Review of World Migration Report 2020

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Syrian refugee camp in the outskirts of Athens, Greece | Photo by Julie Ricard

Part of the United Nations system, International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a notable intergovernmental institution working towards humane and orderly migration, respecting the rights, dignity and well-being of migrants. It serves as a crucial source of information and advice on migration policy and practice which has wide ranging effects on national security and international relations. Growing socio politico economic salience of migration has necessitated impartial and unbiased accounts of migration to be disseminated on a frequent basis. As such, IOM is best equipped to accomplish this herculean task. Its flagship publications: World Migration Reports are seminal bodies of literature within the discourse of human migration and mobility which informs readers of emerging issues and trends, and corresponding challenges and opportunities. Over time, these reports have evolved from thematic inquiries to broad-based conceptions - capturing ever increasing complexities and nuances of migration and mobility. World Migration Report 2020 is the tenth report - the latest as of writing this review.

One of the distinguishing features of the report is its emphasis on data-driven and evidence-based approach towards migration studies - which leverages IOM’s advances in data collection and analysis. Informed policy formulation, implementation and evaluation is vitally important in the age of ‘post-factual’ or ‘post-truth’ politics wherein personal beliefs and appeal to emotions can unduly influence public opinion. Data-driven and evidence-based approach not just enables robust migration research and analysis but also caters to strategic needs of nation-states in their growth and development. The 2018 report titled “How migration data can deliver real-life benefits for migrants and governments” published by McKinsey Insights, explicates how migration data can deliver real-life benefits pertaining to labour-market gaps, recruitment costs, naturalization promotion, remittances, human-trafficking prevention, registrations efficiency and targeted return migration. It adds, “Two global developments present countries with a historic opportunity to advance the migration-data agenda and make crucial investments in data. First, countries have joined together and started negotiations leading toward the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration to improve cooperation and migration governance. Second, countries have committed to several migration-relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that require many countries to invest in better data for SDG follow-up and review. Both processes provide governments with renewed momentum to invest in data at the local, national, regional, and global levels.” In this context, the report rightly echoes the criticality of a robust information paradigm for better migration policy and governance.

Fundamentally, the report consists of two parts - the first part focuses on migration statistics, giving an account of the state of affairs and the second part focuses on descriptive analysis of prominent migration issues. 

Migration statistics delves into global and regional dimensions of migration trends and patterns, and recent contributions to migration research and analysis literature. The global overview enables understanding migrants (stocks) and migration (flows) from a bird’s eye perspective. It elucidates the fact that a very small minority (i.e. 3.5%) of the world’s population migrate i.e. staying within one’s country of birth is mostly the norm. Moreover, migration can be attributed to a variety of reasons like work, family, study, conflict, persecution, disaster etc. and migrants can be broadly classified into groups of workers, students, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), missing migrants, stateless persons etc. Given the complexity of the migration phenomenon at a global scale, it contends that regional analysis becomes paramount to understand geographical underpinnings. Regional analysis points to the fact that people tend to migrate across borders within their immediate regions, to countries that are close by, which it is easier to travel, that are more familiar, and from which it is easier to return. It also signifies the growth of academic publications (more particularly in 2017 and 2018) and impact of scholarly output as a testament to interest, reach, and influence of the migration discourse. Published by a range of authors - such as academics, governments, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, these publications contribute towards eliciting a wide range of perspectives. Evidently, grey literature has also significantly contributed its heft to evidence, argument, innovation, and understanding concerning migration. 

Migration issues discussed in the report include migrants’ contribution, social cohesion, health condition, child migration, climate adaptation, managing crisis and global governance. It asserts that over the past few years, growing rhetoric of anti-immigrant narratives, particularly fueled by right wing nationalism has necessitated revisiting migrants’ contribution to sociocultural, civic, political and economic spheres of life. One example which stands out in the report is “Salah effect” - a case of decline in Islamophobic hate crimes around Liverpool since Mo Salah joined the local football club. Known for his goal celebration sujood and his ability to decimate stereotypes of monstrous Muslims through his persona of a father and a friend. Nevertheless, it maintains that social cohesion and instilling a sense of belonging remains a concern in many destination countries, as migration is intricately linked to national identity, values, economic stability and security - a goldmine of contentions for those invested in polarizing public opinion. It argues that vulnerabilities of migrants are accentuated by limitations in accessing affordable healthcare, underage unsafe migration and Anthropogenic climate change factors. They demand coherent and contextual policy responses for upholding human dignity. In addition, an unyielding political will to strengthen global migration framework like Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. This course of action is practicable only if migrants' interest and needs are kept at the centerstage of discussion, and states are ready to reset national priorities for universal benefit.

The report is comprehensive on many counts - be it in terms of statistics or stories, yet it falls short of capturing an essential dimension - internal migration. Particularly for heterogeneous societies, understanding internal migration is as crucial as that of international migration. For instance, the “Harris-Todaro model” of 1970 explains the seemingly counterintuitive phenomenon of continuing rural-to-urban migration in developing countries despite rising unemployment in urban areas through a neoclassical analysis. (as cited in de Haas, 2010) It would have been interesting to see if similar tendencies exists in the twenty-first century - in the backdrop of globalization and strides in information, communication and transportation technology. An internal migration analysis would have complemented the international analysis, as there is a recognition that the two do not operate in watertight containers. (Skeldon, 2005) For India, the report holds particular substance as it continues to be the largest country of origin of international migrants (17.5 million) and the largest remittance recipient (USD 78.6 billion). It is one of the successful examples of countries that have reaped benefits from diaspora bonds. Also, it has a fair share of internally displaced persons by conflict, violence and disaster displacement. Although, India Centre for Migration, under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs conducts research on international migration that informs policymaking, including on the international labour migration of Indians, research on internal migration needs equal policy and advocacy focus, as indicated by the pandemic triggered reverse migration. (The Wire, 2020)


References:

United Nations. (2020). World Migration Report 2020. United Nations.

How migration data can deliver real-life benefits for migrants and governments. (2020, December 4). McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/how-migration-data-can-deliver-real-life-benefits-for-migrants-and-governments

de Haas, H. (2010). Migration and Development: A Theoretical Perspective. International Migration Review, 44(1), 227–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2009.00804.x

Skeldon, R. (2005). Interlinkages between internal and international migration and development in the Asian region. Population, Space and Place, 12(1), 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.385

Staff, The Wire. (2020). Lack of Policy Focus on Internal Migration in India Comes at Heavy Cost: Report. The Wire. https://thewire.in/labour/policy-research-focus-internal-migration-india-lacking-report-international-labour-organisation

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