Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Irregular Migration
Increasing
labour demand and widening disparities between countries encourage
would-be migrants to move to wealthier countries in order to improve
their prospects. And even though aspiring migrants are often unable
to carry out their proposed move legally, they will do so regardless.
Many countries are increasingly reluctant to receive large numbers
of permanent migrants(48) but widening
economic and social disparities could lead to greater numbers
of undocumented migrants willing to flout regulations in exchange
for the promise of a better life. Experts and development institutions
also increasingly point to the "asymmetry" of the globalization
process: the fact that goods, capital, services, information and
ideas are allowed to flow increasingly freely across international
borders, while people are still confronted with a wide range of
official controls.(49)
Migrants
with irregular or undocumented status(50)
are people who do not have the proper visa to enter, stay or work.
Because of their uncertain status, they tend to take low-paying,
"off-the-books" cash-only jobs. As a result, undocumented
migrants are more likely to be exploited, work long hours, suffer
poor health and live in substandard and often illegal housing.
If female, they are more likely to be sexually and physically
abused. Irregular migration can also undermine the host country's
labour protections, pension schemes and legal system by providing
would-be employers with a cheap and exploitable pool of workers
with no recourse to collective bargaining and other means of redress.(51)
Because undocumented migrants are not officially registered, their
actual number is unknown in most countries. Global estimates vary
widely at between 30 and 40 million.(52)
Undocumented
migrants confront huge risks while attempting to reach their destination.
Every year, newspapers are filled with tales of those who did
not make it—migrants who drowned or died of exposure or were murdered
by unscrupulous smugglers. Every year, thousands of migrants from
Africa try to scale the fence barrier that separates the Spanish
enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta from the rest of Morocco.(53)
As authorities crack down, desperate migrants are increasingly
embarking on even more hazardous crossings. The peril is not confined
to Africa and Europe. Thousands of people from all over Latin
America and the Caribbean lose their lives attempting to reach
the United States or Canada.(54)
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International
migration both facilitates and constrains the realization
of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).(1)
In his 2005 report, In Larger Freedom, UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan cited migration as “one of the major substantive
issues of the day(2), while still
others rightly argue that "every MDG has some linkage,
direct or indirect, with migration."(3)
Many people are increasingly looking to migration as a way
to provide for their families. Thus, remittances (migrant
earnings that are then sent home) can play directly into MDG
Goal 1–eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Goal 2–universal
primary education; and Goals 4, 5 and 6 on health. Remittances,
especially when women determine how they will be spent, are
often invested in meeting daily needs and improving family
nutrition, education and health. Contributions, however, are
not limited to financial capital only. Diaspora communities
can also encourage development through investments, the establishment
of trade links and the transfer of skills, knowledge and technology.
Female migrants in particular are more likely to impart what
they have learned about the value of education and good health-care
practices to their families and communities back home. Cross-border
migration is directly relevant to MDG health Goals 4, 5 and
6: improved maternal and child health and combating HIV/AIDS,
malaria and other diseases. In several countries of origin,
the migration of skilled health-care workers has contributed
to devastating shortages in already strapped health systems—including
those coping with high HIV, maternal and infant mortality
and morbidity rates. Schools are also suffering from the depletion
of teachers in some countries. But many migrants also benefit
from improved access to education, health information, knowledge
and services in their new countries—including in the area
of sexual and reproductive health. Family planning empowers
women to manage their fertility–something that their
counterparts in origin countries are often unable to do. Migration
can contribute to Goal 3–promote gender equality and
empower women–though it can also place migrant women
at risk(see Chapter 2). According
to the IOM, gender is "possibly the single most important
factor shaping the migration experience", with differing
sets of obstacles and/or opportunities for male and female
migrants.(4) So far as young people
are concerned, most migrate because of a lack of opportunities
in their home countries. Thus, migration relates to one of
the targets under Goal 8: a strengthened global partnership
to increase decent work for youth. |
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Introduction
Chapter 1
