This chapter provides some important background to discussing such issues. The chapter also seeks to offer some key facts about migration today in efforts to ensure readers have an accurate understanding of seminal information, which is sometimes appealed to or assumed in current debates. Sometimes politicians and citizens have important misconceptions about the nature, scope, and elements concerning migration. In such cases, arguments rest on shaky foundations. For instance, in contrast to the widely held view that movement is primarily from the so-called Global South to the Global North, in fact just as much, if not more, is South-South migration (IOM 2016). In addition, much migration is not of the kind that aims to be permanent. The phenomenon of migration certainly includes the cases of immigration and settlement, but also temporary and circular migration. This chapter also maps out some of the ethical and justice issues that migration raises and gives an overview of the book, with brief synopses of all the chapters.
The first section covers some central facts about contemporary migration. Section 1.2 explains some frequently used terms in the migration literature that are relevant to political theory. It also outlines some of the key drivers and consequences of migration. Section 1.3 covers a short history of human migration, highlighting some important moments that well illustrate some of the reasons why we have been moving about the planet from our earliest days as human beings. The fourth section provides an overview of core themes that the reader will encounter in subsequent chapters.
1.1 Some facts about migration today
It is important to stress that the vast majority of people, currently about 96.5%, continue to reside in their birth country (IOM 2020). Though still a small fraction of the total world population at 3.5% of the global population, there has been a small increase in the scale of international migration if we track data from the last few decades (IOM 2020).
In 2019, the total number of international migrants globally was 272 million. About two-thirds of those international migrants were labor migrants (IOM 2020: 2): 52% were male while 48% were female; 74% were of working age (that is, between 20 and 64 years old). In 2018, international remittances, the money that migrants send back to family and friends in their countries of origin, increased to US$689 billion.*
International migration continues to be shaped by economic, geographic, and demographic factors (among others) that can result in particular migration patterns developed over many years. Because of population data and trends, some of the largest migration corridors are from developing countries to larger economies, including those of the United States, France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. There is more migration between countries in the Global South than between countries in the Global North. For instance, in 2013 38% of all migrants for that year migrated from developing countries to other developing countries (World Bank 2016: 11). By contrast, 23% of migrants had migrated between high-income countries. Popular migration corridors include Mexico-United States, Russia-Ukraine, Bangladesh-India, Afghanistan-Pakistan or Iran, China-Hong Kong, and India-United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
Some countries have especially high proportions of migrants relative to their local populations. Examples include Qatar (85% of its resident population being comprised of migrants) and the United Arab Emirates (70% of its population are migrants).
There can be considerable migration within a country because of seasonal demands for labor, notably in the agricultural and tourism sectors. However, most political theorizing on migration limits the focus to international migration, where migrants cross a state border.
Counting refugees, those internally displaced (i.e. displaced within their countries of residence but without crossing a border) and asylum seekers, the number of so-called forced migrants or displaced people increased to 70.7 million in 2018. In 2018, Syria had the highest number of internally displaced people (6.1 million), followed by Colombia (5.8 million), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (3.1 million). In 2018, the number of stateless persons globally was 3.9 million.
Displacement is a major feature in some regions. For instance, in the Syria/Turkey region, 6.7 million refugees have fled Syria, with Turkey absorbing 3.7 million of these. By mid-2019, 4 million Venezuelans had left their country of origin, with many traveling to neighboring states such as Colombia. Recent years have seen major migration and displacement events related to conflict (e.g. Syria, Yemen, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), extreme violence (such as experienced by the Rohingya fleeing Rakhine state in Myanmar), economic and political crises (as experienced for instance by Venezuelans), or environmental factors (such as happened in 2018 and 2019 in Mozambique, the Philippines, China, India and the United States). Conflict is a major source of forced migration, the top countries of origin being Syria, South Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, and Burundi, which together account for roughly 82% of the refugee population under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (henceforth, UNHCR) (IOM 2020: 39). Turkey hosts more refugees than any other country in the world. Pakistan and Iran are also among the top ten refugee-hosting countries (IOM 2020: 40). The least developed countries (such as Bangladesh, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen) host 33% of the global total (IOM 2020: 40).
The number of official resettlement places made available in 2018 was approximately 92,400, a 10% decrease from 2017 (IOM 2020: 41). Many of those who migrate across borders remain in the region, and they flee to countries close by, because of factors such as ease of travel and familiarity (IOM 2020: 53). In 2018, 52% of the global refugee population was under 18 years of age (IOM 2020: 39). Refugees are primarily based in urban environments; at the end of 2018, 61% of refugees were in urban areas (IOM 2020: 39).
As part of current trends, it is notable that politicians, policy makers, and opinion leaders often use international migration as a tool for their own purposes. The politicization of migration is not new, but perhaps the technologies we now readily have at our disposal can disseminate information and discord more swiftly. Some leaders seek to use immigration issues as a way to divide communities. Some also harness social media in attempts to create division and polarization by portraying migrants in a misleading and negative light. Such campaigns have resulted in more polarized and less respectful civic engagement, along with the weakening of many elements of democracy in several cases.
On the more positive side, there has been substantial change in the global governance of migration over recent years as evidenced by the formation of the United Nations Network on Migration and the two well-supported global compacts, one on refugees and another that governs migration more generally. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees are two important international treaties which are the products of decades-long efforts by states, international organizations, civil society organizations, and other actors committed to improving how migration is governed at the international level. These global agreements enjoy near-universal consensus on central issues requiring sustained international cooperation and commitment (IOM 2020: 6). At the end of chapter 9, we will be in a position to understand better why the compacts represent historic commitment to changing key defects with our current migration arrangements.
1.2 International migration: some types, drivers and effects
In this section, I cover key terms used in the migration literature,