Published on People Move

Migration & Remittances News, January 23, 2014

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In Pictures: China's annual human migration
Shanghai, China - Hundreds of millions of people, including migrant workers and students, will crisscross the country to reunite with their families during the Chinese Lunar New Year Festival. For most of them, it's the only time of the year when they can see their loved ones. Some 3.5 billion journeys will be made in just over a month, exacerbating existing problems with inter-city transport in China.

Saudi Deports Quarter Million Migrants in 3 Months
Saudi Arabia says it has deported "more than a quarter million" foreign migrant workers from the kingdom over the past three months.

Dying to Cross: Migrants Continue to Perish in Arizona
We arrive to Tucson's Southside Presbyterian Church at a few minutes to 7pm on a Tuesday. After being greeted by a robed monk and a few other participants, my friend and I take our seats for a meeting of the Samaritans, a "strictly volunteer" organization whose mission is to save the lives of migrants crossing the southern Arizona desert.

Romanian, Bulgarian migrants good for Germany, study says
A study by a renowned think tank has shown migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania are no threat to the German state and the domestic economy. On the contrary, they're bound to help curb the skilled labor shortage.

Malaysia starts crackdown on illegal migrant workers
Malaysian authorities on Tuesday began a nationwide crackdown on illegal migrant workers.

Handling migration: Some countries do it better than others
Some European countries are coping better than others with the influx of non-EU citizens. Sweden in particular has been lauded for its immigration system. An estimated 20,000 Syrian refugees have made their way to the Scandinavian country, which offers Syrians immediate asylum status, permission to work and permanent residence.

Nearly 50,000 migrants have died in Mexico on the way to the US since 2007
The road to the US can be a dangerous one—especially when that road runs through Mexico. More than 47,000 migrants (link in Spanish) have died while attempting to cross through Mexico to the US over the past six years, according to estimates by the Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI) in Mexico. The study, which was reportedly conducted by a team of visiting Argentine forensic anthropologists, also found that another nearly 9,000 migrants have been killed, but have yet to be identified.

France evicted record 19,000 Roma migrants in 2013
France forcibly evicted a record 19,380 Roma migrants in 2013, more than double the figure the previous year, two rights groups said in a joint report on Tuesday.

Brutalised migrants of western Odisha
The gruesome incident of the chopping off of the palms of two migrant labourers of Kalahandi district of western Odisha by the labour contractor mafia in December 2013 should serve as a wake-up call. The incident highlights the ruthless extent to which the mafia can go to meet its ends and brings home the fact that more than 60 years after Independence, the poorest in our country still remain woefully unprotected.

Azerbaijan turning into attractive hub for migrants
With a growing economy and improving life standards, Azerbaijan is turning into an attractive hub for tens of thousands of labor migrants. The country has ranked first in CIS region in attracting migrants due to its social-political and economic stability. The migrants are mainly from neighbor countries like Iran, Russia, Georgia, and Turkey, as well as from Great Britain, China, Pakistan, Australia, and Philippines. They are mostly involved in construction sector which has seen an economic boom in the recent years.

Filipino Workers Join Burma’s Opening Economy
MANILA — New data showing that Philippine workers based in Burma remitted US$150,000 to their homeland in 2013 is perhaps another small signal of Burma’s economic reintegration with the wider world. The numbers, in the latest Philippine central bank statistics on remittances to the Philippines, show a rise from $0 to $150,000 for August 2013, with Burma joining the 24 Asian countries and dozens of others worldwide where about 10 million Filipinos have moved to work and send money back to families at home.

More than 9 million Chinese emigrated in 2013
More than 9 million Chinese had emigrated as of 2013, making China the fourth-largest migrant-exporting country in the world.
According to a blue book published by the Center for China and Globalization and the Social Sciences Academic Press, 9.343 million Chinese migrated abroad, increasing 128.6 percentage points in the last 23 years and upgrading China from seventh in providing migrants in 1990 to fourth in 2013.


Authors

Ervin Dervisevic

Consultant working with East Asia and Pacific Gender Innovation Lab at the World Bank

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