Research paper on assumptions about scholarship migration

Migration is a topic that is difficult to avoid due to its significant impact on the social and

economic development of the lives of migrants and the host countries. Most migration policies

focus on the development of migration in both sending and receiving ends while ignoring the

pertinent issues of migrants' legality and the impacts of sending countries. The status of the

migrants is usually flawed by policymakers and countries who assume that they are the poor

people whose focus is only to amass remittances for the development of their families only. This

paper argues that migrants' legal status and the assumptions that migrants come from low-income

families and countries are flawed blind spots, with scholars attempting to address them in various

ways.

The assumption that migrants come from developing countries and most are unskilled is flawed.

The narrative that refugees comprise the majority of migrants populations is flawed[ CITATION

Hei05 \l 1033 ]. He argues that poverty and misery are not the root causes of migration but the

desire to improve livelihood. Countries that have the highest number of migrants are typically

not those from developing countries. The skilled people from these countries end up working as

migrants, not the unskilled and domestic workers assumed. The woman who replaces the

migrant worker in taking care of their family is an internal migrant unable to access lucrative

cross-border migration because she is poor and at a disadvantage to the woman who crosses the

border[ CITATION Tan19 \l 1033 ]. This statement is a further indication that migrants aren’t

necessarily the poor and the unskilled people.

The second flawed assumption is on the migrant’s legality. The assumption is that people who

work in foreign countries aren’t documented, and most lack legal status, which is untrue. The

precarious legal state is used to describe multiple and variable forms of non-resident status and

non-citizen, which denies a migrant legal status[ CITATION Lui09 \l 1033 ]. This concept is used to

design policies that curb the number of permanent migrants who often get legal status after

transitioning from temporary migrants. Migration is a normal process tied to individual freedom

and legal status[ CITATION Hei05 \l 1033 ]. Therefore, most migrants aren't refugees and must not

be viewed as undocumented and should enjoy a full legal status in the receiving

countries[ CITATION Pau191 \l 1033 ].

One of the attempts taken to address these issues is reconceptualizing migration as a normal

process and part of the wider process that is beneficial for both migrants and receiving countries

in the long run[ CITATION Hei05 \l 1033 ]. Policymakers also need to reconsider migration policies

that will ensure that migrants’ rights and legal protections are maintained at all times and not

only focus on development. The migrant labor force needs to be redefined to identify ways to

mitigate the effects of precarious status on migrants, ensuring a faster transition to legal status.

The host countries need to understand that migrants aren't necessarily from developing countries,

and most of these workers are highly skilled and must be given better working opportunities.

The major flawed assumptions about scholarship migrations have been expounded. These blind

spots tend to cloud scholars' judgment which results in compounding the problems further.

However, some of these scholars have come up with attempts to address them, which helps shed

light on this sensitive topic of migrants.