Most of China's roughly 145 million rural-to-urban migrants were born after 1980, making this population the "new generation" of internal migrant workers. Having been directly influenced by China's rapid economic growth and recent sociodemographic policy changes, this cohort of rural-urban migrants offers much to learn with respect to their motivations. This article discusses survey data indicating that new-generation migrants have somewhat different motivations and expectations than their more traditional counterparts, such as the desire for excitement, fun, and career development independent of the needs of the family back home.
Public backlash against the detention systems of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States mounted in 2011 with allegations of unacceptable living conditions, abuse, prolonged detention, and government waste.
The realities of poverty, underemployment, and a large working-age population mean that international labor migration is an expected and necessary part of life for many Bangladeshi men and women. Nazli Kibria of Boston University explains the challenges and opportunities facing Bangladesh as the small nation struggles to balance the need for economic migration and its resulting remittances with the protection of its citizens abroad.
Ronald Skeldon of the University of Sussex maps out the past and present migration patterns of China — the source of tens of millions of migrants around the globe — and discusses the country's budding status as an immigrant-receiving nation.
Indian immigrants in the United States may not want their U.S.-born children to live and work in India, but some members of the second generation are 'returning' to their parents' homeland for economic and personal reasons, as Sonali Jain of Duke University explains.
Over the past year, long-standing discussions and negotiations have resulted in several new information-sharing initiatives that seek to boost security while facilitating travel for legitimate travelers.
Discussions about climate change and migration ramped up in 2009, in large part due to a number of conferences and reports surrounding the highly anticipated United Nations (UN) Climate Change conference in Copenhagen.
Many countries relied on low-skilled immigrant workers during good times. But Japan, Spain, and the Czech Republic have recently introduced "pay-to-go" programs to reduce the number of unemployed immigrants. MPI's Kristen McCabe, Serena Yi-Ying Lin, and Hiroyuki Tanaka, and Piotr Plewa of the European University Institute examine these programs and the larger policy questions they raise.
The world's second most populous country also has a vast diapora spread across nearly every continent. Daniel Naujoks provides a broad overview of Indian migration flows and major populations worldwide, and discusses India's diaspora policies, refugees and asylum seekers from the region, and illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
International migration from Asia grew dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s. Since the 1990s, migration within Asia has risen. Stephen Castles of the University of Oxford and Mark Miller of the University of Delaware examine regional trends in this article based on their book Age of Migration.
Tibetans have integrated into Asian and Western societies since 1959 with different types of outcomes. In Part II of our two-part series, Seonaigh MacPherson, Anne-Sophie Bentz, and Dawa Bhuti Ghoso examine integration experiences, the diaspora's political success, the gaps between those in Tibet and Tibetans abroad, and what lies ahead for the Tibetan diaspora.
Approximately 122,000 Tibetans, including those of Tibetan ancestry, live outside their homeland. Seonaigh MacPherson, Anne-Sophie Bentz, and Dawa Bhuti Ghoso provide an in-depth look at Tibetan history and Tibetans' migration to India and the West in this first of our two-part series on the Tibetan diaspora.
Along with increased trade and Chinese investment in Africa has come new migration between the two regions. Malia Politzer places this movement in context and looks at the types of Chinese migrants going to Africa and the Africans going to China.
Economic, social, and political conditions have pushed North Koreans to illegally leave their country and migrate to South Korea, China, Russia, and elsewhere. MPI's Hiroyuki Tanaka examines humanitarian and economic migration flows from North Korea, and the situation of North Koreans living abroad.
The European Union's recent proposal aims to attract highly skilled migrants by granting them access to all EU labor markets—but with some important limitations. Elizabeth Collett of the European Policy Centre explains the basics of the Blue Card proposal, the questions it raises, and national-level reactions.
Prove you can fit in here. That is the challenge many countries placed in stark terms this year by implementing citizenship tests or increasing language requirements. In the case of Australia, the government decided to do both.
Sensitive to having too many outsiders, prosperous Asian countries generally have relied on temporary worker programs — with few rights for migrants — to fill gaps in their labor markets. With its historically diverse population, Singapore is the main exception as it sees migrants as a demographic necessity and courts highly skilled migrants.
A classic labor-surplus nation, Indonesia sends thousands of low-skilled workers every year to countries in the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, particularly neighboring Malaysia. Graeme Hugo of the University of Adelaide provides an updated look at this and other migration trends in the world's fourth most populous country.
India receives more remittances than any other country in the world. MPI's Muzaffar Chishti explores the factors responsible for remittance growth in the last 15 years.
