CityReads│Cities Are Also for Ordinary Migrants

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Cities Are Not Just for Top Talents; Cities Are Also for Ordinary Migrants

UNICEF China released a report on the state of China's children based on data from the 2015 1% National Population Sample Survey. 

IOM(International Organization for Migration), 2017. World Migration Report 2018, IOM: Geneva.

Sources: https://www.iom.int/wmr/world-migration-report-2018

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/these-9-charts-will-tell-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-global-migration/

The IOM’s World Migration Report 2018 details the nature of both legal and illegal migration in the world today.

Since 2000, IOM has been producing world migration reports to contribute to increased understanding of migration throughout the world. This World Migration Report 2018 is the ninth in the series. This new edition presents key data and information on migration as well as thematic chapters on highly topical migration issues.

Here are the highlights of the report.

1 How are migration changing?

The current global estimate is that there were around 244 million international migrants in the world in 2015, which equates to 3.3 per cent of the global population. While the total number of people migrating globally has increased by nearly two thirds over the past 25 years, these numbers as a proportion of the total global population have remained relatively stable – at around 3%.

The great majority of people in the world do not migrate across borders; much larger numbers migrate within countries (an estimated 740 million internal migrants in 2009.

2 who are the international migrants?

Despite high-profile coverage of child refugees from places like Syria, the data shows that most migrants are of working age. This reflects the fact that the majority of migration is for economic reasons.

The gender split among migrants is broadly the same as the gender split of the global population as a whole.

3 Destination Europe

Europe is currently the world’s number one destination for migrants. As of 2015 there were 75 million migrants in Europe – one third of the world’s migrant population. More than half of these – 40 million – are Europeans themselves, taking advantage of the EU’s open border policy to move throughout the region.

While migrants moving into Europe are fewer than those Europeans moving within the region, they still accounted for some 35 million in 2015. Migrants to Europe are primarily those travelling northwest from Asia (which under the IOM’s definition includes Turkey and the Middle East), and north from Africa.

Russia hosts the most migrants in Europe overall: 11.6 million, most of whom are from former Soviet states. 

While Russia is the European nation to host the most migrants overall, Germany is the top destination for refugees and asylum seekers.

Germany received more new asylum applications than any country on the planet in 2016, with most claims made by people from the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq and Afghanistan.

France hosted the second highest number of refugees and asylum seekers in 2016, with large populations of migrants from Russia, Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

4 Top destination and origin countries of international migrants

The world’s biggest economy, the US, is also the world’s top migrant destination.

In fact, it has been the main country of destination for international migrants since 1970.

Since then, the number of foreign-born people residing in the country has almost quadrupled – from less than 12 million in 1970 to 46.6 million in 2015.

One of the primary sources of migration to the US is Mexico, which has the world’s second highest number citizens living abroad.

Nearly half of all international migrants worldwide in 2015 were born in Asia, primarily originating from India, China, and other South Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

5 World refuge crisis

There are currently more refugees on the planet than at any time in history.

In recent years we have also seen a significant increase in displacement, both internal and across borders, which has largely stemmed from civil and transnational conflict, including acts of violent extremism outside actual war zones. Current data indicate that in 2016 there were 40.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide and 22.5 million refugees.

Of the world’s 22.5 million refugees at the end of 2016, 5.5 million were Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country.

The instability and violence that have made Afghanistan a major source of refugees for over 30 years has continued, with the country being the second top origin country in the world with 2.5 million refugees.

And large-scale violence that erupted in South Sudan in the middle of 2016 saw it become the third largest origin country for refugees, with over 1.4 million at the end of the year.

As Syria’s northwestern neighbor, the influx of refugees to Turkey almost mirrors the exodus of people from the war-torn Arab state.

In 2016, for the third consecutive year, Turkey was the largest host country in the world, with 2.9 million refugees, predominantly Syrians (2.8 million).

Reflecting the significant share of Syrians in the global refugee population, two other bordering countries – Jordan and Lebanon – also featured among the top 10.

Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran were also among the top refugee-hosting countries, as the two principal hosts of refugees from Afghanistan, the second largest origin country.

6 Migration is essentially an urban affair

Nearly all migrants, whether international or internal, are destined for cities, for it is in the city that their human capital is most rewarded.

Migration has nearly become synonymous with urbanization, given the dominance of the city as the destination of most migrants. Some cities are finding it difficult to manage the rapid growth in their populations, while others are trying to find their way as their residents leave for cities elsewhere.

Nearly one in five of the world foreign-born population resides in established global gateway cities. 

Migrants are city-makers. Migration should be seen, not as an unfortunate burden for cities to cope with, but as representing significant potential benefits for cities.

All migrants ought to be accorded the same rights, regardless of their legal status.

All inhabitants, including migrants, whether living in formal or informal settlements, be enabled to lead decent, dignified and rewarding lives and to achieve their full human potential.

Cities are not only the major magnets for the world’s top talent; they are also the destinations for those millions of migrants seeking employment, greater security for themselves and their families, and the hope of a better future.

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