Overview
International migration, which includes both voluntary migration for economic or other reasons as well as the involuntary movement of refugees, is on the rise. Data are uncertain and trends are difficult to track, but, according to the U.N., at least 120 million people (excluding refugees) lived or worked outside of their own country in 1990, an increase from about 75 million in 1965. The annual growth rate of immigration has been steepest in developing countries, and approximately half of all international migration takes place within the developing world. Nevertheless, foreign-born residents accounted for only 1.6 percent of the total population of developing countries in 1990 but 4.5 percent of the population of developed countries. Today, for instance, population growth in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is being driven not by natural rates of increase but largely by immigration [1] [2]. Between 1990 and 1995, 45 percent of overall population growth in developed countries was due to immigration; in Europe, the proportion was 88 percent [3]. (See People on the move.)
| People on the move | |
| Annual net intenrational migration totals and migration rates in the world’s major areas, 1990-95 | |
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| Source: United Nations (U.N.) Population Division, International Migration Policies 1995 (U.N., New York, 1996). | |
Considering involuntary movements, the number of refugees worldwide doubled between 1984 and 1991, although it has since fallen from a high of about 18 million in 1993 to just about 14 million in 1996, partly as a result of resettlement programs [4]. However, the number of refugees is overshadowed by the increase in the number of internally displaced persons – those who have been forced to flee their homes by armed conflict, persecution, or natural or manmade disasters, but who remain within their national borders. Because of the rising number of civil wars and local conflicts, the number of internally displaced persons now totals an estimated 30 million worldwide, mostly concentrated in some 35 countries. Africa is the worst-affected region, with up to 16 million people having been internally displaced [5] [6]. Sudan, where a civil war is now entering its 15th year, has the highest number of displaced people in the world, estimated at from 3.5 million to 4 million. Fighting between rival rebel armies, as well as between rebels and the government in the northern part of the country, has destroyed local grain stores and forced people from their grazing and fishing grounds [7].
Environmental degradation and resource scarcity can help to trigger mass migration. Population growth, land scarcity, and a cycle of droughts and floods has encouraged the illegal immigration of more than 10 million Bengalis—perhaps 20 million including their descendants– to neighboring Indian states from Bangladesh. The influx has prompted local resentments, and more than 4,000 people were killed in a series of violent clashes in the early 1980s. Tensions continue today [8].
Many governments increasingly view immigration as a problem, despite the fact that immigrant labor often benefits both the home and host countries [9]. Perceptions of national identity, cultural differences, and fears of unemployment are all contributing to actual and potential hostilities between immigrants and nationals. The percentage of governments that view their country’s immigration level as too high rose from 6 to 21 percent between 1976 and 1996; in the developed countries, 29 percent consider immigration too high [10]. Nonetheless, immigration, either legal or illegal, seems certain to continue.
Progress toward democracy
As a new report from the World Bank makes clear, the quality of government remains a crucial factor in promoting economic growth, social well-being, and sound environmental management. Government accountability through democratic elections is central to achieving these basic goods. Trends in the spread of democracy are encouraging. In 1974, only 39 countries (about 25 percent) were independent democracies; today, 117 countries are (about 60 percent). The spread of democracy has been driven by new communication technologies, which make clear a government’s failings in relation to other countries, and also by increased levels of education among citizens, who are less tolerant of such failure. Democratically elected governments by region, 1960-94  Source: The World Bank, World Development Report 1997 (The World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1997), Figure 7.1, p. 110-123. Note: This particular index of democracy is based on Polity III data developed by Keith Jaggers and Ted Robert Gurr. It is calculated for 177 countries from scores on five component indicators: (1) competitiveness of political participation, (2) regulation of political participation, (3) competitiveness of executive recruitment, (4) openness of executive recruitment, and (5) constraints on the chief executive. For more information, see Keith Jaggers and Ted Rober Gurr, “Tracking Democreacy’s Third Wave with the Polity III Data,” Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 32, No. 4 (1995), pp. 469-482. |
References and notes
1. United Nations (U.N.) Population Division, “World Population Prospects: The 1996 Revision,” Population Newsletter, No.62 (December 1996), pp. 9-10.
2. The OECD member countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland,Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
3. Op. cit. 1, p. 9.
4. The U.S. Committee for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 1997 (The U.S. Committee for Refugees, Washington, D.C., 1997), pp. 3, 12.
5. Ibid., p. 6.
6. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), “Home isWhere the Hurt Is,” Internally Displaced Persons, Issue 103 (UNHCR, Geneva). Available online at: http://www.unhcr.ch/pubs/rm103/rm10307.htm (July 26, 1997).
7. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” Internally Displaced Persons, Issue 103 (UNHCR, Geneva). Available online at: http://www.unhcr.ch/pubs/rm103/rm10307.htm (July 26, 1997).
8. Thomas Homer-Dixon and Valerie Percival, Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: Briefing Book (American Association for the Advancement of Science and University College, Toronto, 1996), p. 13.
9. The World Bank, World Development Indicators 1997 (The World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1997), pp. 326-327.
10. Op. cit. 1, p. 12.
