Friday, November 13, 2009

Significance of International Migration

Human migration has emerged as one of the most challenging and debated issue among the academic and policy-making communities of the developed and the developing nations of the world. However, with time new dimensions have been added to this area. International Migration is a historical phenomenon. For centuries, colonialism and migration have moved together. Recent large-scale movements of people across international boundaries are directly related to the specific nature of the disparity in growth between developed and developing countries. These movements of people in search of greater economic opportunity occur not only because of "push factors" (population pressures, land scarcity, overcrowded cities, joblessness and underemployment), but because of marked wage differentials between the developed and developing world. International migration has been a key factor in the growth of today's advanced nations. As Davis (1974) notes, in the 16th and 17th centuries, "the world as a whole (for the first time) began to be one migratory network dominated by a single group of technologically-advanced and culturally similar states" which eventually were able to start the industrial revolution and "enormously enhance their world dominance". Contrary to the predictions made, world migration has not diminished, but has shifted its directions.

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