International Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications used to measure International Migration

1. International Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications used to measure International Migration Session 1 – 10.15 – 12.30 Day 1 Session 1 – Day 2

2. Questions to audience • Who is a migrant? • Someone who moves • What is labour migration? • Migrant worker? • How would you define?

3. Who moves? • Youth (more likely to move than older persons, peaks around 30) • Male (depends on region) • Highly educated workers • Lower skilled workers

4. Why do people move? • Mixed and multiple reasons • Primarily viewed as economically motivated • Economic Theory: People move from areas of lower to higher economic opportunity • Labour oriented • Forced migration(Refugee/Asylum)

5. Migration theory Economic factors, social networks, distance of move, and geographic barriers (Economists) Prospective migrants compare the economic costs and benefits of migration, by estimating expected returns (e.g. income) of their current residence and those of prospective destinations and then move if a destination offers a higher return than their current residence, net of migration costs.

6. Theory, cont. • (Sociologists) Push-Pull factors and the roles of social networks • Contextual factors (wages, employment levels and opportunities, geographical accessibility, amenities, and infrastructure (e.g. schools and government services). • National policy helps or hinders movement of people

7. Labour Market Information Systems (LMIS) • Labor market information essential for tracking and analyzing the economy of a country. • National and local governments need labor market information to reduce unemployment, generate employment, or plan training programs to meet industry needs.

8. LMIS, cont. • Policy makers benefit from timely and reliable labor market information to help make sound decisions • Used to determine future workforce, identify labour availability, ascertain prevailing wages, and explore potential markets

9. Components of Labor Market Information • Labor force demand and labor supply • Business employment dynamics • Employment by industry and occupation • Local area unemployment • Demographic characteristics of the employed and the unemployed • Hours of work • Employee wages, earnings, and benefits • Labor productivity

10. Primary Data sources used to inform LMIS • Data from administrative sources • Business registers, etc. • Household Labour Force Surveys • Establishment Surveys

11. How migration fits into LMIS • Assessment of skills needed in destination countries/skills available in origin countries • Labour moves to fill needs in countries of destination (alleviates unemployment at home, etc.) • Labour often viewed as temporary, returning migrants bring back assests and skills gained in countries of destination to origin country • Not always the case –»brain drain

12. Concepts, Definitions, and Classifications to Measure Migration • Dimensions and components of migration definitions • Measurement concepts • Stock/flow, foreigner/foreign born, etc. • Classification of international migrants and migrant workers

13. Key Dimensions for Classifying and Measuring Migration • Residence (where person usually lives)‏ • Place (origin and destination) • Individual Characteristics (country of citizenship/birth) • Purpose of Stay (reason for move –e.g labour,education, family,etc.)‏ • Duration of Stay (time)‏

14. Components of Definition • ‏Usual Residence • Change of usual residence • Time (length/duration of stay) • Geography • International • Internal

15. UN Definitions (1998)‏ • International migrant: “any person who changes his or her country of usual residence.” • Long-term migrants: “those who move to a country other than their country of usual residence for a period of at least a year.” • Short-term migrants: “people who move to a country for a period of at least 3 months but less than a year.”

16. International Migrant Stock • Number of international migrants living in a country at a particular point in time • Measured as “foreign born” or “foreigners” • Stock defined as: • “all persons who have that country as their country of usual residence and who are citizens of another country or whose place of birth is located in another country” (UN 1998).

17. Net Migration and Flows • Net international migration: difference between the total number of migrants entering (in-migrants) and leaving (out-migrants) a country. • Flow: Number of migrants entering or leaving a country over a specific time period (e.g. one year). • Flows occur between two geographic areas (origin and destination) • In-flows: number moving into a given geographic area (e.g. country of destination). • Out-flows: number moving away from that same area (e.g. country of origin). • Gross Migration: Sum of in- and out-migration.

18. Flows, cont. • Balance of net migration between any two geographic areas is always “0” (number of in-migrants from area-1 is equal to number of out-migrants from area-2, and vice versa). • Most flow data collected on a yearly (12-month) basis (some surveys use a five-year period). • International migration flow data are more typically reported for “foreigners” than “foreign born.” • In-flow data are much more common than out-flow data.

19. Change of place of residence Individual characteristics Flows Stocks

20. In-Flows of Tunisian Nationals

21. Foreign Born • Persons living in the country but born in another country Foreigners Persons living in a country withoutcitizenship of that country

22. Country of Birth • The foreign born: those born outside their current of country of residence. • People born outside their country of residence, but citizens of this country at birth (e.g. born abroad of national parents living abroad), are often excluded from “foreign-born” tabulations

23. Country of Birth, cont. • Pros: • Does not change, • Objective measure of actual migration • Cons: • Can include nationals, • Country borders can change over time, • Less policy-relevant

24. Country of Citizenship • Foreigners:those without citizenship of their current country of residence • Can include people who live in their country of birth and have never migrated (non-citizens who have never moved away from their country of birth)

25. Country of Citizenship, cont. • Pros: • Legally relevant, • Objective, • Often collected in data sources • Cons: • Can change, • Dual citizenship, • Not necessarily migrants

26. Country of Birth/Citizenship Questions • Place of birth • Citizenship • When became citizen • Multiple citizenship • Citizenship of Father/Mother • POB of Father/Mother (parental nativity)‏ • Citizenship of Spouse

27. Immigrants/non-immigrants can be defined with this typology • Foreign Born, non-citizen • Foreign Born, citizen at birth • Foreign Born, naturalized citizen • Native, citizen at birth • Native, non-citizen • Native, naturalized citizen

28. TOTAL POPULATION Descendants of foreign born Native-born Foreign-born Native-born parents Foreigners Foreign-born parents

29. Migrant Classifications • Duration of stay • Reason (purpose) for migration • Labour migration (migrant workers)‏ • Family unification • Student • Asylum/refugees • (Irregular, trafficking, transit)‏

30. Duration of Stay • Permanent migrants (settlement)‏ • Long-term migrants • Short-term migrants • Seasonal migrant workers (part of the year)‏ • Temporary (UN not define)‏ • Foreign-border workers (daily or weekly)‏

31. Purpose of Stay • Work/Employment related • Family related • Education related • Forced/Involunary vs. Voluntary • Measurement: objective (visas/permits) vs. subjective (self-provided)‏

32. What is a labour migrant? • Only those admitted for specific work reasons? or • Anyone who is of working age who moves and subsequently (at some time) enters the labour market

33. Labour Migration • International “labour migration” is a sub-set of total international migration • Foreign migrant workers:“foreigners admitted by the receiving State for the specific purpose of exercising an economic activity remunerated from within the receiving country. Their length of stay is usually restricted as is the type of employment they can hold.” (UN 1998)‏ • Employment based settlers: “foreigners selected for long-term settlement because of their qualifications and prospects in the receiving country’s labour market.”

34. Migrant Workers (categories)‏ • Seasonal (part year)‏ • Project-tied (for a specific project)‏ • Contract (contractual restrictions)‏ • Temporary (limited period in a specific job or occupation)‏ • Established (reside indefinitely)‏ • Highly skilled (preferential treatment, fewer restrictions)‏

35. Short-Term Foreign Workers (< 1 year) • Seasonal agricultural workers • Seasonal hotel work • Construction workers • Labour tourists • Highly skilled ‘consultants’ • Entertainers • Visiting scholars

36. Long-Term Foreign Workers (> 1 year, but not permanent) • Skilled workers • Atheletes • Overseas students • etc.

37. Permanent Immigrants • Foreign born workers with the right of permanent settlement • Foreign born children entering the labour market • Overseas students • etc.

38. Migrant Worker Definition (ILO)‏ • ”A person who migrates or has migrated from one country to another with a view to being employed otherwise than on his own account and includes any person regularly admitted as a migrant for employment/migrant worker.” (1949)‏ • “All persons who, at a particular reference date or for a particular reference period, seek to work or were working in a country other than that of their citizenship.” (Hoffman and Lawrence 1996).

39. Multiple Methods of Measurement • All international migrants who are currently in labour force (both employed and unemployed) (stock)‏ • Those who entered a country for the explicit purpose of employment (flow)‏ • Objective vs. subjective sources

40. Measurement, cont. • Legal documents used to enter or live in a country (e.g. visa types or residence permits) (flow data)‏ • This method often misses “irregular” migrants who enter a country without legal permission • Ask migrant why they moved to a country (subjective reason) • Note: Methods which measure migrants in terms of usual residency often fail to capture temporary migrant groups like seasonal workers

41. Family-Related Migrants • Family-based Settlers: “Foreigners selected for long-term settlement because of family ties they have with citizens or foreigners already residing in the receiving country.” (UN 1998)‏ • Join (family reunification) or accompany (spouse/children)‏ • Spouse, dependent children, other children, parents, siblings • Visa and permit types

42. Education • Subcategory of foreigners admitted for special purposes • “Foreign students are persons admitted by a country other than their own for the specific purposes of following a particular program of study. In some countries, foreign students are allowed to work under certain circumstances.” (UN 1998)‏

43. Asylum Categories • Covers whole spectrum of international movements caused by persecution, conflict, or natural disaster. • Refugees: persons with a well founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. • Humanitarian-based • Asylum seekers: persons who file an application for asylum in a country other than their own. • Temporary protected status • Stay of deportation

44. Irregular Migrants • “Persons in a state other than their own who have not fully satisfied the conditions and requirements set forth by that State to enter, stay, or work in that State's territory” (UN/ILO 1997) • Irregular (“illegal” or “unauthorized”) migrants are not legally residing in their country of residence. • Irregular entry vs. irregular stay

45. Irregular Migrants, cont. • Often enter country through legal means but overstay visas (or had refugee status rejected) and remain in country. Others by-pass formal methods and enter via invalid travel documents or through non-controlled borders. • Extremely difficult to measure this population, especially seasonal migrant workers and others who are moving back and forth between two or more countries. • Regular sources of measurement undercount irregular migrants.

46. Trafficking/Smuggling • Forms of irregular migration • “Trafficking” is restricted to situations in which people are deceived, threatened, or coerced in situations of exploitation. • “Human smuggling” implies a migrant voluntarily uses services to circumvent immigration restrictions, without necessarily being a victim of deception or exploitation • Often difficult to separate the two

47. Transit Migration • Migration through neighboring (en route) countries to reach final destination (e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, via Maghreb countries)‏ • Defined based on intention to move on (not necessarily actual)‏ • Often becomes permanent in transit countries • Usually associated with irregular migration