Migration has moved to forefront of population policy discussion, UN official says

The large flow of illegal migrants, the sometimes difficult conditions they face in host countries and the “lucrative but troubling” human trafficking market have brought migration policies to the forefront of population discussions, a United Nations expert said today.

The numbers of migrants needed by developed receiving countries and the potential numbers willing to leave poorer sending countries are out of balance, Joseph Chamie, the Director of the Population Division in the UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told a press briefing at UN headquarters.

Japan and most of Europe have been facing labour shortages, population aging and decline, and fertility rates well below replacement levels. “These have significant implications for pension schemes, health care, educational programmes and housing,” he said.

On the other side of the demographic coin, migrants have been leaving sending countries because of difficulty finding employment at home, but “the supply of the potential migrants who are free to leave their homelands simply exceeds manifold the demand which is set by the receiving countries,” he said.

Drawing a contrast, he said population growth in the 15 member countries of the European Union was 300,000 for 2003, but in India a similar population increase of 294,000 took just seven days.

In Europe in the past most migrants moved north from southern Europe. Today the migrants, especially those entering illegally, are not only less well-educated and skilled than the native population, but are often vastly different ethnically, raising concerns about integration and assimilation, he said, adding that recent successes of the European right-wing have been based on opposition to such migration.

The 9/11 attacks on the United States, as well as attacks elsewhere, have caused a tightening of entry procedures in several countries. The United States is estimated to have 8 million to 10 million migrants without legal entry papers, and Europe has a similar number, showing that cross-border controls are not being managed well, Mr. Chamie said.

He noted that the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, a supplement to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, entered into force today, giving governments a legal tool against traffickers.