Introduction to Migration: what is Migration?

International migration is the movement of individuals and people from one country or region to another. It can be voluntarily chosen to search for new and better opportunities, or forced to escape negative or dangerous situations. It has always been integral to the human condition and the patterns of movement reflect an ever-changing world.

Who migrates and where? Numbers and flows

According to the United Nations, by 2005around 191 million people lived outside the country of their birth, or 3% of the world population. They had moved as follows:

• 62 million from poor to rich countries
• 61 million from poor to poor countries
• 53 million from rich to rich countries
• 14 million from rich to poor countries

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The UN Migrant Workers Convention

What is the UN Migrant Workers Convention?

The Convention is the first universal codification of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families. It provides a set of binding fundamental standards to address the treatment, welfare and human rights of both documented and, as well as the obligations and responsibilities on the part of sending, receiving and transit countries. This international instrument is formally known as the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Why such a Convention?

The aim of the Convention is to ensure that all migrant workers have access to a minimum level of protection such as equality of treatment and working conditions for migrants and nationals. Although the Convention makes a distinction between documented and undocumented migrant workers, it does stress that every migrant worker who qualifies under its provision should enjoy all fundamental human rights, regardless of his/her legal status.

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International Migrants Day

What is International Migrants Day ( IMD)?

International Migrants Day is officially celebrated on 18th December every year around the world since 2000. It is an opportunity:

• to recognize the contributions made by millions of migrants to the development and well-being of so many countries in the world;

• to demand an end to all forms of abuse and violence against migrants and their families and promote respect for their basic human rights;

• to call on governments around the world to ratify the UN Convention on Migrant Workers;

• to hold governments accountable with regards to the rights of migrants.

IMD aims to put the issues that are of key interest to migrants and their communities (those they live in and those they leave behind) on the agenda, highlight the challenges they encounter and celebrate their achievements.

Why 18th December?

In 1997, migrant groups in Asia began celebrating and promoting 18th December as an international day of solidarity with migrants. They chose this date because of its symbolic value since it was on 18th December 1990 that the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and this after almost a decade of governmental negotiations and relentless advocacy by migrant communities around the world. The first IMD event took place at the UN Building in Manila, Philippines, with the participation of local authorities, foreign diplomats and representatives of international organisations and NGOs.

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Migrants Human Rights: From the Margins to the Mainstream*

Human Rights are:“The rights one needs in order to enjoy a dignified life or a life worth living”. Imagine leaving your home, your loved ones and everything familiar behind, to go to a new country where you often don’t understand the language, the laws, the culture and where you are sometimes not welcome or even “illegal” because you do not have the right papers. The migrants most vulnerable to abuse are undocumented migrants and women migrants. This is because migrants, by definition, are not citizens of the country in which they work/live and therefore may not always have access to the same rights and protections as nationals do. However, abuse of the human rights of migrants takes place throughout the migratory cycle: in the country of origin, during transit and of course, in the country of destination.

Violation of human rights as a driver for migration

The “push factors” which trigger migration may include domestic inequality, poverty, armed conflicts, racism, intolerance, gender discrimination and democratic deficits . The usual explanations for migrating - to find work, to secure a better livelihood - tend to obscure the regular violations of civil and political rights suffered by the migrants at home, even if those fall below the persecution “threshold” imposed by destination governments to grant claim for asylum. However these violations fuel much, if not most, of global migration. In practise, it has become increasingly difficult to separate refugees from other involuntary migrants or from economic migrants, even if this distinction is a fundamental one for governments as well as the international community as regards to their asylum or immigration laws and policies.

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* Taken from the the title of an article published in the Migration Information Source's Special Issue on Migration and Human Rights.

Undocumented Migrants: without papers but not without rights

Migrants are considered as undocumented or in an irregular situation when they are not allowed to enter, stay or work following the law of the country . Thirty to forty million people in the world live and work in countries without such permission. Approximately 10.3 million live in the USA and between 7 and 8 million live in the European Union .

Undocumented migration is an extremely emotional subject nowadays and is often used to stir up racial and cultural tensions. Some politicians and journalists play up fears of terrorism regularly linking migrants with criminality and talk about “invasion”. This image is strengthened by the use of dramatic pictures of desperate people willing to risk everything to work abroad. Consequently, the words “illegal migrant” carry a connotation of criminality where the migrant is to blame for doing what human beings have always done: crossing boarders or oceans in search of a better life. Yet “illegal migration” is an expression used on a daily basis and reference to illegal migration is pervasive in the media. For instance, in the USA, despite numerous calls from groups such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the words “illegal”, when describing a migrant, is still more than five times more common than the more neutral and accurate “undocumented”. In 309 stories collected over a period of two months, there were 381 uses of the word “illegal” compared to 73 uses of the word “undocumented” when referring to irregular migrants.

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The invisible ones: women in migration

Traditionally, migration has been mostly a male phenomenon because men had the freedom to travel and a duty to maintain the financial upkeep of the family. Migration was a men’s world: migrants’ jobs were male jobs and migrants’ rights were men’s rights. But recently globalisation has brought with it a feminisation of migration, and the number of women who migrate alone, as men do, to make money for themselves or to support their families, is increasing.
“There are very limited job opportunities in this country (…) I remember how I suffered before securing a job in Yemen (…) things would have been worse for me and my family had I not gone abroad to work”, Ethiopian woman working in Yemen.

Who are migrant women?

They are married or single, divorced or widows, mothers and daughters, girls and older women. They are many but they are invisible as there is not enough data or sex-disaggregated statistics on migrant women. We know that women make half of international migrants and that they tend to migrate from poor to poor countries as they avoid long journeys, may not have enough money to travel far, or are attracted to countries similar in terms of customs, religion, language, climate etc. But the number of women migrating to rich countries is increasing and today women represent the majority of immigrants in North America, Europe and the Middle East and the majority of emigrants from many countries in Asia and Latin America are female.

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Migration: the answer to Third World poverty?

“Migration is an ideal means of promoting co-development, that is, the coordinated or concerted improvement of economic and social conditions at both origin and destination based on the complementarities between the two”, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

In 2006, migrants sent home some US$ 260 billion in the form of “remittances”. As informal remittances add another 50% to the total of formal remittances, the full amount is probably more than twice the official development aid (ODA) received by developing countries. Additionally, the circulation of skilled people can promote “brain gain” where a migrant’s destination country can take advantage of well educated people filling-in gaps in their own economy while the country of origin can see their skilled people come back to work, teach, invest, share skills and train other people.

International migration is a fact and, to a large extent, the result of the lack of sustainable development in home countries, as observed for example by the Global Commission on International Migration (2005). It is furthermore encouraged by significant “pull factors” that result from the growing labour demands and demographic shortages in the “developed” countries.

In the age of globalisation and integration of markets, international migration can therefore be a potentially interesting response for both countries of origin as well as countries of destination. But, even if the economic benefits of migration might be positive, we have to look at the costs and see what the impact is, not only in terms of the economy but also with respect to the social well-being of the people involved.

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EU Migration Policy by Jean Lambert, Member of the European Parliament

December 2007

The EU's immigration and asylum policy has in the past been characterised as 'fortress Europe': how can it be made as difficult as possible for people outside of the EU to access the territory? Member States have resisted attempts to agree common criteria for the entry of economic migrants and right wing politicians and press alike have distorted the facts and the debate.

While this undercurrent is still there and reflected in the development of re-admission agreements and an insistence on neighbouring countries tightening their border controls, there is a detectable shift in both rhetoric and policy in Commission and Parliament; we wait to see how Council responds.

Migration is now being recognised as a complex, multi-faceted area affecting all countries and all skill levels, and both men and women. We are gradually coming to have different pictures in our heads of who a migrant is - not only, for example, a weak, young African man washed up on a beach, or whatever the prevailing national image has been.

The European Parliament's reports on migration have recognised the need for migrant workers in an ageing Europe, their positive contribution to our societies and the need for an active, two way integration strategy.

First steps towards having a full policy on migration
The Commission is now aiming to deal with the entry of migrant workers through a gradual and sectoral approach - with the eventual aim of having a full policy. The first proposal is for a directive on the entry of highly skilled migrants - the so called 'Blue Card', which aims to make the EU a more attractive destination by reducing barriers. However, many of us doubt whether the limited proposals will really help attract this already highly mobile group. Seasonal workers will be the next group to be tackled, with a proposal likely to give priority for return to those who leave at the end of their work period. Inter-corporate transfers are also in the work programme and this will clarify the position under the GATS agreements(1) on the free movement of service providers, some of the most highly paid and highly skilled migrants around. This will also help to remind people of the wide range of migrants. However, a more general proposal on migrants with other skill levels, probably the largest group, will have to wait.

Other areas, such as dealing with the demand for labour, which is the predominant “pull” factor, are also being tackled. There is a proposal for a directive on tackling employers who take on illegal (sic) workers, which proposes stringent penalties for repeat offenders who exploit such workers. Questions have been raised as to why we need new penalties for exploitation, when it is already supposed to be illegal. DG Employment and Social Affairs(2) has also brought out a Communication on undeclared work. These two proposals have served to highlight the very weak inspection regimes in some member states which have allowed the development of an often exploitative clandestine labour market, which has preyed on people being ignorant of their rights or being unable to find a way to access them. The fact that horrific working conditions in slave-like conditions has also been the experience of EU nationals from the newer member States has helped to publicise the reality for many third-country nationals, especially those in irregular situations. A key message for this year of Equal Opportunities for All was “know your rights” and we have seen the trade unions in a number of countries play a very important role in reaching out to migrant workers.

The increasing co-operation between the parts of the Commission dealing with Justice and Home Affairs and the Employment and Social Affairs sector is a very welcome development in my opinion. It signals a move to seeing migrants as part of society and a concern for their rights. EU legislation already recognises that there should be no discrimination on grounds of race or ethnicity either in the workplace or in access to goods and services. The social exclusion faced by many migrants has also been recognised in the national action plans drawn up under the Open Method of Coordination: it would be interesting to know how migrants are represented and consulted in that process. The EQUAL programme(3) has brought forward many excellent conclusions as to how to directly involve people in the projects and services that claim to provide for their needs. It is essential that these lessons are not lost with the ending of EQUAL. The conclusions of the 2006 Year of Mobility and that of the 2007 Year of Equal Opportunities for All should also be relevant to the experience of migrants.

FRONTEX border security and control
This year has also seen some tough questions asked about the role of FRONTEX(4), not least in the question of rescue at sea. The European Parliament was horrified by pictures of migrants left clinging to the net of a tuna fishing boat, while an argument went on as to which country had responsibility for them. There still seems to be no agreement about how to proceed once people are picked up: we are in no doubt that they must be. Member States have failed to deliver on their commitments to provide resources for FRONTEX , just as they have failed to deliver on fishing inspection vessels for West African countries, which are seeing their fishing industries wiped out – is it any wonder people can’t make a living and choose to migrate? There is still no real transparency on the FRONTEX mandate.
Questions are now being asked about whether the Dublin 2 Regulation concerning which country takes responsibility for dealing with an asylum claim can really be effective, especially for countries such as Malta, which deals with considerable numbers of migrants and does not have the means to assess protection needs properly. Some of us have always questioned the real value and effect of the Regulation.

Pilot Projects in Countries-of-Origin
There are now pilot projects in countries-of-origin, Mali and Ukraine, which are aiming to make migrants more aware of the realities of life in the EU and to offer training programmes in partnership with certain companies to ensure people coming have the right skills as well as the right documents. There are still issues to be resolved concerning the recognition of qualifications for many third-country-nationals. The Commission has also been involved in advertising ventures in countries such as Nigeria to dissuade people from coming to the EU irregularly, pointing out that the streets are not paved with gold.

The Returns Directive: First major piece of co-decision
Also on the table at the moment is the Returns Directive. This is the first major piece of co-decision for the Parliament in the field of migration and asylum policy and is proving very difficult, as can be imagined. The aim is to give a known procedure, including detailing an individual’s rights, if compulsory return becomes necessary. Many Member States use detention, some for indefinite periods and some bend their rules to maintain detention beyond their legal limit. So, Parliament is trying to steer a course between the ideal of voluntary return, no detention and no re-entry bans, and the reality of trying to put limits and a real respect for the individual in to what is the current practice.

However, the growing use of co-decision in this field at least gives a greater opportunity for input from organisations and individuals with real experience, rather than just leaving the task to governments alone. The EU is coming to terms with the fact that migration is a reality; it is a global phenomenon in which EU nationals participate. Migrant workers, of all skill levels, are an economic necessity and we have to address the many different aspects of migration – not just border control. The challenge is to see if we can do that and keep an awareness of migrants as individuals and not just cogs in an economic machine. If migration is to work as successfully as possible we need to look at the social dimension and how this interacts with the settled population: how we can establish the closest possible equality of rights and deliver those for all who reside in the EU? We should also be brave enough to examine how EU policies on trade, energy and agriculture for example, impact on development elsewhere. Migration should be a matter of choice, not necessity.

* Jean Lambert is one of nine MEPs representing London and one of two UK Green representatives in the European Parliament. She is Vice-President of the Anti-racism Intergroup at the European Parliament.

(1) The General Agreement in Trade and Services (GATS) is one of the central parts of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement. Mode 4 of GATS specifically addresses the temporary movement of individuals as service suppliers.

(2) The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities has the task of contributing to the development of a modern, innovative and sustainable European Social Model with more and better jobs in an inclusive society based on equal opportunities.

(3) Funded through the European Social Fund (ESF), EQUAL is being implemented in, and between, the EU Member States up until 2008. Its mission is to promote a better model for working life by fighting discrimination and exclusion on the basis of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

(4) This EU agency is based in Warsaw. It is a specialised and independent body tasked to coordinate the operational cooperation between Member States in the field of border security.