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Qatar's winning World Cup bid is a win for migrants

Submitted by Dilip Ratha on Tue, 12/07/2010 - 18:36

I was in Dubai last week when the news broke about Qatar's World Cup bid. Qatar winning the vote to host World Cup in 2022 will produce significant increases in migration flows from, and remittance flows to, South Asia, East Asia and East and North Africa.
 
Qatar employs just short of 1.5 million migrant workers currently. It is the largest host country for migrants in the world: the share of migrants in the population exceeds 85%, for every adult Qatari national, there are 10+ migrant workers (see Factbook, my earlier blog post). Although it does not report data on remittances to the IMF, newspapers quoting Qatar Central Bank reported outward remittances approaching $7 billion in 2010. The sheer increase in the demand for workers for constructing stadiums and developing infrastructure is expected to result in huge migration flows from South Asia, but also from East Asia (the Philippines, but also China). Outward remittances will rise more than proportionately, first because wages will rise, and second, because the authorities will provide greater scrutiny to recruitment practices and working conditions for migrant workers.

Almost a third of Indians, or over 300 million people, are migrants

Submitted by Sanket Mohapatra on Wed, 06/16/2010 - 20:03
  Photo © Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank

India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has just released the “Migration in India 2007-08” report (June 2010) based on the 64th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS). This nationally representative survey includes 125,578 households (79,091 households in rural areas and 46,487 households in urban areas) which together have 572,254 individuals. The report has many interesting findings on internal and international migration and remittances in India, which you can read in the press release. I have highlighted a few that I found interesting:

Almost a third of Indians, or over 300 million people, are migrants. 28.5 percent of Indians (some 325 million people, out of a population of 1.14 billion in 2008) are migrants, according to the survey. 35 percent of people in urban areas and 26 percent of people in rural areas have moved from their place of usual residence.However, migration in India is largely confined to within the same state. 72 percent of migrant households in urban areas and 78 percent in rural areas have migrated within the same state.

Labor Mobility and Circular Migration: What are the challenges of the Stockholm Program?

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Mon, 11/02/2009 - 19:35

I recently gave a presentation and participated in a conference organized by the Swedish Presidency of the European Union(EU) on “Labor Migration and its Development Potential in the Age of Mobility"on October 15-16. The conference focused on two main themes: a) Labor immigration, and b) Circular migration and its development potential.

Speakers and participants discussed the importance of improving labor mobility in Europe given demographic changes. New players such as China and India are competing for global talent. The EU should become an attractive market for immigrants if it wants to remain competitive in the coming decades.  Within this context mutual recognition of skills and accreditation becomes key for developing countries. (See my previous post)

Will the global financial crisis affect the presence of China in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 16:36

Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius this month to discuss a series of measures to help African countries cushion the impact of the global financial crisis.

Over the past decade, China has been consolidating its economic relationship with various African countries.  Given the crisis, I thnk it would be interesting to discuss if China will maintain its aid, trade, investment and migration flows to Sub-Saharan Africa and if there will be opportunities for new innovative financing mechanisms.

In her recent book, "Dead Aid," Dambisa Moyo mentioned that “if you start to look towards China for example, which has $4 trillion of reserves, all of a sudden you could see there might be another opportunity to do a bond issue in the Chinese market." 

Some recent developments on this front: 

¿Se están reduciendo las ofertas laborales para los inmigrantes a raíz de la crisis financiera?

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 10:47

A medida que la crisis financiera en el mundo se agudiza algunos países empiezan a tomar medidas en el campo laboral para reducir el número de empleos ofertados a los inmigrantes.

España acaba de anunciar una reducción en el catalogo de ocupaciones de difícil cobertura en un 15% para el trimestre de 2009. El catalogo contiene las ocupaciones en las que los Servicios Públicos de Empleo de España han encontrado dificultad para gestionar las ofertas de empleo que los empleadores les presentan cuando quieren cubrir puestos de trabajo vacantes y entonces se las pueden ofertar a trabajadores extranjeros. (Ver  catalogo adjunto para las posiciones ofertadas para el primer trimestre del 2009)

De acuerdo a la nueva publicación ya no se demanda mas posiciones en albañilería, servicio domestico o posiciones para la agricultura,  siendo estos las categorías de empleos  en las que los inmigrantes ofertaban su trabajo. (Ver http://www.prensaescrita.com/diarios.php?codigo=S&pagina=http://www.elpais.com)

La preocupación que los inmigrantes ocupen las posiciones que son para los trabajadores del país se acentúa en tiempos de alto desempleo. Ese parece ser el punto de vista en Estados Unidos, país en el cual algunos representantes del Senado están presionando por una nueva legislación para que los empleadores contraten exclusivamente trabajadores americanos. (Ver http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/business/NATL-Bailed-Out-Banks-Sought-Foreign-Workers.html)

The financial crisis and immigration policy: how some developed countries are coping

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:37

More restrictive immigration policies by developed country governments are being implemented as the financial crisis deepens. For example, the United Kingdom just published a bill which contains some of the following measures:

1) Migrants who are not citizens or permanent residents of the UK will not have access to full services benefits and social housing; and

2) Migrants will have to pay a levy towards schools, hospitals, and other local services so that that the new flows of UK immigrants do not put pressure on the community.

According to the UK Visa bureau, “the bill is part of the new Australian-style points –based system for immigrants introduced in stages last year, which aims to control UK immigration so that only those needed in the British economy move to the UK and no more.”

Australia may cut migrant visas as unemployment grows. In a recent interview, Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans said that "the global financial crisis could lead to a smaller migrant intake in 2009, as demand for skilled migrants slowed."

Chinese migrants in Africa (and vice versa)

Submitted by Sanket Mohapatra on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 14:16

China's trade, aid and investment linkages with Africa have increased exponentially in the last few years. China-Africa trade rose ten-fold during 2000-07 to $73 billion.  A recent research paper co-authored with my colleagues Dilip and Sonia documents China's increasing financial involvement in Africa (see box on "New Players in Sub-Saharan Africa" on page 13).

These links appear to have resulted in increased migration between Africa and China. Along with Chinese small business owners and migrant workers settling in African cities, Chinese companies involved in banking, construction, infrastructure, mining, and oil extraction projects in Africa also tend to bring along their workers.

A recent MPI study says that official figures show over 100,000 Chinese workers in Africa -- with their true size likely several times higher. However, these are not just one-way flows from China to Africa. Some 10,000 or more Africans reportedly live in a 10 square kilometer district in the Guangzhou province nicknamed "Little Africa" -- similar to the "Little Italys" and "China Towns" in major cities around the world. 

According to the political scientist Sasha Gong cited in the MPI study, Chinese migrants use four methods to migrate to Africa:

International Migrants Day: How are international migrants perceived in destination countries?

Submitted by Neil Ruiz on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 19:27

Today marks the celebration of the unquestionable contribution and sacrifices that many international migrants make to both destination and origin countries.  Migrants work hard, fill jobs that are needed, and send a large portion of their earnings to support their families at home.  Despite all of their contributions, native populations’ opinion and the policies developed by their governments continue to be mixed. 

As the new US President gets inaugurated next month and as the EU continues to work on developing its immigration policy, it is interesting to see what the natives in destination countries think about migrants.  A recent study by the German Marshall Fund of the United States shows that 47% of Europeans and 50% of Americans perceived immigration to be more of a problem than an opportunity.  Of all European countries, the United Kingdom is the most skeptical on immigration in Europe. Over 62% of UK respondents regarded immigration as more of a problem than opportunity.  Furthermore, over 64% of respondents.  A large majority of people in the US and the United Kingdom believe that immigrants take away jobs from natives and also immigration increases tax rates.

  • With these opinions on immigration, how will immigration policies be shaped in the coming year?
  • Will the British develop unfriendly policies towards the migrants who compose 10% of their overall population?
  • Will negative perceptions of immigrants continue to grow as the global recession continues to hurt the US and European economies?

Africa Migration Project: Household surveys call for proposals

Submitted by Sonia Plaza on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 11:58

In collaboration with the African Development Bank, the World Bank is undertaking a comprehensive study of migration and remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa and destination countries outside Africa. The World Bank Household Survey of Migrants is part of this effort, and will be conducted in 10 countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Ivory Coast, and Uganda). 

Findings from these surveys will provide a better understanding of the characteristics of migrants in sending and receiving countries and thereby help inform national policy-makers about trends in migration and remittances, determinants and consequences, and development impacts.

The World Bank is inviting firms to submit expressions of interest to undertake a household survey focusing on internal and international migration in at least one of the above 10 Sub-Saharan countries.  The deadline for expressions of interest is November 7, 2008, and the high quality work should be completed by June 2009. 

More information on the proposed study and how to make a submission can be obtained by downloading the detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) from the World Bank eConsultant system website, where you can look for Selection Number 100019214, "Household surveys for the Africa Migration Project." You can also read the terms of reference for this call for proposals here.

Brain Drain or Brain Waste?

Submitted by Neil Ruiz on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 12:04

On August 25, 2008, the Philippine Professional Regulatory Commission released statistics indicating nearly half a million Filipino nurses are unemployed (see news).

This educated unemployment problem is nothing new to the Philippines. Prior to the creation of the government’s labor export policy in the 1970s which developed institutions to facilitate overseas employment for its citizens, there were tens of thousands of graduates who could not find a job to match their educational backgrounds in the domestic labor market. Unemployment rates for those who graduated from college in the 1960s were more than three times greater than those with only a high school diploma. Those with college degrees were even 11 times more likely to be unemployed compared to those with only an elementary school education. Contrary to what parents usually instill in their children, the more educated you are, the more likely you are to be unemployed.