International migration disrupted by COVID-19, says UN

Geneva, 21 Jan (Kanaga Raja) – Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have reduced the number of international migrants by around two million globally by mid-2020, a decrease of around 27 per cent in the growth expected from July 2019 to June 2020, the United Nations has said. According to a report by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), prior to the disruptions to migration flows caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the number of international migrants had grown robustly over the past two decades.
It is estimated that the number of persons living outside of their country of origin reached 281 million in 2020, roughly equal to the size of the entire population of Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, said the UN.
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of international migrants increased by 48 million globally, with another 60 million added between 2010 and 2020, with much of this increase being due to labour or family migration.
Humanitarian crises in many parts of the world also contributed, with an increase of 17 million in the number of refugees and asylum seekers between 2000 and 2020.
In 2020, the number of persons forcibly displaced across national borders worldwide stood at 34 million, double the number in 2000, said the UN report.
“The report affirms that migration is a part of today’s globalized world and shows how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the livelihoods of millions of migrants and their families and undermined progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Mr. Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
According to the UN report, titled “International Migration 2020 Highlights”, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected all forms of human mobility, including international migration.
Around the globe, the closing of national borders and severe disruptions to international land, air and maritime travel obliged hundreds of thousands of people to cancel or delay plans of moving abroad, said the UN.
“Hundreds of thousands of migrants were stranded, unable to return to their countries, while others were forced to return to their home countries earlier than planned, when job opportunities dried up and schools closed.”
According to the UN report, while the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers have grown rapidly in the past two decades, they account for a relatively small share, 12 per cent, of the total number of international migrants globally.
In turn, international migrants represent less than 4 per cent of the world’s total population, a proportion that, although small, has been increasing steadily over the past two decades.
A large majority of international migrants reside in countries offering the greatest opportunities for migrants and their families, said the UN.
As of 2020, 65 per cent of all international migrants worldwide, or 182 million, lived in high-income countries, the UN added.
Thirty-one per cent, or 86 million, lived in middle-income, mostly upper-middle-income countries, while low- income countries hosted a comparatively small number of migrants: nearly 12 million, or 4 per cent of the total.
The proportion of international migrants in the population of destination countries also varied widely across income groups, said the UN.
Migrants comprised nearly one in every six persons residing in a high-income country, compared to less than 2 per cent in middle-income and in low-income countries.
The UN said over the past 20 years, high-income countries have steadily gained ground as the major destinations of international migrants.
Between 2000 and 2020, high-income countries gained 80 million, or 75 per cent, of the 107 million international migrants added worldwide during that period.
By comparison, middle-income countries added 22 million migrants and low-income countries gained 5 million.
The rapid increase in the number of migrants in high-income countries reflects the demand for migrant workers in those countries driven in part by the demographic differences, particularly in terms of age structure, that exist between countries at different income levels, said the UN.
While high-income countries attracted the largest number of migrants between 2000 and 2020, low- and middle- income countries absorbed the majority of people displaced across national borders due to conflict, persecution, violence or human rights violations.
Low- and middle-income countries hosted over four-fifths of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers in 2020.
Furthermore, refugees and asylum seekers comprised around half or more of all the migrants added in those countries between 2000 and 2020.
By contrast, in high-income countries, most of the growth in the total migrant population during the past two decades was driven by other types of migration, including for labour, family reunification and education.
In 2020, refugees and asylum seekers comprised around 3 per cent of all migrants in high-income countries compared to 25 per cent in middle-income countries and 50 per cent in low-income countries.
None of the 22 countries where at least half of all migrants in 2020 were refugees or asylum seekers were high- income countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the growth in the stock of migrants across all income groups, said the UN.
It said that while it is difficult to distinguish between different types of migrants, and countries of destination often benefit from the skills and fiscal contributions of labour migrants and refugees and asylum seekers alike, the data presented hint to the duality of migration processes taking place, with high-income countries predominantly gaining from the transformative power of labour migration, and low- and middle-income countries shouldering a disproportionate responsibility for providing assistance to populations displaced across national borders as a result of conflict or persecution.
“Specifically, there is increasing recognition of the development challenges posed by large refugee populations and the need to support shared and inclusive economic growth in refugee-hosting areas,” said the UN.
It said that in line with the Global Compact on Refugees, a more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing is needed, recognizing that a sustainable solution to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international cooperation.
PATTERNS OF MIGRATION
According to the UN report, in terms of the regional distribution of where migrants live, Europe was home to the largest number of international migrants in the world in 2020: 87 million.
It said Northern America hosted the second largest number of migrants, a total of nearly 59 million; followed by Northern Africa and Western Asia, with nearly 50 million. In all other regions, the number of migrants was much smaller.
Between 2000 and 2020, Europe and Northern Africa and Western Asia added the largest number of migrants (30 and 29 million, respectively), while Northern America added around 18 million.
Of the 29 million migrants added in Northern Africa and Western Asia during that period, around 9 million were refugees or asylum seekers.
If current trends continue, Northern Africa and Western Asia is likely to overtake Northern America as the region with the second largest number of migrants in the world within the next decades, said the UN.
“This shift, hard to foresee twenty years ago, reflects the increasing diversification of economic opportunities available to migrant workers, and foretells the greater competition that destination countries will likely face in the future to attract migrants, especially highly skilled migrants,” it added.
In addition to Europe and Northern Africa and Western Asia, the UN said several other regions experienced a marked increase in the size of their migrant populations over the past two decades.
Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean each added over 8 million migrants during that period.
Latin America and the Caribbean saw the size to its migrant population more than double between 2000 and 2020, driven in part by the inflow of large numbers of displaced people from Venezuela.
Among the eight regions considered in the present analysis, Central and Southern Asia is the only one to have registered a decline in the number of migrants between 2000 and 2020, said the UN report.
“The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the change in migrant stocks, while significant, is comparatively small in all regions of the world. Europe, the region with the largest overall increase in the migrant stock, shows the most noticeable COVID-19 effect,” it added.
The UN also said that in 2020, two thirds of all international migrants were living in just 20 countries. However, compared to 2000, the share of all international migrants living in just 20 countries has declined, signaling an increasing diversification of migrant destinations, it added.
The United States of America remained by far the largest country of destination of international migrants with 51 million migrants in 2020, equal to 18 per cent of the world’s total.
Germany hosted the second largest number of migrants worldwide (around 16 million), followed by Saudi Arabia (13 million), the Russian Federation (12 million) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (9 million).
Of the top 20 destinations of international migrants in 2020, all but three were high-income or upper-middle- income countries.
Europe had the largest number of countries or areas among the 20 major destinations of international migrants, followed by Northern Africa and Western Asia.
The UN found that between 2000 and 2020, the number of migrants grew in 179 countries or areas. Germany, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America gained the largest number of migrants during that period.
By contrast, in 53 countries or areas, the number of international migrants declined between 2000 and 2020.
According to the UN, Armenia, India, Pakistan, Ukraine and the United Republic of Tanzania were among the countries that experienced the most pronounced declines.
In many cases, the declines resulted from the old age of the migrant populations or the return of refugees and asylum seekers to their countries of origin, said the UN.
It noted that in 2020, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees and asylum seekers worldwide (nearly 4 million), followed by Jordan (3 million), the State of Palestine (2 million) and Colombia (1.8 million).
Other major destinations of refugees, asylum seekers or other persons displaced abroad were Germany, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Uganda and the United States of America.
According to the UN report, the majority of international migrants originate from middle-income countries. In 2020, nearly 177 million international migrants globally came from a middle-income country, equal to about 63 per cent of the total.
Of these, nearly 90 million were born in a lower-middle-income country and 88 million in an upper-middle- income country. Middle-income countries together comprised around three quarters of the global population in 2020.
Some 37 million international migrants, or around 13 per cent of the total, originated from low-income countries.
Compared to richer countries, people from low-income countries, many of which are also landlocked and face severe structural constraints to sustainable development, frequently have more limited access to established migration networks and are often less able to bear the financial and non-financial costs associated with migration, said the UN.
Some 53 million migrants originated from high-income countries, equal to 19 per cent of the total, while for 13 million migrants, or 5 per cent, the origin was unknown.
While the number of migrants originating from low-income countries remains small compared to other income groups, it grew rapidly between 2000 and 2020, with much of this increase being driven by humanitarian crises, said the UN.
Persons displaced across national borders as a result of conflict or persecution comprised nearly two thirds of the 19 million migrants from low-income countries added globally over the past two decades. In 2020, nearly half of all international migrants originating from low-income countries were refugees or asylum seekers.
In 2020, of the 281 million international migrants worldwide, 63 million, or 23 per cent of the total, were born in Europe.
Central and Southern Asia was the birthplace of the second largest number of international migrants (51 million), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (43 million), Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (38 million), Northern Africa and Western Asia (38 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (28 million).
Relatively few migrants globally originated from Northern America (4 million) or Oceania (2 million).
Furthermore, between 2000 and 2020, nearly all regions, with the exception of Northern America and Oceania, saw the size of their transnational population increase by 12 million or more.
Central and Southern Asia witnessed the largest absolute increase, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and Northern Africa and Western Asia.
“Most of the recent growth of migrants originating from Central and Southern Asia and Europe was attributable to labour or family-related migration,” said the UN.
By contrast, for Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern Africa and Western Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, humanitarian reasons accounted for a large share of the recent growth of their diaspora.
In 2020, 38 per cent of all international migrants originating from Northern Africa and Western Asia were refugees or asylum seekers.
The transnational populations from sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean also comprised a large proportion of persons forcibly displaced across national borders: 26 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.
In 2020, 18 million persons from India were living outside of their country of birth. Other countries with a large diaspora included Mexico and the Russian Federation (11 million each), China (10 million) and the Syrian Arab Republic (8 million).
The UN also said that in 2020, just under half (48 per cent) of all international migrants worldwide were women or girls. While most migrant women move for labour, education or family reasons, many are forced to leave their countries due to conflict or persecution. Women and girls comprised around half of all persons forcibly displaced across national borders in 2020, it added.
Globally, said the UN, the median age of all international migrants in 2020 was 39.1 years, significantly higher than for refugees and asylum seekers (19.4 years). The median age of migrants was higher in the high-income countries than in middle-income or low-income countries.
Northern America (44.3 years), Europe (43.4 years) and Oceania (41.9 years) had the highest median ages among the eight regions considered, it added.
CONTRIBUTION OF MIGRANTS
According to the UN report, in countries of destination, migrants often fill critical labour gaps, performing jobs that native workers do not want to perform.
Because migrant workers tend to complement rather than substitute the skill sets of native workers, migration can also increase demand for goods and services in countries of destination, it said.
Furthermore, because migrants are often entrepreneurs, they contribute to creating new jobs in host societies.
The taxes and contributions to social security programmes that migrants make tend to be greater than the amount they receive in benefits.
“However, while migrants contribute to host societies, they are often vulnerable to discrimination, including in terms of wages and labour-force participation.”
Policy measures to protect the rights of migrants, provide access to basic services, address discrimination and promote migrant integration can shape the degree to which migration is associated with inequality within countries of destination, said the UN.
Measures to remove barriers in accessing education, training and labour-market participation and to promote the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad can also play a key role in maximizing the positive development impacts of migration and reducing its costs, it added.
The inclusion and empowerment of migrants and refugees in development planning is also central to fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s pledge to “leave no-one behind,” the UN concluded.
(Published in SUNS #9269 dated 22 January 2021)