Illegal migrants are often not eligible for social and
medical assistance and will have a difficult time securing certain civil rights. They may
also be subject to detention, expulsion, deportation and prosecution. In addition, illegal
migration, especially of women and children, is increasingly associated with the
trafficking and smuggling of human beings.
The above typology of migrants covers the characteristics of the main groups of migrants
observed. The migration decision of guest-workers and so-called target savers, for
example, is usually an individual decision to migrate temporarily on a legal basis to
another country for economic reasons. For asylum seekers, the decision to migrate is
most often made by families because of some form of oppression in their home country
and upon the approval of their asylum status they aim to stay permanently in their
receiving country on a legal basis.
However, a typology based on three characteristics cannot be completely exhaustive.
The same person can change classification depending on their place of origin and/or
destination and with period of residence in the receiving country. Destinations are not
clear cut, either. Even though the migration decision of asylum seekers and refugees may
be due to the political and social situation in their place of origin, their choice of
destination area may be determined by economic reasons or family networks. Hence, it

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may be unclear from the viewpoint of the receiving area whether to classify an asylum
seeker or refugee as a humanitarian or economic migrant.
Furthermore, the experience of many guest-worker countries in Western Europe has
shown that migrants who originally intended or were supposed to stay only temporarily
often change into permanent immigrants.
Migrants who settle in a country by overstaying their visa, or by immigrating without
valid or with forged documents, often have the opportunity to subsequently obtain legal
residence status in the receiving region, for example by regularisationprogrammes. In
addition, changes in residence permit or work permit laws in the destination regions often
result in changes in the legal status of the migrants already residing in those countries.
Because of different regulations between countries concerning residence and work
permits, the same migrant could hold a different legal status in different destination
regions.

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1.5RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND MIGRATION

There are both direct and indirect links between trade and migration. The interchange of
professionals and other skilled workers among countries is a direct and necessary
concomitance to merchandise trade and foreign direct investment. Mode 4 of the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
provides a formal codification for the movement of persons to deliver services in another
country. To date, agreements under this provision have been restricted almost entirely to
the migration of highly-skilled and professional service providers. The movement of
professionals between the developing and industrialized regions is predominantly one
way: from the developing countries. The industrialized nations have been more reluctant
to admit low-skilled workers through trade agreements, notwithstanding the tendency of
some of these nations to turn a blind eye to irregular migrations.
More indirectly, the globalization of trade could serve to diminish income gaps and hence
diminish migration pressures. Are trade and migration thus substitutes? This remains an
area of dispute. To the extent that southnorth trade is shaped by an abundance of lowskilled workers in the south and by capital and skills in the north, freer trade ought
eventually to narrow the gaps in low-skilled workers earnings, reducing the need to
migrate. On the other hand, if the agglomeration of highly-skilled persons in the
industrialized countries serves to make each such person more productive, then increased
trade can exacerbate the pressures for a brain drain, even in the long run. Perhaps far
more importantly, the short-term impacts of sudden trade liberalization can go either way,
for workers across a range of skills. For example, a country whose agricultural exports
increase may face rising prices of food at home under liberalization; that serves to

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undermine real wages. By contrast, increased imports of less expensive agricultural

goods may lower incomes for small-scale farmers. Combined with macro-economic
mismanagement and population growth, trade Robert liberalization in Mexico may well
have exacerbated the exodus to the United States, at least in the short term (Hanson
2006). More generally, liberalization associated with stabilization and structural
adjustment programs in the developing countries following the debt crises of the 1980s,
financial crises of the 1990s, and transition in formerly socialist countries have initially
undermined

incomes

at

homeagain

adding

to

the

pressures

to

move

overseas.Meanwhile, some aspects of trade protection in the north have probably

exacerbated migration pressures.
It is an irony of the public policy in many of the industrialized countries that subsidies
and protection to low-skilled activities, notably agriculture, stimulate precisely those
sectors providing much of the employment to irregular migrants. Whether the ubiquitous
protection of agriculture in the industrialized states harms living standards in the
developing world, thus contributing even further to migration pressures, is more
ambiguous. Net food importers tend to gain from these agricultural subsidies of the north
as do food-exporting developing countries with privileged export access to European
markets. Protection of certain crops, such as cotton in the United States, has most
certainly harmed living standards among some of the cotton exporters of Africa. There
exists little or no coherence between the trade and migration policies adopted by the
higher-income countries. These two sets of issues are the realms of separate ministries,
which typically fail to coordinate, despite the obvious links between their concerns.

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Trade policies of both countries of origin and destination impact migration outcomes. But
migration also shapes trade flows. The role of information provided by migrants in
stimulating trade has already been noted. In addition, the growing circular migration of
scientists and engineers, both among the countries of the north and between the
developing and industrialized regions, is a contributing factor in diffusing and shifting
technological superiority and hence reshaping trade patterns (Saxenian 1999).

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1.6POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Globalization of trade and capital flows has occurred far more rapidly than globalization
of labor markets and migration. The labor market for professionals and highly-skilled
persons is becoming more directly integrated at the global level. However the market for
less-skilled workers is integrating mainly through the indirect channel of wage arbitrage
represented by outsourcing and trade more generally. There is virtually no movement of
less-skilled workers between the least-developed countries and the industrialized world,
despite massive prevailing income gaps.
The demands of employers are paramount both in driving the search for skilled migrants
and in allowing irregular migration of less-skilled workers to continue. An increasing
supply of labor holds down wage costs for firms, while it is probably not in the direct,
short-term self-interest of skilled natives to allow quotas for skilled migrants to increase;
nor is it in the self-interest of domestic low-skilled workers to permit irregular migration.
However, lack of admission contributes to increases in already massive global inequality
and continued overseas poverty; these undermine global stability and security, with
potential negative effects on workers at all skill levels in the more developed regions.
Where migration occursof professionals, of low-skilled workers from countries
bordering on the high-income states, or southsouth movementsthe migrants
themselves are normally the big winners. The return of migrants, or at least their intended
return, is critical to gains for those who remain in the country of origin. Temporary
migrants remit more, retain more ties with the home country, and may return with useful,
freshly-acquired skills and attitudes.

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An important explanation for the limited amount of international migration observed is a

common preference to remain at home. The prevalence of return migration often reflects
a similar preference, to go home after a sojourn of high earning and saving abroad.
The element of return is thus important to the interests of those who are left behind and to
many of the migrants too. Increasingly, temporary migration is the preferred mode for the
host countries also, including the traditional lands of more permanent settlement. A
preference to admit migrants only temporarily may be economically motivated. The
intent is to have migrants contribute to the local economy and fiscal coffers while of
working age, but then to have the migrants depart before they become dependent or the
economy no longer needs them. Alternatively, the preference to admit only temporarily
may reflect the desire to preserve the nation-state and its character. International
migration involves more than mere movement of labor inputs across borders; people
arrive.
To the extent that temporary migrations are in the mutual interest of the home and host
states, it becomes important to seek better methods of managing such programs.
Organized recruiting through intermediaries and contracting of projects involving
migrant workers generally result in a higher return rate than does casual hiring of
individual workers. However, reports are common of abusive and exploitative treatment
of workers by intermediaries. Although such contracting schemes are likely to be an
important feature of any low-skilled temporary worker programs from developing
countries, they will require continuous and active monitoring; and that demands bilateral
cooperation.

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Repeat contracting with agents, conditioned upon a good record of transparency,

reliability, and worker treatment would serve as an incentive for agents to improve
conditions. Uncertain prospects for reentry discourage return; multiple-entry visas could
ease reentry and thus enhance the rate of returning home. Such visas would, however,
require appropriate protection to prevent their transfer to others. Mechanisms to transfer
pension or social security contributions to an account in the home country, to be collected
only by the migrant upon return (or his/her heirs), could also be sought as a device to
encourage circular movement.There has been little progress in addressing these issues at
a multilateral level.

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1.7 Impact on Receiving Countries and sending countries

Impact on receiving countires
The initial impact of migrants arrival upon the host countrys economy depends upon a
number of circumstances. In contexts where wages are relatively flexible, such as the
United States, there is some evidence that the added supply of labor depresses wages of
workers within the same broad education level.Where wages are less flexible, such as in
much of Europe, the impact tends to be revealed in higher unemployment.
Yet, in both cases, the magnitudes of such impacts appear to be relatively small.More
generally, the employability and productivity of migrants depends upon how well their
skill profiles match the demands of employers. A few countries, including Australia and
Canada, have adopted a point scheme to filter acceptable immigrants in an effort to
enhance the likelihood of job matching. However, where prior job offers are required for
entry, as in some categories of migrants to the United States, the demands of employers
are probably more closely matched.
Indeed, it may be argued that a large portion of irregular migration is driven fairly
directly by employers demands. To this extent, penalties on employers for hiring
irregular migrants is probably one of the most effective ways of limiting undocumented
immigration, but few societies possess the political will to impose and enforce such
penalties. In contrast, employers demands may reflect hardly at all on the sudden mass
influx of refugees that many developing countries have witnessed. Granting asylum to
large refugee populations may impose substantial costs on some very low-income
countriesthose remaining in camps and absorbing others into the domestic labor market.

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Impact on Sending Countries

Turning from the economic impacts of migrants upon the host countries and their existing
populations, consider the case of those left behind in the countries of origin. Again the
story is mixed. On the one hand is the negative potential of such factors as brain drain,
to which the following section will turn. On the other hand, remittances tend to be seen
by many governments as the dominant benefit to the home country from labor migration
abroad.
Reported remittances to the developing regions have grown rapidly, although it is not
clear how much of this is simply a growth in reporting. In any case, international
remittances to the developing regions are now the largest source of financial inflow after
direct foreign investment, having surpassed both debt flows and official development
assistance. For several of the major emigration countries, remittances exceed
merchandise export earnings. Remittances also offer a critical source of support in times
of crisis and tend to increase during times of economic downturn at home, in contrast to
other financial flows (World Bank 2006). Remittances provide an important source of
income and of foreign exchange.
Emigration can affect the home labor market directly, as well. For instance, the
withdrawal of labor can tighten labor markets, either inducing higher wages or less
underemployment for those left at home. In contexts where surplus labor characterizes
the home labor market, little impact on wages can be anticipated.

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1.8PROBLEMS FACED BY MIGRANT WORKERS

Migrant workers face many obstacles while trying to establish themselves in their host
country. Whether in countries that have traditionally attracted immigrants or in countries
where migration is a recent phenomenon, migration and migrants have a negative image.
Media attention routinely focuseson uncontrolled flows of people seeking work or
asylum, on undocumented migrants, on the criminal activities of traffickers and
smugglers, and on the problems of the integration of immigrants with the local
population.
Public perceptions may reflect real issues and realproblems, but they also reflect fear,
ignorance and prejudice. It is widely believed that migrants come to the UK simply to
take advantage of the state welfare system, a belief encouraged by sections of the press.
Evidence shows that migrants make less use of the benefits system than the indigenous
population. One of the reasons for this is thatmigrant workers are denied entitlement to
noncontributory benefits in the first place. This is ananomaly that should be addressed.
Public perceptions however, fluctuate and are subject to a variety of influences. The
majority tends to change its views with the ebb and flow of the economy a period of
unemployment for example inflames fear and prejudice but it is also sensitive and
responsive to the information and messages coming from political representatives. At the
same time, political representatives are very aware of trends in perceptions and public
opinion, particularly when seeking to gain or retain electoral support.Extreme
politicisation of migration in many countries bears further testimony to this, as does the
rise in violence against migrants. Migrants and foreigners have always been scapegoats

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for actual or perceived economic and social problems, from criminality to

unemployment. The events of September 11 2001 in New York, and July 7 2005 in
London, have heightened the perception of migrants, particularly those of Muslim and/or
Arab origin, as a threat to social stability. In their effortsto assuage public fears of further
terrorist attacks, governments rush to introduce laws which undermine human rights and
adversely alter thebalance between freedom and security.
Governments have a responsibility for theprotection and security of their countries, but
indoing so they must be mindful of the rights of the people. Studies on the situation of
Muslim and Arab peoples following 9/11 have found that in most non-Muslim countries,
but primarily in north America and Europe, discrimination and violence towards people
originating from Muslim countries became more frequent. This hostility has had an effect
on employment and recruitment.

A study by the Institute of Employment Studies

revealed that most companies surveyed were looking to employ refugee staff because of
gaps in the domestic labour market. However, half of those questioned did not want it to
be publicly known that they employed refugees because of the negative image of
migrants coming to the UK. Violent attacks on migrants and refugees throughout Europe
have been widely reported, but brutality against foreigners is occurring in all regions of
the world. Women migrants are often the targets of such attacks.
Among the types of violence directed at women are beatings, rape and starvation, with
increasing numbers forced into prostitution. Inhumane working conditions, such as long
working hours, non-payment of wages and no time off are experienced by many women
migrant workers, with unskilled workers in domestic service particularly exposed.

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The opportunities for migrant women in securing work are often restricted to traditional
female jobs such as catering and domestic service. Many of these jobs come into the
casual category and offer no physical safety or financial security. As a result, social
support through womens networks has a limited role to play.
While the government has adopted measures to make it easier for migrants to find
employment, they still fall short of offering any real employment protection. Work
permits continue to remain the property of the employer, while a workers right to remain
in the UK depends on them remaining with the same employer. The employer-migrant
worker relationship is consequently an uneven one, with the employer holding a distinct
advantage and exercising great power over the worker.
Under Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 employers effectively act as
immigration control officers. The Act requires that they check the immigration status of
employees who they believe to be immigrants. As a result, Section 8 places workers at
the mercy of employers and is likely to increase discrimination against job applicants. It
should therefore be repealed.
Migrant workers in sector-based schemes are in a similarly weak position. As many only
stay in the country for one year or less they have no protection in the event of unfair
dismissal. Where rights do exist it is difficult to bring a case to a tribunal if the individual
victim has to leave the country. Those with restricted rights, for example students on
seasonal agricultural workers schemes, or those on work permits employed in private
health, can have their documents withheld, threatened with the sack and subsequently
deported.

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1.9POTENTIAL ECONOMIC GAINS AND LOSSES FROM MIGRATION

Several simulation exercises indicate that the total global income gains from even small
increments to labor mobility could be quite enormous. Walmsleyand Winters (2003), for
instance, estimate that a 3 percent expansion of global migration could generate a larger
increase in world incomes than a complete liberalization of all trade flows.
What drives these massive simulated gains are the gaps in earnings between the poor and
rich nations. When the gap in earnings of unskilled workers between some of the poorer
and richer nations exceeds twentyfold, as presumed in these exercises, transfer from the
low to high earnings settings potentially offers huge gains. In the process of these
simulated changes, the migrants themselves are, by far, the largest winners. In reality we
know that a significant portion of the gains to migrants are now siphoned off by various
forms of middlemen. Migration is becoming increasingly commercialized: agents are
commonly hired to aid with access to visas and overseas jobs; smugglers charge high fees
for bringing irregular migrants across borders; money-transfer intermediaries charge
exorbitant rates.
Nonetheless the net potential gains to migrants entering the industrialized countries are
extremely high. Even if one doubts whether 3 percent more migrants could be found who
could actually perform the low-skilled occupations in demand in high-income regions,
there can be little doubt that very major gains are indeed feasible. Yet the impacts of any
additional migrations on the incomes of those left at home and of natives in the host
countries is more ambiguous. While migrants are clearly the big winners, others may
even lose.

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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LABOUR MIGRATION
The initial impact of migrants arrival upon the host countrys economy depends upon a
number of circumstances. In contexts where wages are relatively flexible, such as the
United States, there is some evidence that the added supply of labor depresses wages of
workers within the same broad education level (Borjas 2003). Where wages are less
flexible, such as in much of Europe, the impact tends to be revealed in higher
unemployment (Mnz et al. 2006). Yet, in both cases, the magnitudes of such impacts
appear to be relatively small.More generally, the employability and productivity of
migrants depends upon how well their skill profiles match the demands of employers. A
few countries, including Australia and Canada, have adopted a point scheme to filter
acceptable immigrants in an effort to enhance the likelihood of job matching. However,
where prior job offers are required for entry, as in some categories of migrants to the
United States, the demands of employers are probably more closely matched. Indeed,
itmay be argued that a large portion of irregular migration is driven fairly directly by
employers demands. To this extent, penalties on employers for hiring irregular migrants
is probably one of the most effective ways of limiting undocumented immigration, but
few societies possess the political will to impose and enforce such penalties (Martin and
Miller 2000; Hanson 2006). In contrast, employers demands may reflect hardly at all on
the sudden mass influx of refugees that many developing countries have witnessed.
Granting asylum to large refugee populations may impose substantial costs on some very
low-income countries; finding livelihoods to support those remaining in camps and
absorbing others into the domestic labor market become a high priority. The

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initialimpacts of migration upon the host country are thus quite mixed. Though in most
situations, the net overall impact on incomes of natives is probably small. Over time,
other factors come into play. First, the mix of industrial activities in the host country may
begin to adapt to the new arrivals. For instance, some of the more labor-intensive forms
of agriculture would probably not exist today in EU countries and in the United States
were it not for access to migrant workers. The fact that some of these lines of agricultural
products are also subsidized raises curious anomalies with respect to public policy.
Turning from the economic impacts of migrants upon the host countries and their existing
populations, consider the case of those left behind in the countries of origin. Again the
story is mixed. On the one hand is the negative potential of such factors as brain drain,
to which the following section will turn. On the other hand, remittances tend to be seen
by many governments as the dominant benefit to the home country from labor migration
abroad. Reported remittances to the developing regions have grown rapidly, although it is
not clear how much of this is simply a growth in reporting. In any case, international
remittances to the developing regions are now the largest source of financial inflow after
direct foreign investment, having surpassed both debt flows and official development
assistance. Migration of Highly-Skilled Workers
The adult, foreign-born population, with a tertiary education residing in the OECD
countries rose by almost 8 million from 1990 to 2000 (Docquierand Marfouk 2006). This
represented an increase of more than 63 percent. Virtually every OECD country now has
mechanisms to expedite the admission of highlyskilled persons, and the competition to
attract the highly skilled is intensifying. By 2000, about 42 percent of the highly-skilled
migrants in the OECD countries were from other OECD countries. The interchange of

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professional personnel among the high-income countries is clearly important. Still, more
than half of the highly skilled migrated from non-OECD countries, raising a specter of a
growing brain drain from the developing regions. North America remains the dominant
destination for highly-skilled migrants: by 2000 about two-thirds of all highly-skilled
expatriates in the OECD regions were in North America. However, the share of Europe
has been rising, and some 30 percent of the net increase in highly-skilled migrants in the
OECD entered the European member countries during the 1990s.
On average, the share of tertiary-educated citizens abroad in the OECD states, relative to
the total population of tertiary-educated persons at home and overseas, rises the lower the
per capita income is in the country of origin. In other words, the relative rate of brain
drain is greater from the lower-income countries. There is, however, considerable
variation in this rate of exodus. From some parts of the world the rate of brain drain has
been very high: from Central America, the Caribbean, East Europe, parts of the Middle
East, Indochina, and from virtually all of the African countries. From some of the smaller
island states, well over half of their tertiary-educated population is overseas; and for most
of Africa the proportion exceeds 20 percent. In contrast, the rate of brain drain to the
OECD countries is relatively low from such countries as Indonesia, Swaziland, and
several Central Asian countries. Though from Swaziland, many of the highly skilled
migrate to South Africa; and from Central Asia, movement has been into Russia. An
important source of brain drain is the propensity of foreign students to remain abroad to
work. As noted above, North American universities have traditionally provided the
dominant attraction for foreign students though this flow has more recently been
diversified to other high-income countries as well.

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There is surprisingly little evidence on the return rates of these students. One of the only
systematic studies is that of Finn (2001) who reports that 51 percent of foreigners
receiving doctorates in science and engineering from U.S. universities between 1994 and
1995 were working in the United States in 1999. Among students from India and China,
Finn finds these stay rates were 87 and 91 percent respectively. Indeed, a strategy of
attracting the best and the brightest from overseas is implicitly or explicitly becoming a
part of national policy for a number of the high-income countries.
Offering training at levels not available at home clearly has its merits both for the
students and for the host country. Whether it is a blessing for those left at home is far less
clearif the host country pays the tuition costs and especially if the students never return
home.
Emigration of the highly skilled may well, on balance, harm those left at home though the
extent of this harm remains to be quantified. On the other hand, emigration of low-skilled
workers tends to reduce poverty amongst those left at home. The reduction in labor
supply at home either puts upward pressure on wages for those remaining in the domestic
labor market or diminishes the extent of their underemployment. In addition, remittances
from low-skilled workers generally pass to lower-income families at home more than do
remittances from the highly skilled. Indeed, the propensity of low-skilled workers to send
remittances out of given wages tends to be greater than that of the more highly skilled;
this is only because low-skilled migration is more often temporary in nature and
frequently requires leaving immediate family members behind.

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These potential poverty-reducing effects of low-skilled emigration can, none the less, be
offset when a familys major income earner leaves then neglects to remit for their
support. In 2000, about 56 percent of low-skilled migrants in the OECD countries were in
Europe and a third were in North America.The low-skilled foreign workers present in the
OECD states are rarely drawn from the low-income developing countries. Geography
plays a massive role in shaping migration corridors, and distance is a particularly
significant deterrent to migration of low skilledworkers. Thus, among the European
OECD countries, 52 percent of low-skilled migrants are from other OECD states (38
percent from OECD members other than Turkey). In the United States, 43 percent of the
low-skilled migrants are from Mexico alone. Less than 9 percent of the low-skilled
migrants in the OECD countries were from least-developed countries as of 2000; indeed
the number of low-skilled migrants from these least-developed countries was almost
identical to the number of migrants with a tertiary education from the same countries
(see Table 2). It is also apparent, with countries such as Angola, Cambodia, and Laos
heading the list of least-developed counties of origin of low-skilled workers, that a large
portion of these low-skilled migrants came as resettled refugees

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CHAPTER 3
DATA ANALYSIS OF LABOUR MIGRATION
For several of the major emigration countries, remittances exceed merchandise export
earnings. Remittances also offer a critical source of support in times of crisis and tend to
increase during times of economic downturn at home, in contrast to other financial flows
(World Bank 2006). Remittances provide an important source of income and of foreign
exchange. Whether remittances stimulate domestic investments, hence economic growth,
is disputed (Chami et al. 2003; Catrinescu et al. 2007). Some of the evidence points to
Migrant Category approvals by source country, 2008/09 - 2010/11

Principal applicants aged 20-29 gain the maximum points (30 points) for age. This is
reflected in Figure 6.3 with 40 percent of principal applicants aged 20-29 and 37 percent
aged 30-39 in 2010/11. The small proportion of principal applicants aged more than 50
years (5 percent) reflects the maximum age limit of 55 years under the SMC.

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Employment Oriented Migration (in %)

Total

Rural

Urban

Male

31.1

39.8

36.0

Female

1.9

1.7

3.3

Total

10.4

10.3

17.2

As shown by Table: 1, it is however clear that migration towards urban areas are still
more likely to be associated with employment oriented reasons. It is also seen that the
percentage of employment migration for males are quite high, whether it is rural-bound

or urban-bound migration. It is interesting to observe that out of the total rural-bound

male migration, 40 percent have moved for work related reasons.

Table 3: Labor Migration (% of migrants)

Employment oriented*
Total

Rural

Labor force participant

Urban

Total

Rural

Urban

Male

45.5

33.3

51.9

70.0

70.1

70.0

Female

2.2

1.4

3.5

26.0

31.9

15.8

Total

13.6

6.6

22.3

37.5

38.1

36.9

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Employment Oriented* : (a) in search of employment (b) in search of better employment

(c) to take up employment/better employment (d) transfer of service/contract (e)
proximity to place of work
Table 3 gives the percentage of migrants who have given employment related reasons for
migration vis--vis labor force participation by sex and rural urban status. Table 3 gives
the percentage of migrants giving employment and related reasons for migration vis--vis
the labor force participation of the migrants. It is clearly seen from the table that nearly
46 percent of male migrants have reported employment related reasons as their motive
behind migration, while it is just above 2 percent of female migrants that have reported
employment and work related reason for their move.
Comparison with census figure in table 1, it is learnt that the sample survey data (7%)
shows a smaller percentage of employment oriented migrants in rural areas than the
census (10%). This could be the result of the difference in the definition of migrants in
the two data sources. Circular migrants and temporary migrants could not be captured by
the present dataset of the NSSO

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3.1 CONCLUSION
Migration has occurred throughout history, and current trends certainly indicate that it
will continue to increase in the future. While the forces of globalization have created
opportunities for greater integration of labour markets, a complex web of national
immigration laws and border controls has restricted the mobility of people across borders.
Yet growing disparities in wealth, incomes, human security, human rights and
demographic trends across countries are all exerting upward pressure on migration. every
year, many millions of young men and women enter the labour force in developing
countries where jobs are not created fast enough to absorb them. The impact of
demographic trends in the form of population decline and ageing is being felt most
profoundly in advanced destination countries, where scarcities of labour are emerging in
many sectors.
The shrinking of the labour force in these countries has generated a demand for workers
in many sectors of the economy, particularly in services, which has been met to a
significant extent by migrants. new technologies also allow more people to acquire the
information they need to access the global labour market.
History has shown that the movement of goods, rather than the movement of people, has
been the key factor in the success of some developing countries in catching up with more
advanced ones. The so-called east asian economic miracle was based on a comparative
advantage in low-cost labour for the manufacture of goods for export. This has since
spread to china, where per capita incomes have doubled in less than a decade. However,
there are questions over the degree to which this model can be replicated, particularly in

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developing countries that have weaker capacities to produce manufactured goods or lack
other conditions for successful management of the development process.The increased
importance of migration of women seeking employment, the rise in temporary migration
schemes, and the growth in numbers of migrants in irregular status pose challenges for
the international community with important implications for the governance and
regulation of labour migration and the protection of migrant workers rights.an
encouraging international trend is an increasing recognition of the positive contributions
of labour migration to countries of origin and destination, as well as to migrants
themselves.

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CHAPTER 4
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBSITE
www.ilo.org
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_migration
www.ilo.org ILO home Topics

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