International migration: what prompts it? What problems arise?

A technical symposium on issues regarding international migration, including policies concerning the management of migration by recipient and sending countries, would he held in 1998 under the auspices of the Working Group on International Migration of the Administrative Committee on Coordination Task Force on Basic Social Services for All, according to a decision adopted at the thirtieth session of the Commission on Population and Development.

The Commission was examining issues relating to international migration, as well as to world population monitoring focusing on international migration, as part of its follow-up to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo. Special emphasis during the session was given to the linkages between migration and development, and to gender issues and the family.

Commission Chairman Jose Gomez de Leon Cruces of Mexico, in his remarks to the press on 27 February, said this was the first time the Commission had considered international migration issues. During discussions, members stressed the need for more reliable data on migration, the direction of migrant flows and the characteristics of migrants. The necessity of analyzing data at an early stage, so the international community could design effective migration policies, was highlighted.

In a report on "World population monitoring, 1997: international migration and development" (E/CN.9/1997/2) before the Commission, three common threads were emphasized: the lack of migration data; the absence of a coherent theory to explain international migration; and the very weak understanding of the complex interrelationships between migration and development.

The report attributed 45 per cent of the overall population growth in the more developed regions of the world from 1990 to 1995 to net international migration. At the same time, international migration lowered by 3 per cent the overall growth rate of the population in the less developed regions. The number of international migrants worldwide rose from 75 million in 1965 to 120 million in 1990. Despite this accelerating growth, by 1990 international migrants accounted for just 2.3 per cent of the total population of the world.

According to a related report (E/CN.9/1997/9), while the proportion of international migrants among the total population of developing countries remained low (1.6 per cent of the total), international migrants constituted 4.1 per cent of the developed countries' population. As a result, proportionately, international migration continued to have greater numerical importance for the developed world. By 1990, it said, Europe and Northern America were host to 25 million and 24 million international migrants, respectively; in the developing world, Asia hosted the largest number of migrants in the world--43 million in 1990.

Another notable trend in the 1990s was the feminization of labour migration, particularly Asian labour migration, according to the report. While no comprehensive theory exists that explains the causes of international migration, some of the possible reasons reported include wage differentials, excessive population, environmental change, poverty and violation of human rights.

In a separate action, the Commission approved a resolution by which the Economic and Social Council would call on Governments and intergovernmental, regional and subregional organizations to expand the exchange of information regarding international migration and development. The Council would also urge the United Nations Statistics and Population Divisions to collaborate with regional commissions, other relevant United Nations and intergovernmental agencies, and Governments providing technical assistance in statistics in the dissemination of the new set of recommendations on statistics of international migration.

The Commission also requested that the Population Division, in collaboration with other relevant factors, build an improved assessment and analysis of international migration.