International labour migration

• 1. Table of ContentSr No.Particulars Page no.16 INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION INTRODUCTION29LABOUR MIGRATION THE BACKGROUND3 12 INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION PROGRAM4 14 INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION FROM INDEPENDENT INDIA5 16 INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION6 18CAUSES OF MIGRATION7 22 DATA AND METHODS8 23IMPACT OF MIGRATION9 27EMPLOYMENT ORIENTED MIGRATION 10 28 TRENDS IN GLOBAL MIGRATION 11 32EFFECTS OF MIGRATION 12 36CONCLUSION 1

2. International Migration IntroductionInternational labour migration is defined as the movement ofpeople from one country to another for the purpose of employment. Today,an estimated 105 million persons are working in a country other than theircountry of birth. Labour mobility has become a key feature ofglobalization and the global economy with migrant workers earning US$440 billion in 2011, and the World Bank estimating that more than $350billion of that total was transferred to developing countries in the form ofremittances. However, despite the efforts made to ensure the protection ofmigrant workers, many remain vulnerable and assume significant risksduring the migration process.International labour migration is defined as the movement ofpeople from one country to another for the purpose of employment. Today,an estimated 105 million persons are working in a country other than theircountry of birth. Labour mobility has become a key feature ofglobalization and the global economy with migrant workers earning US$440 billion in 2011, and the World Bank estimating that more than $350billion of that total was transferred to developing countries in the form ofremittances. However, despite the efforts made to ensure the protection ofmigrant workers, many remain vulnerable and assume significant risksduring the migration process.When properly managed, labour migration has far-reachingpotential for the migrants, their communities, the countries of origin anddestination, and for employers. While job creation in the home country is 2 3. the preferred option, demographic, social and economic factors areincreasingly the drivers of migration. As a result, a growing number of bothsending and receiving countries view international labour migration as anintegral part of their national development and employment strategies. Onone hand, countries of origin benefit from labour migration because itrelieves unemployment pressures and contributes to development throughremittances, knowledge transfer, and the creation of business and tradenetworks. On the other hand, for destination countries facing labourshortages, orderly and well-managed labour migration can lighten labourscarcity and facilitate mobility.International migration occurs when peoples cross stateboundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of time.Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their homecountries in order to look for economic opportunities in another country.Others migrate to be with family members who have migrated or becauseof political conditions in their countries. Education is another reason forinternational migration, as students pursue their studies abroad. While thereare several different potential systems for categorizing internationalmigrants, one system organizes them into nine groups: temporary labourmigrants; irregular, illegal, or undocumented migrants; highly skilled andbusiness migrants; refugees; asylum seekers; forced migration; familymembers; return migrants; and long-term, low-skilled migrants. Thesemigrants can also be divided into two large groups, permanent andtemporary. Permanent migrants intend to establish their permanentresidence in a new country and possibly obtain that countrys citizenship.3 4. Temporary migrants intend only to stay for a limited periods of time;perhaps until the end of a particular program of study or for the duration ofa work contract or a certain work season. Both types of migrants have asignificant effect on the economies and societies of the chosen destinationcountry and the country of origin.Similarly, the countries which receive these migrants are oftengrouped into four categories: traditional settlement countries, Europeancountries which encouraged labour migration after World War II, Europeancountries which receive a significant portion of their immigrant populationsfrom their former colonies, and countries which formerly were points ofemigration but have recently emerged as immigrant destinations.4 5. LABOUR MIGRATION THE BACKGROUNDMigration from one area to another in search of improvedlivelihoods is a key feature of human history. While some regions andsectors fall behind in their capacity to support populations, others moveahead and people migrate to access these emerging opportunities.Industrialisation widens the gap between rural and urban areas, inducing ashift of the workforce towards industrialising areas. There is extensivedebate on the factors that cause populations to shift, from those thatemphasise individual rationality and household behaviour to those that citethe structural logic of capitalist development.Moreover, numerous studies show that the process of migrationis influenced by social, cultural and economic factors and outcomes can bevastly different for men and women, for different groups and differentlocations. In the past few decades new patterns have emerged, challengingold paradigms. First, there have been shifts of the workforce towards thetertiary sector in both developed and developing countries. Secondly, indeveloped countries, urban congestion and the growth of communicationinfrastructure has slowed down urbanisation. Thirdly, in developingcountries, the workforce shift towards the secondary/tertiary sector hasbeen slow and has been dominated by an expansion of the informalsector, which has grown over time. In countries like India, permanent shiftsof population and workforce co-exist with the circulatory movement ofpopulations between lagging and developed regions and between rural andurban areas, mostly being absorbed in the unorganised sector of the 5 6. economy. Such movements show little sign of abating with development.The sources of early migration flows were primarily agro-ecological,related to population expansion to new settlements or to conquests (e.g.Eaton, 1984). There is considerable information on patterns of migrationduring the British period.Indian emigration abroad was one consequence of the abolitionof slavery and the demand for replacement labour. This was normallythrough indenture, a form of contract labour whereby a person would bindhimself for a specified period of service, usually four to seven years inreturn for payment of their passage. They left for British, Dutch and Frenchcolonies to work in sugar plantations and subsequently for the tea andrubber plantations of Southeast Asia. Similar demands for labour roseinternally with the growth of tea, coffee and rubber plantations, coal minesand, later, modern industry. Much of this labour was procured throughsome form of organised mediation and some portion of it remainedcirculatory and retained strong links with the areas of origin. But as itsettled down, it provided a bridgehead to other migrants, whose numbersgrew to satisfy colonial demand. Urban pockets like Kolkatta and Mumbaiattracted rural labourers mainly from labour catchment areas like Bihar,Uttar Pradesh and Orissa in the east and Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu andparts of Kerala and Karnataka in the south. The historical pattern of theflow of labourers persisted even after independence.In 2001, Indias population exceeded 1 billion. At that time,67.2% lived in rural areas and 32.8% in towns and cities. Between 1951 6 7. and 2001, the proportion of the population living in urban areas rose from17.3% to 32.8%. Of the total workforce, 73.3% remained in rural areas,declining marginally from 77.7% in 1991 and 79.3% in 1981; 58%remained dependent upon agriculture.In a country of Indias size, the existence of significant regionaldisparities should not come as a surprise. The scale and growth of thesedisparities is, however, of concern. The ratio between the highest to loweststate per capita incomes, represented by Punjab and Bihar in the firstperiod, and Maharashtra and Bihar in the second period, has increased from2.6 in 198083 to 3.5 in 199700. The Planning Commission estimates that26.1% of Indias population lives below the poverty line (based on thecontroversial National Sample Survey of 19992000). The rural poor hasgradually concentrated in eastern India and rain fed parts of central andwestern India, which continue to have low-productivity agriculture. In19992000, the states with the highest poverty levels were: Orissa (47.2%),Bihar (41.2%), Madhya Pradesh (37.4%), Assam(36.1%) and Uttar Pradesh(31.2%) Generally, Indias poor have meagre physical assets and humancapital and belong largely to socially deprived groups such as scheduledcastes (SC) and tribes (ST). Women share an extraordinary burden ofdeprivation within households. The poor rely on different types of work toconstruct a livelihood; wage labour and cultivation are the most important.Earlier studies have shown that poor households participate extensively inmigration. More recent studies have reconfirmed that migration is asignificant livelihood strategy for poor households in several regions ofIndia.7 8. International Migration ProgramIn this era of globalization, almost all countries in the world areinvolved in migration as countries of origin, destination, or transitor allthree. Of the several millions of people living outside their countries ofbirth, the ILO estimates that almost 90 per cent are migrant workers andtheir families. While international migration can be a positive experiencefor migrant workers, many suffer poor working and living conditions,including low wages, unsafe work environments, a virtual absence of thesocial safety net, denial of freedom of association and workers rights,discrimination andxenophobia.Therefore,the ILO approachesinternational labour migrationinternational migration undertaken forworkfrom a labour market and rights-based perspective with the intent topromote decent working conditions for migrants as well as migrants labourand human rights.As the UN specialized agency on labour issues, the ILO hasbeen dealing with labour migration since its foundation in 1919. The veryConstitution of the ILO specifically mandates the organization in itsPreamble to give attention to the "protection of the interests of workerswhen employed in countries other than their own". The InternationalMigration Branch (MIGRANT) is the main unit responsible for labourmigration issues in the ILO.MIGRANT promotes the ratification and implementation ofinternational standards; facilitates the participation of ILOs tripartiteconstituents in formulating and implementing migration policy; provides8 9. advisory services and a forum for consultations; serves as a globalknowledge base on international labour migration; and conducts orcoordinates various projects to strengthen the capacity of ILOs tripartiteconstituents and other relevant partners such as non-governmentalorganizations and migrants associations, to deal with a wide range oflabour migration issues.9 10. INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION FROM INDEPENDENTINDIAIn India, the migration of its labour force within and across itsnational boundaries is nothing new. Indias geographical position hasensured contact with the Persian Gulf region and South East Asiancountries for trade in goods and movement of people, a contact which goesback to several centuries. The migration of workers on a significant scalewas, however, to come much later. It began in the colonial era andcontinues now to independent India.Migratory flow during the period of colonial domination wasvery much tied to the investment interests of the colonial rulers and tookplace under their aegis. For instance a great part of the nineteenth centuryand the early twentieth century witnessed a regular migration of Indianworkers as indentured labour for plantations or mines in the Britishcolonies; this migration was to faraway places such as Guyana, Jamaicaand Fiji, to not so-distant lands such as Malaysia and Singapore and even toneighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Burma.Since Independence, two distinct types of labour migrationhave been taking place from India.The first is characterized by amovement of persons with technical skills and professional expertise to the10 11. industrialized countries like the United States, Britain and Canada whichbegan to proliferate in the early 1950s. The second type of migrationpertains to the flow of labour to the oil exporting countries of the MiddleEast which acquired substantial dimensions after the dramatic oil priceincreases of 1973-74 and 1979. The nature of this recent wave of migrationis strikingly different, as an overwhelming proportion of these migrants arein the category of unskilled workers and semi-skilled workers skilled inmanual or clerical occupations. 11 12. International Organization for Migration IOMs Vision IOM strives to protect migrant workers and to optimize the benefits of labour migration for both the country of origin and destination as well as for the migrants themselves. IOMs Objectives In its labour migration programming, IOM builds capacity in labour migration management by: offering policy and technical advice to national governments; supporting the development of policies, legislation and administrative structures that promote efficient, effective and transparent labour migration flows; assisting governments to promote safe labour migration practices for their nationals; facilitating the recruitment of workers, including pre-departure training and embarkation preparedness; Promoting the integration of labour migrants in their new workplace and society. Principal Beneficiaries IOM implements various labour migration programs in 70 countries. The beneficiaries of these programs include: 12 13. migrants, their families and their communities; local and national governments; private sector entities such as employers and industry representatives; and regional organizations. IOMs Approach Through its global network of more than 440 offices, IOM is able to bring together governments, civil society and the private sector to establish labour migration programs and mechanisms that balance their various interests, and address migrants needs. The IOM approach to international labour migration is to foster the synergies between labour migration and development, and to promote legal avenues of labour migration as an alternative to irregular migration. Moreover, IOM aims to facilitate the development of policies and programs that are in the interest of migrants and society, providing effective protection and assistance to labour migrants and their families.13 14. Causes of migrationGiven the diversity in the nature of migration in India, thecauses are also bound to vary. Migration is influenced both by the patternof development, and the social structure. The National Commission onRural Labour, focusing on seasonal migration, concluded that unevendevelopment was the main cause of seasonal migration. Along with interregional disparity, disparity between different socio economic classes andthe development policy adopted since independence has accelerated theprocess of seasonal migration. In tribal regions, intrusion of outsiders, thepattern of settlement, displacement and deforestation, also have played asignificant role. Most migration literature makes a distinction betweenpull and push factors, which, however, do not operate in isolation of oneanother. Mobility occurs when workers in source areas lack suitable optionsfor employment/livelihood, and there is some expectation of improvementin circumstances through migration. The improvement sought may bebetter employment or higher wages/incomes, but also maximization offamily employment or smoothing of employment/income/consumptionover the year At one end of the migration spectrum, workers could belocked into a debt-migration cycle, where earnings from migration are usedto repay debts incurred at home or in the destination areas, therebycementing the migration cycle. At the other end, migration is largelyvoluntary, although shaped by their limited choices.14 15. The NCRL has recognized the existence of this continuum for poormigrants by distinguishing between rural labour migration for survival andfor subsistence. The landless poor, who mostly belong to lower caste,indigenous communities, from economically backward regions, migrate forsurvival and constitute a significant proportion of seasonal labour flow.Thegrowth of intensive agriculture and commercialization of agriculture sincethe late 1960s has led to peak periods of labour demand, often alsocoinciding with a decline in local labour deployment. In the case of labourflows to the rice producing belt of West Bengal, wage differentials betweenthe source and destination have been considered as the main reason formigration. Moreover, absence of non-farm employment, low agriculturalproduction has resulted in a growth of seasonal migration. Migrationdecisions are influenced by both individual and household characteristics aswell as the social matrix, which is best captured in social-anthropologicalstudies.Factors such as age, education level, wealth, land owned,productivity and job opportunities influence the participation of individualsand households in migration, but so do social attitudes and supportingsocial networks. Where migration is essentially involuntary, it makes littlesense to use voluntaristic models to explain the phenomenon. In Dhuleregion sugarcane cultivation leads to high demand for labour, butlandowners recruit labourers from other districts for harvesting as they canhave effective control over the labour. Local labourers are thus forced tomigrate with their households to South Gujarat.15 16. Labour mobility is one of the key features of economic developmentand its characteristics are closely tied with the nature of this development.Historically, development is associated with unevenness and structuralchange, giving an impetus to the movement of workers from one region toanother, and from one sector to another. Even within the macro-structuralfeatures which determine the supply of, and demand for, certain types ofmigrant labour, the pattern of migration depends on a host of factorsdetermined by labour market characteristics, together with individual,household and community level features, and the existence of socialnetworks, among other things. These factors cumulatively determine thecauses of migration. On the other hand, labour migration plays a key rolein influencing the pattern of development, through its impact on a host ofeconomic and non-economic variables, both in the origin and destinationareas. Labour migration does not recognize bordersbut borders,whether urban, state, or international influence migration through a host ofpolicies and regulatory measures. A key distinction between internal andinternational migration is the existence of national regulatory frameworkssuch as immigration controls (which leads to a distinction between regularand irregular migration). But regulatory frameworks and restrictive policiesalso operate within nation states. Early development literature conceptualized labour migrationas occurring from the rural to urban, agricultural to industrial, and informalto formal sectors. However, the workforce pattern has changed across the 16 17. world in favour of the services sector, and the informal sector is moreprominent today, both in developing and developed countries than it wastwenty or thirty years ago. In developing countries, the informal sector isno longer conceived as a temporary destination for migrants but in mostcases, as a final destination. The (changing) structural features of worldcapitalism have an important bearing on both internal and internationalmigration.The theme on labour migration will explore all types of labourmigration internal, inter-state, cross-border and international. It willencourage cross disciplinary studies and papers based on both fieldworkand secondary data.We would welcome papers which explore not only economic issuesbut also historical, political, sociological and psychological factorsaffecting labour migration and the consequences of migration at moredisaggregate levels, viz., for various socio-economic strata and segments ofthe population and for women, men, the elderly and children separately,wherever possible. The contributors should confine themselves to the issueof worker migration, as conventionally defined in SNA accounts, and toleave out those types of forced labour migration, which are notconventionally included in work but are covered in internationalconventions on forced labour and trafficking. The paper contributors shouldnot be concerned with other forms of non-labour migration (such as refugeeor student migration) or with population mobility, which is important for anunderstanding urban growth. 17 18. Data and methodsThe paper uses data from Census of India 2001 as well as datafrom the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 55th Round onMigration. According to Indian Census, a Person is considered a migrant ifbirthplace or place of last residence is different from Place of enumeration.The National Sample Survey Organization of Government of India Carriedout an all-India survey on the situation of employment and unemploymentin India during the period July 1999-June 2000. This 55th Round Data waspublished in August 2001. In this survey, data was collected on migrants aswell. It defines a migrant as a member of the sample household who hadstayed continuously for at least six months or more in a place other than theplace of enumeration. It collects the reasons for leaving the last usual placeof residence under the following heads: (a) in search of employment (b) insearch of better employment (c) to take up employment/better employment(d) transfer of service/contract (e) proximity to place of work (f) studies (g)acquisition of own house/flat (h) housing problems (i) social/politicalproblem (j) health (k) marriage (l) migration of parent/earning member ofthe family and (m) others.A simple analysis using vicariate tables has been carried out inthe paper to bring out the extent of employment oriented migration in India.Moreover, the paper also attempts to study the difference between thestated reasons for migration and the labor force participation, taking intoaccount duration and educational qualification of the migrants.Employment oriented migration18 19. Impact of migrationOn migrants and their familiesPoorer migrant workers, crowded into the lower ends of thelabour market, have few entitlements vis a vis their employers or the publicauthorities in the destination areas. They have meagre personal assets andsuffer a range of deprivations in the destination areas. In the source areas,migration has both negative and positive consequences for migrants andtheir families.Living conditions: migrant labourers, whetheragricultural or non-agricultural, live in deplorableconditions. There is no provision of safedrinking water or hygienic sanitation. Most live in open spaces ormakeshift shelters in spite of the Contract Labour Act which stipulates thatthe contractor or employer should provide suitable accommodation (NCRL,1991; GVT, 2002; Rani and Shylendra, 2001). Apart from seasonalworkers, workers who migrate to the cities for job live in parks andpavements. Slum dwellers, who are mostly migrants, stay in deplorableconditions, with inadequate water and bad drainage. Food costs more formigrant workers who are not able to obtain temporary ration cards.Health and Education: labourers working in harsh circumstances andliving in unhygienic conditions suffer from serious occupational healthproblems and are vulnerable to disease. Those working in quarries,construction sites and mines suffer from various health hazards, mostlylung diseases. As the employer does not follow safety measures, accidents19 20. are quite frequent. Migrants cannot access various health and family careprogrammes due to their temporary status. Free public health care facilitiesand programmes are not accessible to them. For women workers, there isno provision of maternity leave, forcing them to resume work almostimmediately after childbirth. Workers, particularly those working in tilefactories and brick kilns suffer from occupational health hazards such asbody ache, sunstroke and skin irritation (NCRL, 1991).Changes in migrants attitudes: Exposure to a differentenvironment, including the stresses that it carries, has a deep impact on theattitudes, habits and awareness levels of migrant workers, depending uponthe length of migration and the place to which it occurs. Changes are moredramatic in the case of urban migrants. Migrant workers develop greaterawareness regarding conditions of work (Srivastava, 1999). Life style andchanges in awareness may lead to a mixed impact on family members. Theincreased awareness which migrants, especially in urban areas, gain oftenhelps them realise the importance of their childrens education.20 21. Impact on source areasThe major impacts of migration on source areas occur through changes inthe labour market, income and assets, changes in the pattern of expenditureand investment.Although seasonal outmigration potentially has the effect ofsmoothing out employment over the annual cycle, rural outmigration couldcause a tightening of the labour market in some circumstances. However,empirical evidence from out-migrant areas does not often attest to this. Thismay be because outmigration often takes place in labour surplus situations.There is also evidence of the replacement of out-migrant male labour byfemale and even child labour. Study of seven villages in Uttar Pradeshshowed some variation over regions. While the situation in the studyvillages in Eastern and central Uttar Pradesh conformed to a situation oflabour surplus, this was not the case in Western Uttar Pradesh whereseasonal migration coincided with the agricultural peak season (Rabi) andemployers complained of labour shortages. Significantly in all the regionsstudied, labourers on their part gave uncertainty of employment along withemployment conditions and poor relations with their agricultural employersas the major reasons for outmigration.Even if labour tightening is not an outcome, outmigration maystill speed up qualitative changes in existing labour relationships in ruralareas, and thereby affect the pace of change. This may occur in severalways. First, there is the well-documented impact of migration on attitudesand awareness as migrant labourers and return migrants are more reluctant21 22. to accept adverse employment conditions and low wages. Secondly,outmigration leads to a more diversified livelihood strategy. Combinedwith some increase in the income and employment portfolio of poorhouseholds, this may tend to push up acceptable level of wages (reservationwages) in rural areas and may make certain forms of abour relationships (asfor example, those involving personalised dependency) less acceptable. Outmigration as a result of debt at home, or debt-interlocking(i.e. the repayment of debts through advance labour commitment) involvingemployers in the destination areas or their middlemen, is quite common.Such outmigration may or may not eliminate the causes of debt. Thereduction of personalised dependencies or interlocked relationships mayalso accelerate labour mobility and migration as labourers seek outalternative sources of cash income.22 23. Employment oriented migration Employment oriented migration is obtained by combining themigrants that have given work/employment and business as their reason formigration. It is found that employment oriented migration is quite small,particularly among female migrants with just around 2 percent of totalfemale migrants giving employment or business as the reason for theirmigration.23 24. Trends in Global MigrationMankind and migration have been linked to each other since thebeginning of time; life without migration could not be thought of.Migration has a history of its own, both at the national and internationallevels. The mobility of capital and technology has indeed changed thehistory of peoples. At the same time, migration has created a greater impacton history.In India, the cultural ethos of the country has actually dissuaded peoplefrom going abroad. There are myths and superstitions surroundingmigration in almost every Indian tradition. The fear of kala-pani, literallytranslated as black waters, which meant ostracism, was a strong deterrent.Such myths were prevalent also in other ancient cultures like China andJapan, preventing people from going abroad. For a variety of reasons, be iteconomic or cultural or personal, the concept of we and they, and thenotions of individual, intellectual and spiritual pollution and the fear ofconsequent ostracism prevented people from leaving their home soil untilthe advent of the Europeanswhich in turn stimulated an interest forIndians to migrate overseas.Characteristically, most of these migrants were poor, illiterate andunskilled. It was supposed to be a voluntary system, but there are horrorstories about coercion, and how these people were picked up literally fromthe streets of their hometowns, collected at various embarkation points, andforced to go to a foreign land, of which they knew nothing about. Genderdid not come in the way, and women picked up as indentured labour were24 25. made to stay with men. Many were declared man and wife, and packed offto foreign destinations. All said and done, this can be considered as aprecursor to the global migration of Indians.However, there is the problem of Indian embassies in most of thesecountries not being very cooperative towards the migrant community. Theembassies are not exactly attuned to the needs of these people, nor are theofficials always aware of their problems, their issues and their needs be itin terms of their labour contracts, or the laws of the land. There is greaterroom for the Indian embassies to play a more effective and cooperative rolein this context. Many a time, because of the indifference and the ignoranceof the Indian missions in these countries, the migrant workers are almostalways at the mercy of the employers and the laws that they adhere to. It isonly in recent years that the Government is waking up to the need forappointing a separate Labour Attach in the Indian embassies in thesecountries, to cater to the demands of the workers, and to take care of theirneeds.In 2000, the high-powered Indian Diaspora Committee, chaired by thejurist, Dr. L.M.Singhvi, recommended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divascelebrations on January 9 each year, and also contributed to the setting upof a full-fledged Ministry for Overseas Indians at the Centre. Following upon this report, the Prime Minter of the day announced the institution of thePrabhasi Bharatia Samman awards in recognition of the contribution madeby the Indian Diaspora, to the nation. The report also raised major issues ofconcern to the Diaspora -- from consular difficulties to larger and abiding 25 26. issues pertaining to culture, economic development, education, health,media, science and technology, philanthropy, and dual citizenship. Basedon carefully-gathered statistics on overseas Indians, the Singhvi Committeereport is the first ever-comprehensive statement of the Indian Diaspora, andprovides a comprehensive framework for discussing Indias relations withIndians overseas. Till now, these relations had been discussed in a tentativeand casual manner. The report is full of highly novel and importantpractical suggestions, including special economic and political concessionsto overseas Indians all leading to effective NRI contribution to Indiaseconomic, political, cultural and other areas of development. The reportwill increase the general level of consciousness in India about the countrysoverseas connections, going back to several centuries. We tend to think ofourselves as a people 7 whose history was made only in India. The reportshows how wrong this view is, and how PIOs are a part of the body politicin 119 countriesThere is the possibility of migration from India growing in the comingyears and decades. The probability of a younger age population in Indiacoupled with declining birth-rates in the developed world leading to alabour shortage, be it unskilled, skilled or professional, are among thecauses. The interface between outsourcing, migration and growing socialnetworks are also contributory factors. There is also the factor of newerdestinations, Japan, for instance, emerging on the horizon. In this, theIndians abroad have transitioned from being dependants to being dictatorsthrough their significant presence, positional clout and numerical strengthcoupled with effective networking, and coordinated organisation. There is26 27. now the Global Organization for the People of Indian Origin (GOPIO),which has set its priorities in pooling resources, both financial andprofessional, for the benefit of PIOs, in the countries they come from, andin India. In all this, India derives material support from the Diaspora, andthey derive psychological satisfaction of being a part of the Indiannationhood, and in the process of crafting a resurgent India. 27 28. EFFECTS OF MIGRATIONMigration of labour has its positive as well as negative effects both onnative and host countries. We will examine these effects as under: Positive Effects:1. Wage Rate: Labourers usually migrate from low wage counties to higher wage nations. Unless prevented or guarded by law, wages will change in both countries. Such an effect on wages is brought out in Home country and foreign. It is also possible that over a period of time real wages may increase both in host countries and native countries. A case study by Jeffery G. Williams, of eight countries, host countries Argentina, Australia, Canada and United States of America and native (home) countries Ireland, Italy, Norway and Sweden between the period 1870 and 1913 has come to the conclusion that real wages during this period had increased in all the countries, but substantially in the home countries.2. Supply of labour: Developed countries like Canada, Australia, some European countries and USA have experienced scarcity of skilled as well as unskilled labour. Many Asian doctors and engineers, nurses and teachers are employed in developed countries. Unskilled labour migrated from developing countries, provided labour to those areas where the native people would not wish to take up the jobs. This is more evident in the so called dirty jobs. In USA such jobs are taken up by labourers from Mexico, South American, Africa and Asia.3. Employment: Migration takes place primarily in search of employment, to earn, more income and to enjoy better quality of life. While enjoying these 28 29. benefits in the host countries the migrants at the disguised unemployment. In the early stages of large scale migration from Europe to North America, it helped in mitigating population problem of European countries.4. Remittance: Emigrants remit a part of their income back to their families in their native country. Many of the European countries, Mexico and Asian countries have benefited from the remittance of their emigrants. At present china and India receive a substantial amount of remittance. It helps the home countries reduce their balance of payment problem or increase investment at home; import capital goods thus promote development of their economies. Remittance would reduce over a period of time as the emigrants settle in the migrated country along with their families. The size of the remittance depends on the number of emigrants from a country and the nature and duration of employment. Many countries including India, offer additional incentives to the emigrants to remit and keep the money back in their home country. NEGATIVE EFFECTS 1. Brain Drain: Emigrants comprise people educated and trained at different levels. Majority of the emigrants are of low education and unskilled. Emigrants also include highly educated professionals such as doctors, engineers, professors and other technically and professionally trained people. A good number of medical, engineering and management students from India migrate to countries like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and to some rich gulf countries. These students take the advantage of subsidised education financed by tax payer money and leave the country when they become productive agents or labourers. Ts is also29 30. argued that educated emigrants help the home countries when these countries rare not in a position to employ them. Beside it also reduces the claim on goods and service of the home country when labourers migrate.2. Problem of social Integration: Immigrants in a country belong to different countries, race, religion and culture. They form their own groups based on the above factors. In the initial stages these groups live in ghettoes. Social assimilation with the people of the host country becomes difficult. In USA, Canada and Australia or in countries dominated by white coloured people, social integration becomes difficult due to colour complex. Religion is another factor which makes immigrants identify with the host country where the majority belong to another religion. Cultural differences also deter the process of integration specially when each group develops a complex of cultural superiority. At times ethnic and religious differences create a problem for the host country as it happens in UK and India.3. Illegal Immigrants: It is a serious problem for many countries. USA has a large number of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Similar problems are faced by Canada, Australia and some of the European countries. Illegal migration to a neighbouring country is a common occurrence due to political, economic, social and religious factors. India is facing such a problem with illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.4. Cheap Labour: Developed countries, specially organise labour through their Trade Union oppose the liberal migration policy. They argue that the migrant labourers who are willing to work at lower workers. However this argument does not merit serious consideration wage rate in such economies30 31. is determined by market forces, Exploitation can be prevented through minimum wage law, which also safeguards the interest of migrant labourers.5. Fiscal Imbalance: Immigrants positively contribute to the growth of the host country. When immigrants constitute in large numbers, the host country requires to spend huge amount of capital to provide the required economic and social infrastructure. As they settledown permanently, the government requires to spend for providing social security benefits. Expenditure on all these counts may create fiscal imbalance in the form of increased budgetary deficit.31 32. CONCLUSION Migration has become a global phenomenon. As discussedearlier people migrate to another country for a number of reasons of whicheconomic and political are the important ones. From our earlier explanationit is evident that migration has positive as well as negative effects both onthe host and native countries. In a globalised world, the number of migrantsis bound to increase. However in the larger interest of nations and people(migrants) involved it is necessary to introduce measures so that the positiveeffects are maximised while the negative ones are minimised if they cannotbe totally eliminated. The suggestions in this direction are to promote labour rights toimmigrants. Allow the migrant workers to join Trade Unions. Treatimmigrants on the same level as those of workers of host country. Safetyconditions should be made applicable even if they are on temporary work.Promote ethical recruitment. Prevent exploitation and discrimination.Reform work permits schemes to reduce powers of employers. Legislate toprevent employers from withholding migrant workers passport. Initiateinternational action to regulate the activities of private recruitment agencies.All the countries should ratify 1990 UN convention on the protection ofrights of all migrant workers and their families. 32