Showing papers on "Human migration published in 2016"

African migration: trends, patterns, drivers

Abstract: Africa is often seen as a continent of mass migration and displacement caused by poverty, violent conflict and environmental stress. Yet such perceptions are based on stereotypes rather than theoretically informed empirical research. Drawing on the migration and visa databases from the Determinants of International Migration (DEMIG project) and the Global Bilateral Migration Database (GBMD), this paper explores the evolution and drivers of migration within, towards and from Africa in the post-colonial period. Contradicting common ideas of Africa as a ‘continent on the move’, the analysis shows that intra-African migration intensities have gone down. This may be related to state formation and the related imposition of barriers towards free movement in the wake of decolonisation as well as the concomitant rise of nationalism and inter-state tensions. While African migration remains overwhelmingly intra-continental, since the late 1980s there has been an acceleration and spatial diversification (beyond colonial patterns) of emigration out of Africa to Europe, North America, the Gulf and Asia. This diversification of African emigration seems partly driven by the introduction of visa and other immigration restrictions by European states. Contradicting conventional interpretations of African migration being essentially driven by poverty, violence and underdevelopment, increasing migration out of Africa seems rather to be driven by processes of development and social transformation which have increased Africans’ capabilities and aspirations to migrate, a trend which is likely to continue in the future.

Migration of Highly Skilled Persons From Developing Countries: Impact and Policy Responses

Abstract: The synthesis report prepared by Professors Lowell and Findlay addresses the issues of the impact of high skilled emigration on developing countries, and the policy mixes and options available to both receiving and sending countries to harness its benefits. The study argues that the feedback or indirect effects of skilled migration can often outweigh any initial negative impacts on developing countries. The challenge is to maximize these benefits through appropriate policies relating to encouraging return migration, retention of manpower, tapping diaspora networks, and productive utilization of remittances. The paper highlights the role that receiving countries can play in the process.

Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries

Abstract: International migration and remittances have an important role in economic and social development of the developing countries as it helps in achieving the gains of globalization. This paper endeavors to explore the relationship by forming and evaluating a new data set on foreign remittances, international migration, poverty and inequality in South Asian countries. As poverty and income inequality are the prime issues faced by the developing countries meanwhile a handsome number of skilled and educated workers of such countries is employed abroad in the high income countries, so the foreign remittances sent by these workers to home countries is expected to have positive impacts on poverty reduction. The contribution of foreign remittances in the total income of South Asia is 4.2% which shows a significant proportion of GDP and it has significant impact on poverty alleviation.

The Great Migration and African-American Genomic Diversity

Abstract: We present a comprehensive assessment of genomic diversity in the African-American population by studying three genotyped cohorts comprising 3,726 African-Americans from across the United States that provide a representative description of the population across all US states and socioeconomic status An estimated 821% of ancestors to African-Americans lived in Africa prior to the advent of transatlantic travel, 167% in Europe, and 12% in the Americas, with increased African ancestry in the southern United States compared to the North and West Combining demographic models of ancestry and those of relatedness suggests that admixture occurred predominantly in the South prior to the Civil War and that ancestry-biased migration is responsible for regional differences in ancestry We find that recent migrations also caused a strong increase in genetic relatedness among geographically distant African-Americans Long-range relatedness among African-Americans and between African-Americans and European-Americans thus track north- and west-bound migration routes followed during the Great Migration of the twentieth century By contrast, short-range relatedness patterns suggest comparable mobility of ∼15–16km per generation for African-Americans and European-Americans, as estimated using a novel analytical model of isolation-by-distance

Unveiling hidden migration and mobility patterns in climate stressed regions: A longitudinal study of six million anonymous mobile phone users in Bangladesh

Abstract: Climate change is likely to drive migration from environmentally stressed areas. However quantifying short and long-term movements across large areas is challenging due to difficulties in the collection of highly spatially and temporally resolved human mobility data. In this study we use two datasets of individual mobility trajectories from six million de-identified mobile phone users in Bangladesh over three months and two years respectively. Using data collected during Cyclone Mahasen, which struck Bangladesh in May 2013, we show first how analyses based on mobile network data can describe important short-term features (hours–weeks) of human mobility during and after extreme weather events, which are extremely hard to quantify using standard survey based research. We then demonstrate how mobile data for the first time allow us to study the relationship between fundamental parameters of migration patterns on a national scale. We concurrently quantify incidence, direction, duration and seasonality of migration episodes in Bangladesh. While we show that changes in the incidence of migration episodes are highly correlated with changes in the duration of migration episodes, the correlation between in- and out-migration between areas is unexpectedly weak. The methodological framework described here provides an important addition to current methods in studies of human migration and climate change.

Migration and immigrants in Europe: A historical and demographic perspective

Abstract: In this chapter we outline the general developments of migration within and towards Europe as well as patterns of settlement of migrants. We provide a comprehensive historical overview of the changes in European migration since the 1950s. Main phases in immigration, its backgrounds, and its determinants across the continent are described making use of secondary literature and data. Different European regions are covered in the analyses, based on available statistics and an analysis of secondary material. This allows us to distinguish between different origins of migrants as well as migration motives. In addition to migration from outside Europe this chapter pays ample attention to patterns of mobility within Europe. The analyses cover the individual level with as much detail as possible with the available statistics and particularly take the demographic characteristics of migrants into account. The analyses on flows of migration are supplemented by a sketch of the residing immigrant population across Europe.

Country-Specific Effects of Climate Variability on Human Migration.

Abstract: Involuntary human migration is among the social outcomes of greatest concern in the current era of global climate change. Responding to this concern, a growing number of studies have investigated the consequences of short to medium-term climate variability for human migration using demographic and econometric approaches. These studies have provided important insights, but at the same time have been significantly limited by lack of expertise in the use of climate data, access to cross-national data on migration, and attention to model specification. To address these limitations, we link data on internal and international migration over a 6-year period from 9812 origin households in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Senegal to high-resolution gridded climate data from both station and satellite sources. Analyses of these data using several plausible specifications reveal that climate variability has country-specific effects on migration: Migration tends to increase with temperature anomalies in Uganda, tends to decrease with temperature anomalies in Kenya and Burkina Faso, and shows no consistent relationship with temperature in Nigeria and Senegal. Consistent with previous studies, precipitation shows weak and inconsistent relationships with migration across countries. These results challenge generalizing narratives that foresee a consistent migratory response to climate change across the globe.

Genomic analysis of Andamanese provides insights into ancient human migration into Asia and adaptation

Abstract: To shed light on the peopling of South Asia and the origins of the morphological adaptations found there, we analyzed whole-genome sequences from 10 Andamanese individuals and compared them with sequences for 60 individuals from mainland Indian populations with different ethnic histories and with publicly available data from other populations. We show that all Asian and Pacific populations share a single origin and expansion out of Africa, contradicting an earlier proposal of two independent waves of migration. We also show that populations from South and Southeast Asia harbor a small proportion of ancestry from an unknown extinct hominin, and this ancestry is absent from Europeans and East Asians. The footprints of adaptive selection in the genomes of the Andamanese show that the characteristic distinctive phenotypes of this population (including very short stature) do not reflect an ancient African origin but instead result from strong natural selection on genes related to human body size.

China's Great Migration and the Prospects of a More Integrated Society

Abstract: During the last three decades, China has experienced the largest migration in human history. China's great migration has had transformative social, economic, and demographic consequences for China and the world. In this review, first I provide background on China's household registration system (hukou), which has been in existence since the late 1950s and continues to affect the life chances of Chinese people. Then I focus on the great migration by discussing research that has examined its causes, migration trends, the adaptation/assimilation of migrants in urban China, the well-being of migrant children, and migration's impact on rural China. Finally, I identify key areas for future research and argue that China's great migration holds major promise to contribute to the literature on migration studies.

Climate Variability and Inter-Provincial Migration in South America, 1970-2011.

Abstract: We examine the effect of climate variability on human migration in South America. Our analyses draw on over 21 million observations of adults aged 15-40 from 25 censuses conducted in eight South American countries. Addressing limitations associated with methodological diversity among prior studies, we apply a common analytic approach and uniform definitions of migration and climate across all countries. We estimate the effects of climate variability on migration overall and also investigate heterogeneity across sex, age, and socioeconomic groups, across countries, and across historical climate conditions. We also disaggregate migration by the rural/urban status of destination. We find that exposure to monthly temperature shocks has the most consistent effects on migration relative to monthly rainfall shocks and gradual changes in climate over multi-year periods. We also find evidence of heterogeneity across demographic groups and countries. Analyses that disaggregate migration by the rural/urban status of destination suggest that much of the climate-related inter-province migration is directed toward urban areas. Overall, our results underscore the complexity of environment-migration linkages and challenge simplistic narratives that envision a linear and monolithic migratory response to changing climates.

Social Media in Industrial China

Abstract: Described as the biggest migration in human history, an estimated 250 million Chinese people have left their villages in recent decades to live and work in urban areas. Xinyuan Wang spent 15 months living among a community of these migrants in a small factory town in southeast China to track their use of social media. It was here she witnessed a second migration taking place: a movement from offline to online. As Wang argues, this is not simply a convenient analogy but represents the convergence of two phenomena as profound and consequential as each other, where the online world now provides a home for the migrant workers who feel otherwise ‘homeless’. Wang’s fascinating study explores the full range of preconceptions commonly held about Chinese people – their relationship with education, with family, with politics, with ‘home’ – and argues why, for this vast population, it is time to reassess what we think we know about contemporary China and the evolving role of social media.

Reconsidering the links between poverty, international labour migration, and agrarian change: critical insights from Nepal

Abstract: The role of international labour migration in processes leading to the (re)production of rural poverty in the rural South continues to shape critical academic and policy debate. While many studies have established that migration provides an important pathway to rural prosperity, they insufficiently analyse the profound effects that migration and remittances have on agrarian and rural livelihoods. This article uses the case of rural Nepal, where over half of the households are involved in foreign labour migration, as a ‘window’ to understand the processes shaping how migration effects poverty. The paper analyses how migration generates outcomes across the domains of rural people's changing relationship to land and agriculture, their experience of migration, and rural labour markets to advance our arguments. First, it argues that migration leads to the commodification of land, generating changes in patterns of land uses and tenancy relations. With respect to rural people's engagement with agriculture, migra...

The Atlas of Environmental Migration

Abstract: As climate change and extreme weather events increasingly threaten traditional landscapes and livelihoods of entire communities the need to study its impact on human migration and population displacement has never been greater. The Atlas of Environmental Migration is the first illustrated publication mapping this complex phenomenon. It clarifies terminology and concepts, draws a typology of migration related to environment and climate change, describes the multiple factors at play, explains the challenges, and highlights the opportunities related to this phenomenon. Through elaborate maps, diagrams, illustrations, case studies from all over the world based on the most updated international research findings, the Atlas guides the reader from the roots of environmental migration through to governance. In addition to the primary audience of students and scholars of environment studies, climate change, geography and migration it will also be of interest to researchers and students in politics, economics and international relations departments.

Labor migration, EU enlargement, and the great recession

Abstract: The Free Movement of Workers in an Enlarged European Union: Institutional Underpinnings of Economic Adjustment.- The Redistributive Impacts of Migration after the EU's Eastern Enlargement.- Migration in Italy is Backing the Old Age Welfare.- Migration 10 Years After: EU Enlargement, Closed Borders, and Migration to Germany.- Ireland's Recession and the Immigrant-native Earnings Gap.- Post-enlargement Migration and Adjustment in a Receiving Country: The Case of Sweden.- Labor Mobility as an Adjustment Mechanism in the UK during the Great Recession.- Migration, Crisis and Adjustment in an Enlarged EU: The Spanish Perspective.- Did Post-enlargement Labor Mobility Help the EU to Adjust during the Great Recession? The Case of Slovakia.- Migration as an Asset? Polish Returnees at the Time of the Crisis.- Should I Stay or Should I Go? Romanian Migrants during Transition and Enlargements.- The Experiences of a New Emigrant Country: Emerging Migration from Hungary.- Migration Experience of the Baltic Countries in the Context of Economic Crisis.- Labor Market Transitions during the Great Recession in Estonia.- Labor Market Policies and Labor Market Flexibility during the Great Recession: The Case of Estonia.- Returning Home at Times of Trouble? Return Migration of EU Enlargement Migrants during the Crisis.- EU Post-Enlargement Migration and the Great Recession: Lessons and Policy Implications.

Destination Europe?: Understanding the dynamics and drivers of Mediterranean migration in 2015

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The role of environmental perceptions in migration decision-making: evidence from both migrants and non-migrants in five developing countries

Abstract: Research has demonstrated that, in a variety of settings, environmental factors influence migration. Yet much of the existing work examines objective indicators of environmental conditions as opposed to the environmental perceptions of potential migrants. This paper examines migration decision-making and individual perceptions of different types of environmental change (sudden vs. gradual environmental events) with a focus on five developing countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda, Nicaragua, and Peru. The survey data include both migrants and non-migrants, with the results suggesting that individual perceptions of long-term (gradual) environmental events, such as droughts, lower the likelihood of internal migration. However, sudden-onset events, such as floods, increase movement. These findings substantially improve our understanding of perceptions as related to internal migration and also suggest that a more differentiated perspective is needed on environmental migration as a form of adaptation.

All roads lead to Rome : exploring human migration to the Eternal City through biochemistry of skeletons from two Imperial-era cemeteries (1st-3rd c AD).

Abstract: Migration within the Roman Empire occurred at multiple scales and was engaged in both voluntarily and involuntarily. Because of the lengthy tradition of classical studies, bioarchaeological analyses must be fully contextualized within the bounds of history, material culture, and epigraphy. In order to assess migration to Rome within an updated contextual framework, strontium isotope analysis was performed on 105 individuals from two cemeteries associated with Imperial Rome—Casal Bertone and Castellaccio Europarco—and oxygen and carbon isotope analyses were performed on a subset of 55 individuals. Statistical analysis and comparisons with expected local ranges found several outliers who likely immigrated to Rome from elsewhere. Demographics of the immigrants show men and children migrated, and a comparison of carbon isotopes from teeth and bone samples suggests the immigrants may have significantly changed their diet. These data represent the first physical evidence of individual migrants to Imperial Rome. This case study demonstrates the importance of employing bioarchaeology to generate a deeper understanding of a complex ancient urban center.

Comparative political economy and international migration

Abstract: This article provides an overview of the literature connecting comparative political economy and international migration in advanced industrialized countries with a focus on the relationship between labour migration, labour markets and welfare institutions. Immigration flows and policies are considered both as independent (how migration shapes capitalist institutions) and dependent variables (how migration flows and policies are shaped by capitalist institutions). First, we discuss the impact of international migration on labour market institutions, welfare states and skill production regimes. Secondly, we discuss how labour market institutions and welfare arrangements shape migrant inflows and migration policies, notably via the structuration of interests of employers, organized labour and governments. We emphasize the ideas of liberalization, segmentation, substitution and complementarity to grasp the relationship between immigration and labour market institutions.

Mapping internal connectivity through human migration in malaria endemic countries

Abstract: Human mobility continues to increase in terms of volumes and reach, producing growing global connectivity. This connectivity hampers efforts to eliminate infectious diseases such as malaria through reintroductions of pathogens, and thus accounting for it becomes important in designing global, continental, regional, and national strategies. Recent works have shown that census-derived migration data provides a good proxy for internal connectivity, in terms of relative strengths of movement between administrative units, across temporal scales. To support global malaria eradication strategy efforts, here we describe the construction of an open access archive of estimated internal migration flows in endemic countries built through pooling of census microdata. These connectivity datasets, described here along with the approaches and methods used to create and validate them, are available both through the WorldPop website and the WorldPop Dataverse Repository.

Mosquito Vectors and the Globalization of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria

Abstract: Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a devastating public health problem. Recent discoveries have shed light on the origin and evolution of Plasmodium parasites and their interactions with their vertebrate and mosquito hosts. P. falciparum malaria originated in Africa from a single horizontal transfer between an infected gorilla and a human, and became global as the result of human migration. Today, P. falciparum malaria is transmitted worldwide by more than 70 different anopheline mosquito species. Recent studies indicate that the mosquito immune system can be a barrier to malaria transmission and that the P. falciparum Pfs47 gene allows the parasite to evade mosquito immune detection. Here, we review the origin and globalization of P. falciparum and integrate this history with analysis of the biology, evolution, and dispersal of the main mosquito vectors. This new perspective broadens our understanding of P. falciparum population structure and the dispersal of important parasite genetic traits.

Probabilistic population projections with migration uncertainty

Abstract: We produce probabilistic projections of population for all countries based on probabilistic projections of fertility, mortality, and migration. We compare our projections to those from the United Nations' Probabilistic Population Projections, which uses similar methods for fertility and mortality but deterministic migration projections. We find that uncertainty in migration projection is a substantial contributor to uncertainty in population projections for many countries. Prediction intervals for the populations of Northern America and Europe are over 70% wider, whereas prediction intervals for the populations of Africa, Asia, and the world as a whole are nearly unchanged. Out-of-sample validation shows that the model is reasonably well calibrated.

Climate Instability, Urbanisation and International Migration

Abstract: This paper focuses on climate-induced migration. We construct a simple theoretical model where, in a first step, climate shocks accelerate the transition from the traditional to the modern sector, leading rural workers to move to urban centres within national borders, while in a second step, downward pressures on wages due to the greater labour supply in cities push people to engage in international migration. To test this hypothesis, we exploit a rich panel dataset, displaying a representative picture of bilateral migration flows and climatic data across 222 countries for the period 1960–2000. Findings suggest that in the next few years the climate-induced growth rate of migrant stocks might be in a range between 8.6 per cent and 12.8 per cent, especially from developing countries, where the level of rural employment is more likely to be affected by climatic shocks.

Climate Shocks and the Timing of Migration from Mexico.

Abstract: Although evidence is increasing that climate shocks influence human migration, it is unclear exactly when people migrate after a climate shock. A climate shock might be followed by an immediate migration response. Alternatively, migration, as an adaptive strategy of last resort, might be delayed and employed only after available in situ (in-place) adaptive strategies are exhausted. In this paper, we explore the temporally lagged association between a climate shock and future migration. Using multilevel event-history models, we analyze the risk of Mexico-US migration over a seven-year period after a climate shock. Consistent with a delayed response pattern, we find that the risk of migration is low immediately after a climate shock and increases as households pursue and cycle through in situ adaptive strategies available to them. However, about 3 years after the climate shock, the risk of migration decreases, suggesting that households are eventually successful in adapting in situ.

Twenty-First-Century Globalization and Illegal Migration:

Abstract: Also labeled undocumented, irregular, and unauthorized migration, illegal migration places immigrants in tenuous legal circumstances with limited rights and protections. We argue that illegal migration emerged as a structural feature of the second era of capitalist globalization, which emerged in the late twentieth century and was characterized by international market integration. Unlike the first era of capitalist globalization (1800 to 1929), the second era sees countries limiting and controlling international migration and creating a global economy in which all markets are globalized except for labor and human capital, giving rise to the relatively new phenomenon of illegal migration. Yet despite rampant inequalities in wealth and income between nations, only 3.1 percent of all people lived outside their country of birth in 2010. We expect this to change: threat evasion is replacing opportunity seeking as a motivation for international migration because of climate change and rising levels of civil viol...

Hope and uncertainty in contemporary African migration

Abstract: This volume examines the relationship between hope, mobility, and immobility in African migration. Through case studies set within and beyond the continent, it demonstrates that hope offers a unique prism for analyzing the social imaginaries and aspirations which underpin migration in situations of uncertainty, deepening inequality, and delimited access to global circuits of legal mobility. The volume takes departure in a mobility paradox that characterizes contemporary migration. Whereas people all over the world are exposed to widening sets of meaning of the good life elsewhere, an increasing number of people in the Global South have little or no access to authorized modes of international migration. This book examines how African migrants respond to this situation. Focusing on hope, it explores migrants’ temporal and spatial horizons of expectation and possibility and how these horizons link to mobility practices. Such analysis is pertinent as precarious life conditions and increasingly restrictive regimes of mobility characterize the lives of many Africans, while migration continues to constitute important livelihood strategies and to be seen as pathways of improvement. Whereas involuntary immobility is one consequence, another is the emergence and consolidation of new destinations emerging in the Global South. The volume examines this development through empirically grounded and theoretically rich case studies in migrants’ countries of origin, zones of transit, and in new and established destinations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America and China. It thereby offers an original perspective on linkages between migration, hope, and immobility, ranging from migration aspirations to return.

Human migration: Climate and the peopling of the world

Abstract: The human dispersal out of Africa that populated the world was probably paced by climate changes. This is the inference drawn from computer modelling of climate variability during the time of early human migration. See Letter p.92 Homo sapiens evolved in Africa, but the timing of our ancestors' dispersal to the rest of the world has been a source of controversy. Here Axel Timmermann and Tobias Friedrich model the dispersal in the context of the pronounced changes in climate and sea-level during the past 125,000 years. Their results suggest that dispersal across the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant was not a single event, but was concentrated in four distinct waves between 106,000 and 29,000 years ago. The findings agree with archaeological data and show that orbital-scale global climate swings played a key role in population movements, whereas millennial-scale abrupt climate changes had more limited, regional effects.