Table of Content

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INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION INTRODUCTION

LABOUR MIGRATION THE BACKGROUND

12
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION PROGRAM

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION FROM INDEPENDENT INDIA

14

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION

16

CAUSES OF MIGRATION

18

DATA AND METHODS

22

IMPACT OF MIGRATION

23

EMPLOYMENT ORIENTED MIGRATION

27

10

TRENDS IN GLOBAL MIGRATION

28

11

EFFECTS OF MIGRATION

32

12

CONCLUSION

36

International Migration Introduction

International labour migration is defined as the movement of
people from one country to another for the purpose of employment. Today,
an estimated 105 million persons are working in a country other than their
country of birth.

Labour mobility has become a key feature of

globalization and the global economy with migrant workers earning US$
440 billion in 2011, and the World Bank estimating that more than $350
billion of that total was transferred to developing countries in the form of
remittances. However, despite the efforts made to ensure the protection of
migrant workers, many remain vulnerable and assume significant risks
during the migration process.
International labour migration is defined as the movement of
people from one country to another for the purpose of employment. Today,
an estimated 105 million persons are working in a country other than their
country of birth.

Labour mobility has become a key feature of

globalization and the global economy with migrant workers earning US$
440 billion in 2011, and the World Bank estimating that more than $350
billion of that total was transferred to developing countries in the form of
remittances. However, despite the efforts made to ensure the protection of
migrant workers, many remain vulnerable and assume significant risks
during the migration process.
When properly managed, labour migration has far-reaching
potential for the migrants, their communities, the countries of origin and
destination, and for employers. While job creation in the home country is

the preferred option, demographic, social and economic factors are

increasingly the drivers of migration. As a result, a growing number of both
sending and receiving countries view international labour migration as an
integral part of their national development and employment strategies. On
one hand, countries of origin benefit from labour migration because it
relieves unemployment pressures and contributes to development through
remittances, knowledge transfer, and the creation of business and trade
networks. On the other hand, for destination countries facing labour
shortages, orderly and well-managed labour migration can lighten labour
scarcity and facilitate mobility.
International migration occurs when peoples cross state
boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of time.
Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their home
countries in order to look for economic opportunities in another country.
Others migrate to be with family members who have migrated or because
of political conditions in their countries. Education is another reason for
international migration, as students pursue their studies abroad. While there
are several different potential systems for categorizing international
migrants, one system organizes them into nine groups: temporary labour
migrants; irregular, illegal, or undocumented migrants; highly skilled and
business migrants; refugees; asylum seekers; forced migration; family
members; return migrants; and long-term, low-skilled migrants. These
migrants can also be divided into two large groups, permanent and
temporary. Permanent migrants intend to establish their permanent
residence in a new country and possibly obtain that countrys citizenship.
3

Temporary migrants intend only to stay for a limited periods of time;

perhaps until the end of a particular program of study or for the duration of
a work contract or a certain work season. Both types of migrants have a
significant effect on the economies and societies of the chosen destination
country and the country of origin.
Similarly, the countries which receive these migrants are often
grouped into four categories: traditional settlement countries, European
countries which encouraged labour migration after World War II, European
countries which receive a significant portion of their immigrant populations
from their former colonies, and countries which formerly were points of
emigration but have recently emerged as immigrant destinations.

LABOUR MIGRATION THE BACKGROUND

Migration from one area to another in search of improved
livelihoods is a key feature of human history. While some regions and
sectors fall behind in their capacity to support populations, others move
ahead and people migrate to access these emerging opportunities.
Industrialisation widens the gap between rural and urban areas, inducing a
shift of the workforce towards industrialising areas. There is extensive
debate on the factors that cause populations to shift, from those that
emphasise individual rationality and household behaviour to those that cite
the structural logic of capitalist development.
Moreover, numerous studies show that the process of migration
is influenced by social, cultural and economic factors and outcomes can be
vastly different for men and women, for different groups and different
locations. In the past few decades new patterns have emerged, challenging
old paradigms. First, there have been shifts of the workforce towards the
tertiary sector in both developed and developing countries. Secondly, in
developed countries, urban congestion and the growth of communication
infrastructure has slowed down urbanisation. Thirdly, in developing
countries, the workforce shift towards the secondary/tertiary sector has
been slow and has been dominated by an expansion of the informal sector,
which has grown over time. In countries like India, permanent shifts of

population and workforce co-exist with the circulatory movement of

populations between lagging and developed regions and between rural and
urban areas, mostly being absorbed in the unorganised sector of the
economy. Such movements show little sign of abating with development.
The sources of early migration flows were primarily agro-ecological,
related to population expansion to new settlements or to conquests (e.g.
Eaton, 1984). There is considerable information on patterns of migration
during the British period.
Indian emigration abroad was one consequence of the abolition
of slavery and the demand for replacement labour. This was normally
through indenture, a form of contract labour whereby a person would bind
himself for a specified period of service, usually four to seven years in
return for payment of their passage. They left for British, Dutch and French
colonies to work in sugar plantations and subsequently for the tea and
rubber plantations of Southeast Asia. Similar demands for labour rose
internally with the growth of tea, coffee and rubber plantations, coal mines
and, later, modern industry. Much of this labour was procured through
some form of organised mediation and some portion of it remained
circulatory and retained strong links with the areas of origin. But as it
settled down, it provided a bridgehead to other migrants, whose numbers
grew to satisfy colonial demand. Urban pockets like Kolkatta and Mumbai
attracted rural labourers mainly from labour catchment areas like Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh and Orissa in the east and Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
parts of Kerala and Karnataka in the south. The historical pattern of the
flow of labourers persisted even after independence.
6

In 2001, Indias population exceeded 1 billion. At that time,

67.2% lived in rural areas and 32.8% in towns and cities. Between 1951
and 2001, the proportion of the population living in urban areas rose from
17.3% to 32.8%. Of the total workforce, 73.3% remained in rural areas,
declining marginally from 77.7% in 1991 and 79.3% in 1981; 58%
remained dependent upon agriculture.
In a country of Indias size, the existence of significant regional
disparities should not come as a surprise. The scale and growth of these
disparities is, however, of concern. The ratio between the highest to lowest
state per capita incomes, represented by Punjab and Bihar in the first
period, and Maharashtra and Bihar in the second period, has increased from
2.6 in 198083 to 3.5 in 199700. The Planning Commission estimates that
26.1% of Indias population lives below the poverty line (based on the
controversial National Sample Survey of 19992000). The rural poor has
gradually concentrated in eastern India and rain fed parts of central and
western India, which continue to have low-productivity agriculture. In
19992000, the states with the highest poverty levels were: Orissa (47.2%),
Bihar (41.2%), Madhya Pradesh (37.4%), Assam(36.1%) and Uttar Pradesh
(31.2%) Generally, Indias poor have meagre physical assets and human
capital and belong largely to socially deprived groups such as scheduled
castes (SC) and tribes (ST). Women share an extraordinary burden of
deprivation within households. The poor rely on different types of work to
construct a livelihood; wage labour and cultivation are the most important.
Earlier studies have shown that poor households participate extensively in
migration. More recent studies have reconfirmed that migration is a
7

significant livelihood strategy for poor households in several regions of

India.

International Migration Program

In this era of globalization, almost all countries in the world are
involved in migration as countries of origin, destination, or transitor all
three. Of the several millions of people living outside their countries of
birth, the ILO estimates that almost 90 per cent are migrant workers and
their families. While international migration can be a positive experience
for migrant workers, many suffer poor working and living conditions,
including low wages, unsafe work environments, a virtual absence of the
social safety net, denial of freedom of association and workers rights,
discrimination

and

xenophobia.

Therefore,

the

ILO

approaches

international labour migrationinternational migration undertaken for

workfrom a labour market and rights-based perspective with the intent to
promote decent working conditions for migrants as well as migrants labour
and human rights.
As the UN specialized agency on labour issues, the ILO has
been dealing with labour migration since its foundation in 1919. The very
Constitution of the ILO specifically mandates the organization in its
Preamble to give attention to the "protection of the interests of workers
when employed in countries other than their own". The International
Migration Branch (MIGRANT) is the main unit responsible for labour
migration issues in the ILO.

MIGRANT promotes the ratification and implementation of

international standards; facilitates the participation of ILO's tripartite
constituents in formulating and implementing migration policy; provides
advisory services and a forum for consultations; serves as a global
knowledge base on international labour migration; and conducts or
coordinates various projects to strengthen the capacity of ILO's tripartite
constituents and other relevant partners such as non-governmental
organizations and migrants' associations, to deal with a wide range of
labour migration issues.

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION FROM INDEPENDENT

INDIA
In India, the migration of its labour force within and across its
national boundaries is nothing new. Indias geographical position has
ensured contact with the Persian Gulf region and South East Asian
countries for trade in goods and movement of people, a contact which goes
back to several centuries. The migration of workers on a significant scale
was, however, to come much later. It began in the colonial era and
continues now to independent India.

Migratory flow during the period of colonial domination was

very much tied to the investment interests of the colonial rulers and took
place under their aegis. For instance a great part of the nineteenth century
and the early twentieth century witnessed a regular migration of Indian
workers as indentured labour for plantations or mines in the British
colonies; this migration was to faraway places such as Guyana, Jamaica
and Fiji, to not so-distant lands such as Malaysia and Singapore and even to
neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Burma.

Since Independence, two distinct types of labour migration

have been taking place from India.

The first is characterized by a

movement of persons with technical skills and professional expertise to the

industrialized countries like the United States, Britain and Canada which
began to proliferate in the early 1950s. The second type of migration
10

pertains to the flow of labour to the oil exporting countries of the Middle
East which acquired substantial dimensions after the dramatic oil price
increases of 1973-74 and 1979. The nature of this recent wave of migration
is strikingly different, as an overwhelming proportion of these migrants are
in the category of unskilled workers and semi-skilled workers skilled in
manual or clerical occupations.

International Organization for Migration

IOMs Vision
IOM strives to protect migrant workers and to optimize the benefits of
labour migration for both the country of origin and destination as well as
for the migrants themselves.
11

IOMs Objectives
In its labour migration programming, IOM builds capacity in labour
migration management by:
offering policy and technical advice to national governments;
supporting the development of policies, legislation and administrative
structures that promote efficient, effective and transparent labour migration
flows;
assisting governments to promote safe labour migration practices for their
nationals;
facilitating the recruitment of workers, including pre-departure training and
embarkation preparedness;
Promoting the integration of labour migrants in their new workplace and
society.
Principal Beneficiaries
IOM implements various labour migration programs in 70 countries. The
beneficiaries of these programs include:
migrants, their families and their communities;
local and national governments;
private sector entities such as employers and industry representatives; and
regional organizations.
IOMs Approach

12

Through its global network of more than 440 offices, IOM is able to bring
together governments, civil society and the private sector to establish
labour migration programs and mechanisms that balance their various
interests, and address migrants needs. The IOM approach to international
labour migration is to foster the synergies between labour migration and
development, and to promote legal avenues of labour migration as an
alternative to irregular migration. Moreover, IOM aims to facilitate the
development of policies and programs that are in the interest of migrants
and society, providing effective protection and assistance to labour migrants
and their families.

Causes of migration
Given the diversity in the nature of migration in India, the
causes are also bound to vary. Migration is influenced both by the pattern
of development, and the social structure. The National Commission on
Rural Labour, focusing on seasonal migration, concluded that uneven
development was the main cause of seasonal migration. Along with inter
regional disparity, disparity between different socio economic classes and

13

the development policy adopted since independence has accelerated the

process of seasonal migration. In tribal regions, intrusion of outsiders, the
pattern of settlement, displacement and deforestation, also have played a
significant role. Most migration literature makes a distinction between
pull and push factors, which, however, do not operate in isolation of one
another. Mobility occurs when workers in source areas lack suitable options
for employment/livelihood, and there is some expectation of improvement
in circumstances through migration. The improvement sought may be
better employment or higher wages/incomes, but also maximization of
family employment or smoothing of employment/income/consumption
over the year At one end of the migration spectrum, workers could be
locked into a debt-migration cycle, where earnings from migration are used
to repay debts incurred at home or in the destination areas, thereby
cementing the migration cycle. At the other end, migration is largely
voluntary, although shaped by their limited choices.

The NCRL has recognized the existence of this continuum for poor
migrants by distinguishing between rural labour migration for survival and
for subsistence. The landless poor, who mostly belong to lower caste,
indigenous communities, from economically backward regions, migrate for
survival and constitute a significant proportion of seasonal labour flow.The
growth of intensive agriculture and commercialization of agriculture since
the late 1960s has led to peak periods of labour demand, often also
coinciding with a decline in local labour deployment. In the case of labour
14

flows to the rice producing belt of West Bengal, wage differentials between
the source and destination have been considered as the main reason for
migration. Moreover, absence of non-farm employment, low agricultural
production has resulted in a growth of seasonal migration. Migration
decisions are influenced by both individual and household characteristics as
well as the social matrix, which is best captured in social-anthropological
studies.
Factors such as age, education level, wealth, land owned,
productivity and job opportunities influence the participation of individuals
and households in migration, but so do social attitudes and supporting
social networks. Where migration is essentially involuntary, it makes little
sense to use voluntaristic models to explain the phenomenon. In Dhule
region sugarcane cultivation leads to high demand for labour, but
landowners recruit labourers from other districts for harvesting as they can
have effective control over the labour. Local labourers are thus forced to
migrate with their households to South Gujarat.
Labour mobility is one of the key features of economic development
and its characteristics are closely tied with the nature of this development.
Historically, development is associated with unevenness and structural
change, giving an impetus to the movement of workers from one region to
another, and from one sector to another. Even within the macro-structural
features which determine the supply of, and demand for, certain types of
migrant labour, the pattern of migration depends on a host of factors
determined by labour market characteristics, together with individual,
household and community level features, and the existence of social
15

networks, among other things. These factors cumulatively determine the

causes of migration. On the other hand, labour migration plays a key role
in influencing the pattern of development, through its impact on a host of
economic and non-economic variables, both in the origin and destination
areas.
Labour migration does not recognize bordersbut borders,
whether urban, state, or international influence migration through a host of
policies and regulatory measures. A key distinction between internal and
international migration is the existence of national regulatory frameworks
such as immigration controls (which leads to a distinction between regular
and irregular migration). But regulatory frameworks and restrictive policies
also operate within nation states.
Early development literature conceptualized labour migration
as occurring from the rural to urban, agricultural to industrial, and informal
to formal sectors. However, the workforce pattern has changed across the
world in favour of the services sector, and the informal sector is more
prominent today, both in developing and developed countries than it was
twenty or thirty years ago. In developing countries, the informal sector is
no longer conceived as a temporary destination for migrants but in most
cases, as a final destination. The (changing) structural features of world
capitalism have an important bearing on both internal and international
migration.
The theme on labour migration will explore all types of labour
migration internal, inter-state, cross-border and international. It will
16

encourage cross disciplinary studies and papers based on both fieldwork

and secondary data.
We would welcome papers which explore not only economic issues but
also historical, political, sociological and psychological factors affecting
labour migration and the consequences of migration at more disaggregate
levels, viz., for various socio-economic strata and segments of the
population and for women, men, the elderly and children separately,
wherever possible. The contributors should confine themselves to the issue
of worker migration, as conventionally defined in SNA accounts, and to
leave out those types of forced labour migration, which are not
conventionally included in work but are covered in international
conventions on forced labour and trafficking. The paper contributors should
not be concerned with other forms of non-labour migration (such as refugee
or student migration) or with population mobility, which is important for an
understanding urban growth.

Data and methods

The paper uses data from Census of India 2001 as well as data
from the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 55th Round on
Migration. According to Indian Census, a Person is considered a migrant if
birthplace or place of last residence is different from Place of enumeration.
The National Sample Survey Organization of Government of India Carried
out an all-India survey on the situation of employment and unemployment
in India during the period July 1999-June 2000. This 55th Round Data was
published in August 2001. In this survey, data was collected on migrants as
17

well. It defines a migrant as a member of the sample household who had

stayed continuously for at least six months or more in a place other than the
place of enumeration. It collects the reasons for leaving the last usual place
of residence under the following heads: (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 (f) studies (g)
acquisition of own house/flat (h) housing problems (i) social/political
problem (j) health (k) marriage (l) migration of parent/earning member of
the family and (m) others.
A simple analysis using vicariate tables has been carried out in
the paper to bring out the extent of employment oriented migration in India.
Moreover, the paper also attempts to study the difference between the
stated reasons for migration and the labor force participation, taking into
account

duration

and

educational

qualification

of

the

migrants.

Employment oriented migration

Impact of migration
On migrants and their families
Poorer migrant workers, crowded into the lower ends of the
labour market, have few entitlements vis a vis their employers or the public
authorities in the destination areas. They have meagre personal assets and
suffer a range of deprivations in the destination areas. In the source areas,
migration has both negative and positive consequences for migrants and
their families.

18

Living conditions: migrant labourers, whetheragricultural or nonagricultural, live in deplorableconditions. There is no provision of safe
drinking water or hygienic sanitation. Most live in open spaces or
makeshift shelters in spite of the Contract Labour Act which stipulates that
the contractor or employer should provide suitable accommodation (NCRL,
1991; GVT, 2002; Rani and Shylendra, 2001). Apart from seasonal
workers, workers who migrate to the cities

for job live in parks and

pavements. Slum dwellers, who are mostly migrants, stay in deplorable

conditions, with inadequate water and bad drainage. Food costs more for
migrant workers who are not able to obtain temporary ration cards.
Health and Education: labourers working in harsh circumstances and
living in unhygienic conditions suffer from serious occupational health
problems and are vulnerable to disease. Those working in quarries,
construction sites and mines suffer from various health hazards, mostly
lung diseases. As the employer does not follow safety measures, accidents
are quite frequent. Migrants cannot access various health and family care
programmes due to their temporary status. Free public health care facilities
and programmes are not accessible to them. For women workers, there is
no provision of maternity leave, forcing them to resume work almost
immediately after childbirth. Workers, particularly those working in tile
factories and brick kilns suffer from occupational health hazards such as
body ache, sunstroke and skin irritation (NCRL, 1991).
Changes in migrants attitudes: Exposure to a different
environment, including the stresses that it carries, has a deep impact on the
attitudes, habits and awareness levels of migrant workers, depending upon
19

the length of migration and the place to which it occurs. Changes are more
dramatic in the case of urban migrants. Migrant workers develop greater
awareness regarding conditions of work (Srivastava, 1999). Life style and
changes in awareness may lead to a mixed impact on family members. The
increased awareness which migrants, especially in urban areas, gain often
helps them realise the importance of their childrens education.

Impact on source areas

The major impacts of migration on source areas occur through changes in
the labour market, income and assets, changes in the pattern of expenditure
and investment.
Although seasonal outmigration potentially has the effect of
smoothing out employment over the annual cycle, rural outmigration could
cause a tightening of the labour market in some circumstances. However,
empirical evidence from out-migrant areas does not often attest to this. This
may be because outmigration often takes place in labour surplus situations.
20

There is also evidence of the replacement of out-migrant male labour by

female and even child labour. Study of seven villages in Uttar Pradesh
showed some variation over regions. While the situation in the study
villages in Eastern and central Uttar Pradesh conformed to a situation of
labour surplus, this was not the case in Western Uttar Pradesh where
seasonal migration coincided with the agricultural peak season (Rabi) and
employers complained of labour shortages. Significantly in all the regions
studied, labourers on their part gave uncertainty of employment along with
employment conditions and poor relations with their agricultural employers
as the major reasons for outmigration.
Even if labour tightening is not an outcome, outmigration may
still speed up qualitative changes in existing labour relationships in rural
areas, and thereby affect the pace of change. This may occur in several
ways. First, there is the well-documented impact of migration on attitudes
and awareness as migrant labourers and return migrants are more reluctant
to accept adverse employment conditions and low wages. Secondly,
outmigration leads to a more diversified livelihood strategy. Combined with
some increase in the income and employment portfolio of poor households,
this may tend to push up acceptable level of wages (reservation wages) in
rural areas and may make certain forms of abour relationships (as for
example, those involving personalised dependency) less acceptable.
Outmigration as a result of debt at home, or debt-interlocking
(i.e. the repayment of debts through advance labour commitment) involving
employers in the destination areas or their middlemen, is quite common.

21

Such outmigration may or may not eliminate the causes of debt. The
reduction of personalised dependencies or interlocked relationships may
also accelerate labour mobility and migration as labourers seek out
alternative sources of cash income.

Employment oriented migration

Employment oriented migration is obtained by combining the
migrants that have given work/employment and business as their reason for
migration. It is found that employment oriented migration is quite small,
particularly among female migrants with just around 2 percent of total
female migrants giving employment or business as the reason for their
migration.

22

Trends in Global Migration

Mankind and migration have been linked to each other since the
beginning of time; life without migration could not be thought of.
Migration has a history of its own, both at the national and international
levels. The mobility of capital and technology has indeed changed the
history of peoples. At the same time, migration has created a greater impact
on history.
In India, the cultural ethos of the country has actually dissuaded people
from going abroad. There are myths and superstitions surrounding
migration in almost every Indian tradition. The fear of kala-pani, literally
translated as black waters, which meant ostracism, was a strong deterrent.
Such myths were prevalent also in other ancient cultures like China and
Japan, preventing people from going abroad. For a variety of reasons, be it
23

economic or cultural or personal, the concept of we and they, and the

notions of individual, intellectual and spiritual pollution and the fear of
consequent ostracism prevented people from leaving their home soil until
the advent of the Europeanswhich in turn stimulated an interest for
Indians to migrate overseas.
Characteristically, most of these migrants were poor, illiterate and
unskilled. It was supposed to be a voluntary system, but there are horror
stories about coercion, and how these people were picked up literally from
the streets of their hometowns, collected at various embarkation points, and
forced to go to a foreign land, of which they knew nothing about. Gender
did not come in the way, and women picked up as indentured labour were
made to stay with men. Many were declared man and wife, and packed off
to foreign destinations. All said and done, this can be considered as a
precursor to the global migration of Indians.
However, there is the problem of Indian embassies in most of these
countries not being very cooperative towards the migrant community. The
embassies are not exactly attuned to the needs of these people, nor are the
officials always aware of their problems, their issues and their needs be it
in terms of their labour contracts, or the laws of the land. There is greater
room for the Indian embassies to play a more effective and cooperative role
in this context. Many a time, because of the indifference and the ignorance
of the Indian missions in these countries, the migrant workers are almost
always at the mercy of the employers and the laws that they adhere to. It is
only in recent years that the Government is waking up to the need for

24

appointing a separate Labour Attach in the Indian embassies in these

countries, to cater to the demands of the workers, and to take care of their
needs.
In 2000, the high-powered Indian Diaspora Committee, chaired by the
jurist, Dr. L.M.Singhvi, recommended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
celebrations on January 9 each year, and also contributed to the setting up
of a full-fledged Ministry for Overseas Indians at the Centre. Following up
on this report, the Prime Minter of the day announced the institution of the
Prabhasi Bharatia Samman awards in recognition of the contribution made
by the Indian Diaspora, to the nation. The report also raised major issues of
concern to the Diaspora -- from consular difficulties to larger and abiding
issues pertaining to culture, economic development, education, health,
media, science and technology, philanthropy, and dual citizenship. Based
on carefully-gathered statistics on overseas Indians, the Singhvi Committee
report is the first ever-comprehensive statement of the Indian Diaspora, and
provides a comprehensive framework for discussing Indias relations with
Indians overseas. Till now, these relations had been discussed in a tentative
and casual manner. The report is full of highly novel and important
practical suggestions, including special economic and political concessions
to overseas Indians all leading to effective NRI contribution to Indias
economic, political, cultural and other areas of development. The report
will increase the general level of consciousness in India about the countrys
overseas connections, going back to several centuries. We tend to think of
ourselves as a people 7 whose history was made only in India. The report

25

shows how wrong this view is, and how PIOs are a part of the body politic
in 119 countries
There is the possibility of migration from India growing in the coming
years and decades. The probability of a younger age population in India
coupled with declining birth-rates in the developed world leading to a
labour shortage, be it unskilled, skilled or professional, are among the
causes. The interface between outsourcing, migration and growing social
networks are also contributory factors. There is also the factor of newer
destinations, Japan, for instance, emerging on the horizon. In this, the
Indians abroad have transitioned from being dependants to being dictators
through their significant presence, positional clout and numerical strength
coupled with effective networking, and coordinated organisation. There is
now the Global Organization for the People of Indian Origin (GOPIO),
which has set its priorities in pooling resources, both financial and
professional, for the benefit of PIOs, in the countries they come from, and
in India. In all this, India derives material support from the Diaspora, and
they derive psychological satisfaction of being a part of the Indian
nationhood, and in the process of crafting a resurgent India.

26

EFFECTS OF MIGRATION
Migration of labour has its positive as well as negative effects both on
native and host countries. We will examine these effects as under:
Positive Effects:
1. Wage Rate: Labourers usually migrate from low wage counties to higher
wage nations. Unless prevented or guarded by law, wages will change in both
countries. Such an effect on wages is brought out in Home country and
foreign. It is also possible that over a period of time real wages may increase
both in host countries and native countries. A case study by Jeffery G.
Williams, of eight countries, host countries Argentina, Australia, Canada
27

and United States of America and native (home) countries Ireland, Italy,
Norway and Sweden between the period 1870 and 1913 has come to the
conclusion that real wages during this period had increased in all the countries,
but substantially in the home countries.
2. Supply of labour: Developed countries like Canada, Australia, some
European countries and USA have experienced scarcity of skilled as well as
unskilled labour. Many Asian doctors and engineers, nurses and teachers are
employed in developed countries. Unskilled labour migrated from developing
countries, provided labour to those areas where the native people would not
wish to take up the jobs. This is more evident in the so called dirty jobs. In
USA such jobs are taken up by labourers from Mexico, South American,
Africa and Asia.
3. Employment: Migration takes place primarily in search of employment, to
earn, more income and to enjoy better quality of life. While enjoying these
benefits in the host countries the migrants at the disguised unemployment. In
the early stages of large scale migration from Europe to North America, it
helped in mitigating population problem of European countries.
4. Remittance: Emigrants remit a part of their income back to their families in
their native country. Many of the European countries, Mexico and Asian
countries have benefited from the remittance of their emigrants. At present
china and India receive a substantial amount of remittance. It helps the home
countries reduce their balance of payment problem or increase investment at
home; import capital goods thus promote development of their economies.

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Remittance would reduce over a period of time as the emigrants settle in the
migrated country along with their families. The size of the remittance depends
on the number of emigrants from a country and the nature and duration of
employment. Many countries including India, offer additional incentives to the
emigrants to remit and keep the money back in their home country.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS
1. Brain Drain: Emigrants comprise people educated and trained at different
levels. Majority of the emigrants are of low education and unskilled.
Emigrants also include highly educated professionals such as doctors,
engineers, professors and other technically and professionally trained
people. A good number of medical, engineering and management students
from India migrate to countries like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Germany, France and to some rich gulf countries. These students take the
advantage of subsidised education financed by tax payer money and leave
the country when they become productive agents or labourers. Ts is also
argued that educated emigrants help the home countries when these
countries rare not in a position to employ them. Beside it also reduces the
claim on goods and service of the home country when labourers migrate.
2. Problem of social Integration: Immigrants in a country belong to different
countries, race, religion and culture. They form their own groups based on
the above factors. In the initial stages these groups live in ghettoes. Social
assimilation with the people of the host country becomes difficult. In USA,
Canada and Australia or in countries dominated by white coloured people,
social integration becomes difficult due to colour complex. Religion is
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another factor which makes immigrants identify with the host country where
the majority belong to another religion. Cultural differences also deter the
process of integration specially when each group develops a complex of
cultural superiority. At times ethnic and religious differences create a
problem for the host country as it happens in UK and India.
3. Illegal Immigrants: It is a serious problem for many countries. USA has a
large number of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Similar problems are faced
by Canada, Australia and some of the European countries. Illegal migration
to a neighbouring country is a common occurrence due to political,
economic, social and religious factors. India is facing such a problem with
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
4. Cheap Labour: Developed countries, specially organise labour through
their Trade Union oppose the liberal migration policy. They argue that the
migrant labourers who are willing to work at lower workers. However this
argument does not merit serious consideration wage rate in such economies
is determined by market forces, Exploitation can be prevented through
minimum wage law, which also safeguards the interest of migrant labourers.
5. Fiscal Imbalance: Immigrants positively contribute to the growth of the
host country. When immigrants constitute in large numbers, the host country
requires to spend huge amount of capital to provide the required economic
and social infrastructure. As they settledown permanently, the government
requires to spend for providing social security benefits. Expenditure on all
these counts may create fiscal imbalance in the form of increased budgetary
deficit.
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CONCLUSION
Migration has become a global phenomenon. As discussed
earlier people migrate to another country for a number of reasons of which
economic and political are the important ones. From our earlier explanation
it is evident that migration has positive as well as negative effects both on
the host and native countries. In a globalised world, the number of migrants
is bound to increase. However in the larger interest of nations and people
(migrants) involved it is necessary to introduce measures so that the positive
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effects are maximised while the negative ones are minimised if they cannot
be totally eliminated.
The suggestions in this direction are to promote labour rights to
immigrants. Allow the migrant workers to join Trade Unions. Treat
immigrants on the same level as those of workers of host country. Safety
conditions should be made applicable even if they are on temporary work.
Promote ethical recruitment. Prevent exploitation and discrimination.
Reform work permits schemes to reduce powers of employers. Legislate to
prevent employers from withholding migrant workers passport. Initiate
international action to regulate the activities of private recruitment agencies.
All the countries should ratify 1990 UN convention on the protection of
rights of all migrant workers and their families.

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