The demographic benefit of international migration : hypothesis and application to the Middle Eastern and North African contexts

The view that international migration has no impact on the size of world population is a sensible one. But the author argues, migration from developing to more industrial countries during the past decades may have resulted in a smaller world population than the one which would have been attained had no international migration taken place for two reasons: most of recent migration has been from high to low birth-rate countries, and migrants typically adopt and send back to their home countries models and ideas that prevail in host countries. Thus, migrants are potential agents of the diffusion of demographic modernity, that is, the reduction of birth rates among nonmigrant communities left behind in origin countries. This hypothesis is tested with data from Morocco and Turkey where most emigrants are bound for the West, and Egypt where they are bound for the Gulf. The demographic differentials encountered through migration in these three countries offer contrasted situations-host countries are either more (the West) or less (the Gulf) advanced in their demographic transition than the home country. Assuming migration changes the course of demographic transition in origin countries, the author posits that it should work in two opposite directions-speeding it up in Morocco and Turkey and slowing it down in Egypt. Empirical evidence confirms this hypothesis. Time series of birth rates and migrant remittances (reflecting the intensity of the relationship kept by emigrants with their home country) are strongly correlated with each other. Correlation is negative for Morocco and Turkey, and positive for Egypt. This suggests that Moroccan and Turkish emigration to Europe has been accompanied by a fundamental change of attitudes regarding marriage and birth, while Egyptian migration to the Gulf has not brought home innovative attitudes in this domain, but rather material resources for the achievement of traditional family goals. Other data suggest that emigration has fostered education in Morocco and Turkey but not in Egypt. And as has been found in the literature, education is the single most important determinant of demographic transition among nonmigrant populations in migrants'regions of origin. Two broader conclusions are drawn. First, the acceleration of the demographic transition in Morocco and Turkey is correlated with migration to Europe, a region where low birth-rates is the dominant pattern. This suggests that international migration may have produced a global demographic benefit under the form of a relaxation of demographic pressures for the world as a whole. Second, if it turns out that emigrants are conveyors of new ideas in matters related with family and education, then the same may apply to a wider range of civil behavior.Population Policies,Gender and Social Development,Anthropology,Voluntary and Involuntary Resettlement,Human Migrations&Resettlements

International migration and education : a web of mutual causation

Paper commissioned for the Global Education Monitoring Report 2019 Consultation on MigrationAfter reviewing the various definitions of international migration and refugee situations, the paper proposes a general framework in which to capture the complex two-way relationship between education and migration, and its consequences on both migrants and non-migrants in each of the origin and destination countries. It successively reviews: the over-education of migrants compared to non-migrants and the selection processes at play in origin and destination countries; the debate surrounding highly-educated migration from developing to developed countries and the inconclusive evidence regarding losses and gains for countries and individuals; the different ways in which migration impacts the education of non-migrant children in the origin countries through financial, but also ideational remittances; the school performances of migrant children and the various consequences of diversity in the classrooms for children of both migrant and local origin; the challenge of educating refugee children and avoiding that a whole generation be lost. The paper concludes on the many grey areas in our understanding of a crucial connexion and suggests practical steps to improve knowledge

Europe must take on its share of the Syrian refugee burden, but how?

While peace talks between Syria’s government and opposition entered into deadlock in Geneva, battles rage on the ground, and the death toll and the refugee wave rise. Europe wanted its voice to be heard in the talks, but can it keep its eyes — and borders — closed to the men, women and children fleeing Syria? How can Europe better respond to the human and political disaster looming on its external border?The MPC is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Union