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From Caribbean Life
February 18, 2019 NEW YORK, United States - Sherrill-Ann Mason-Haywood, chairperson of the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Diaspora Committee of New York, wants 2019 to be a “decisive year of collaboration” for Vincentians in the Diaspora. “Now more than ever, the powerful saying, ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall,’ must be watch words that immigrant communities, like the Vincentian Diaspora, embrace if they are to survive and thrive,” writes Mason-Haywood in the souvenir journal, commemorating the 36th anniversary of the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ex-Teachers Association of New York. |
From the Jamaica Observer
Dec. 1, 2018 NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — President of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice, Adrian Saunders says more still needs to be done to educate the regional public about the role of the court that was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the Caribbean final court. “I'm not worried about the referendum results in Antigua and Grenada. But what it tells us, we need more educational work,” Justice Saunders said as he delivered the Maxwell Haywood Memorial Lecture Friday night at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. |
Archived News ItemsUnited States And St. Vincent And The Grenadines
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Hundreds Mourn "Slick"
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Black & Undocumented: Caribbean Immigrant's Long Fight for Citizenship |
By Melissa Noel
When Shariece Wright immigrated to the United States from the Bahamas in 1985 she was just 4-years-old. Her mother put her on a plane to Florida and told her that she would be going to live with an aunt in Miami.
She says she will never forget that day because it saddened her to leave her five siblings and mother behind. However, even at that young age Wright understood what her mother meant when she referred to the United States as "the place of endless opportunities."
"This is the place where if you work hard, go to school and carry yourself respectfully then you can achieve all of your dreams, or at least that is what I have always thought," she says.
Now 35, Wright has discovered that access to the opportunities she has dreamed of have actually been "painfully" limited because after 17 years of trying to get a green card— the first step on the path to citizenship — she remains undocumented.
It is April 18 and she stands on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to share her story before thousands at a rally for undocumented immigrants organized by Fight for Families, the coalition that advocates for DACA and DAPA.
Just before taking the stage, Wright tears up as she listened to the Howard University Gospel Choir. "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York island, ..." she repeats the lines over and over.
"We, as undocumented people living in this country, feel jailed," she tells NBCBLK. "We live in bubbles, like individual cells. However, we are expected to live and do everything as the rest of society. But how?"
Wright graduated from the prestigious Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) in Miami. She had plans to study architecture and the arts in college. However, owing to her undocumented status she was not permitted to enroll. She has faced severe financial hardships because she cannot find a stable job without work authorization and a social security number.
When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was first introduced by the administration of President Barack Obama in 2012, Wright was hopeful. DACA would spare millions of undocumented young people like her from deportation and make it possible for them to get work permits. But Wright had aged out. Under the law, only people under 30 who came to the United States before age 16 could qualify.
In 2014, Obama issued two executive orders. One would expand DACA to include people over 30 who came to the United States before the age of 16. The second introduced the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program. It would shield the parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents from deportation and qualify them to acquire work permits.
However, Texas along with 25 other states — including Wright's home state of Florida — filed a lawsuit to block the implementation of these deferred action programs, calling them unconstitutional.
Wright's story was among those included in the amicus brief sent to the Supreme Court to illustrate how the expansion of DACA and implementation of DAPA would benefit millions of people.
Wright discloses that she feels very emotional because it is hard for her to accept that some people "don't deem me worthy of an identity in this country."
"Let's acknowledge people, no matter where they were born, that are willing to actually stand up on their own, educate themselves, put the hard work in and are law abiding," she exclaims.
"I am here representing everyone who looks like me; every person from Africa; every person that is Afro-Latino; every person that is Afro-Caribbean; every person with kinky or curly hair. This affects us too," she says. "I just want a chance to fulfill my dreams in the country that I love, but I need a fair chance."
The immigration debate in the United States has largely coalesced around Latino immigrants, a focus that some immigrant advocates say fails to grasp the complexities as well as the diversity of the issue.
There are 3.8 million black immigrants in the United States from countries in the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and Latin America. They make up 10 percent of America's foreign-born population. Nearly 600,000 are undocumented, according to a recent report on black immigrants by the New York University School of Law and Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI).
Many of their stories have gone untold, but there are several groups like BAJI and the UndocuBlack Network that are working to change that.
The recently formed UndocuBlack Network held a three-day convening in Miami this past January specifically for undocumented black immigrants. It was described as a "first of its kind space for black undocumented folks to heal, organize and be empowered by each other."
It was the first place Wright says she really felt comfortable enough to share her daily struggles as a black immigrant in America.
Two major mandates emerged from that gathering, according to UndocuBlack co-creators Jonathan Jayes-Green and Jamie Richards. "We want to 'blackify' the undocumented immigrant narratives in this country and we want to facilitate access to resources for our community," Jayes-Green says.
As an Afro-Latino immigrant from Panama, he believes that the global black community must work together across borders to address the issues faced by black immigrants and African-Americans alike.
"We know that it's traumatic to be black and traumatic to be undocumented. We know that anti-blackness is a global phenomenon … so right now we need to build and uplift the black and undocumented community," he said.
The Black Alliance For Just Immigration works (BAJI) with members of both black immigrant and African-American communities who advocate for racial, social and economic justice.
"Remember that the black immigrant experience in the U.S. must be understood not in contrast to the African-American experience, but as an integral part of it," BAJI Executive Director and Black Lives Matter co-founder, Opal Tometi said at the fifth annual Black Immigration Network (BIN) Kinship Assembly held in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Understanding how interconnected the realities of black people from around the world are, is what Tometi says led BAJI to form the BIN network—a national alliance of individuals and close to 40 organizations that represent both black immigrant and African-American communities.
"We've built this network because black communities are among the most marginalized in this movement for immigrant justice," she says.
Its annual " Kinship Assembly" attracts members of BIN organizations as well as individuals who organize, advocate for and work to empower African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, as well as African-American communities in the United States.
Wright's experience at the Undocublack Convening is what she says gave her the confidence to travel to Los Angeles for the BIN Kinship Assembly and continue sharing her story.
"I was aware that I was not the only black undocumented person in America but I wasn't aware of the movement here to help us," Wright says.
Although a decision on United States v. Texas isn't expected until June, advocates hope that the more people like Wright who share their stories will change attitudes about immigration reform in the United States.
"I hope that it is the beginning of a culture shift. That is part of our goal," says Richards. "I hope that people who see her [Wright] and may not have paid attention to what DACA and DAPA is before, realize that it is a diverse community and an issue that needs everyone's attention."
The expansion of DACA would completely change Wright's life, she says. "I can finally go from simply existing to finally living."
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-undocumented-caribbean-immigrant-s-long-fight-citizenship-n557441
When Shariece Wright immigrated to the United States from the Bahamas in 1985 she was just 4-years-old. Her mother put her on a plane to Florida and told her that she would be going to live with an aunt in Miami.
She says she will never forget that day because it saddened her to leave her five siblings and mother behind. However, even at that young age Wright understood what her mother meant when she referred to the United States as "the place of endless opportunities."
"This is the place where if you work hard, go to school and carry yourself respectfully then you can achieve all of your dreams, or at least that is what I have always thought," she says.
Now 35, Wright has discovered that access to the opportunities she has dreamed of have actually been "painfully" limited because after 17 years of trying to get a green card— the first step on the path to citizenship — she remains undocumented.
It is April 18 and she stands on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to share her story before thousands at a rally for undocumented immigrants organized by Fight for Families, the coalition that advocates for DACA and DAPA.
Just before taking the stage, Wright tears up as she listened to the Howard University Gospel Choir. "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York island, ..." she repeats the lines over and over.
"We, as undocumented people living in this country, feel jailed," she tells NBCBLK. "We live in bubbles, like individual cells. However, we are expected to live and do everything as the rest of society. But how?"
Wright graduated from the prestigious Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) in Miami. She had plans to study architecture and the arts in college. However, owing to her undocumented status she was not permitted to enroll. She has faced severe financial hardships because she cannot find a stable job without work authorization and a social security number.
When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was first introduced by the administration of President Barack Obama in 2012, Wright was hopeful. DACA would spare millions of undocumented young people like her from deportation and make it possible for them to get work permits. But Wright had aged out. Under the law, only people under 30 who came to the United States before age 16 could qualify.
In 2014, Obama issued two executive orders. One would expand DACA to include people over 30 who came to the United States before the age of 16. The second introduced the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program. It would shield the parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents from deportation and qualify them to acquire work permits.
However, Texas along with 25 other states — including Wright's home state of Florida — filed a lawsuit to block the implementation of these deferred action programs, calling them unconstitutional.
Wright's story was among those included in the amicus brief sent to the Supreme Court to illustrate how the expansion of DACA and implementation of DAPA would benefit millions of people.
Wright discloses that she feels very emotional because it is hard for her to accept that some people "don't deem me worthy of an identity in this country."
"Let's acknowledge people, no matter where they were born, that are willing to actually stand up on their own, educate themselves, put the hard work in and are law abiding," she exclaims.
"I am here representing everyone who looks like me; every person from Africa; every person that is Afro-Latino; every person that is Afro-Caribbean; every person with kinky or curly hair. This affects us too," she says. "I just want a chance to fulfill my dreams in the country that I love, but I need a fair chance."
The immigration debate in the United States has largely coalesced around Latino immigrants, a focus that some immigrant advocates say fails to grasp the complexities as well as the diversity of the issue.
There are 3.8 million black immigrants in the United States from countries in the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and Latin America. They make up 10 percent of America's foreign-born population. Nearly 600,000 are undocumented, according to a recent report on black immigrants by the New York University School of Law and Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI).
Many of their stories have gone untold, but there are several groups like BAJI and the UndocuBlack Network that are working to change that.
The recently formed UndocuBlack Network held a three-day convening in Miami this past January specifically for undocumented black immigrants. It was described as a "first of its kind space for black undocumented folks to heal, organize and be empowered by each other."
It was the first place Wright says she really felt comfortable enough to share her daily struggles as a black immigrant in America.
Two major mandates emerged from that gathering, according to UndocuBlack co-creators Jonathan Jayes-Green and Jamie Richards. "We want to 'blackify' the undocumented immigrant narratives in this country and we want to facilitate access to resources for our community," Jayes-Green says.
As an Afro-Latino immigrant from Panama, he believes that the global black community must work together across borders to address the issues faced by black immigrants and African-Americans alike.
"We know that it's traumatic to be black and traumatic to be undocumented. We know that anti-blackness is a global phenomenon … so right now we need to build and uplift the black and undocumented community," he said.
The Black Alliance For Just Immigration works (BAJI) with members of both black immigrant and African-American communities who advocate for racial, social and economic justice.
"Remember that the black immigrant experience in the U.S. must be understood not in contrast to the African-American experience, but as an integral part of it," BAJI Executive Director and Black Lives Matter co-founder, Opal Tometi said at the fifth annual Black Immigration Network (BIN) Kinship Assembly held in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Understanding how interconnected the realities of black people from around the world are, is what Tometi says led BAJI to form the BIN network—a national alliance of individuals and close to 40 organizations that represent both black immigrant and African-American communities.
"We've built this network because black communities are among the most marginalized in this movement for immigrant justice," she says.
Its annual " Kinship Assembly" attracts members of BIN organizations as well as individuals who organize, advocate for and work to empower African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, as well as African-American communities in the United States.
Wright's experience at the Undocublack Convening is what she says gave her the confidence to travel to Los Angeles for the BIN Kinship Assembly and continue sharing her story.
"I was aware that I was not the only black undocumented person in America but I wasn't aware of the movement here to help us," Wright says.
Although a decision on United States v. Texas isn't expected until June, advocates hope that the more people like Wright who share their stories will change attitudes about immigration reform in the United States.
"I hope that it is the beginning of a culture shift. That is part of our goal," says Richards. "I hope that people who see her [Wright] and may not have paid attention to what DACA and DAPA is before, realize that it is a diverse community and an issue that needs everyone's attention."
The expansion of DACA would completely change Wright's life, she says. "I can finally go from simply existing to finally living."
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-undocumented-caribbean-immigrant-s-long-fight-citizenship-n557441
Polls Show Millennials More Likely to Reject Deportation and Support Path to Citizenship
By Michelle Waslin
In contrast to the virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from several presidential candidates, new polling shows that the majority of Americans – 62 percent – support allowing undocumented immigrants to legalize and become U.S. citizens, while only 19 percent said they should be deported. Even in Arizona, a state known for its anti-immigrant legislation, more than half of those surveyed supported U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In California polling found many of that state’s voters believe undocumented immigration is a problem, but they reject mass deportation as a solution. Nearly 8 in 10 Californians agreed that undocumented immigrants should have a path to citizenship or should be allowed to remain in the country legally with no path to citizenship. Only 16 percent of Californians polled said they should be forced to leave the country.
Moreover, polling at the national and state level found that both Democrats and Republicans favor legalization over deportation.
But generational differences are already apparent, and will become increasingly relevant as Millennials – who hold more positive views of immigrants – begin to replace older voters. Younger Republicans were more likely than their older counterparts to favor a path to citizenship. The polling found that six in ten Republicans under age 30 backed a path to citizenship compared to 47 percent of Republicans 65 and older. While over half of younger Republicans surveyed said that “immigrants strengthen American society,” only 22 percent of older Republicans agreed with the statement.
It is not surprising that older and younger generations have different views of immigration. Americans 65 and older came of age at a time of record low immigration in the 1960s and 70s. Today, immigrants make up a larger share of the U.S. population, and they arrive from a much more diverse number of regions of the world. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 59 million immigrants have arrived in the U.S. in the past 50 years, mostly from Latin America and Asia.
This means that younger Americans are accustomed to higher levels of immigration and have always known the U.S. as a racially and culturally diverse community. Today’s immigrants are also more dispersed across all 50 states, meaning more people have come of age at a time when immigrants are likely to be family, classmates, or colleagues.
University of Southern California professor Manuel Pastor explained that younger voters have grown up amidst more diversity than their older counterparts. “People of color have been the majority in the state of California since 1999. Really the debate about immigrants is a debate about identity, and younger people are much more likely than older generations to have experienced some diversity in their schools and their own personal life.”
Not only has the scope and face of immigration changed, but Millennials themselves are the most racially diverse generation in American history. Fewer Millennials are non-Hispanic whites, compared to older Americans born before 1945. The share of Millennials who are Hispanic is nearly three times as large as older Americans, and the shares of younger Americans who are black, Asian or some other race have also increased.
All of this data means that anti-immigrant rhetoric is increasingly out of touch with a large share of voters. As older generations make way for younger voters, campaign messages – as well as actual laws and policies – will likely be re-assessed to appeal to new voters and be in tune with economic, cultural, and social realities.
Source: http://immigrationimpact.com/2016/04/04/millennials-immigration-polling/
In contrast to the virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from several presidential candidates, new polling shows that the majority of Americans – 62 percent – support allowing undocumented immigrants to legalize and become U.S. citizens, while only 19 percent said they should be deported. Even in Arizona, a state known for its anti-immigrant legislation, more than half of those surveyed supported U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In California polling found many of that state’s voters believe undocumented immigration is a problem, but they reject mass deportation as a solution. Nearly 8 in 10 Californians agreed that undocumented immigrants should have a path to citizenship or should be allowed to remain in the country legally with no path to citizenship. Only 16 percent of Californians polled said they should be forced to leave the country.
Moreover, polling at the national and state level found that both Democrats and Republicans favor legalization over deportation.
But generational differences are already apparent, and will become increasingly relevant as Millennials – who hold more positive views of immigrants – begin to replace older voters. Younger Republicans were more likely than their older counterparts to favor a path to citizenship. The polling found that six in ten Republicans under age 30 backed a path to citizenship compared to 47 percent of Republicans 65 and older. While over half of younger Republicans surveyed said that “immigrants strengthen American society,” only 22 percent of older Republicans agreed with the statement.
It is not surprising that older and younger generations have different views of immigration. Americans 65 and older came of age at a time of record low immigration in the 1960s and 70s. Today, immigrants make up a larger share of the U.S. population, and they arrive from a much more diverse number of regions of the world. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 59 million immigrants have arrived in the U.S. in the past 50 years, mostly from Latin America and Asia.
This means that younger Americans are accustomed to higher levels of immigration and have always known the U.S. as a racially and culturally diverse community. Today’s immigrants are also more dispersed across all 50 states, meaning more people have come of age at a time when immigrants are likely to be family, classmates, or colleagues.
University of Southern California professor Manuel Pastor explained that younger voters have grown up amidst more diversity than their older counterparts. “People of color have been the majority in the state of California since 1999. Really the debate about immigrants is a debate about identity, and younger people are much more likely than older generations to have experienced some diversity in their schools and their own personal life.”
Not only has the scope and face of immigration changed, but Millennials themselves are the most racially diverse generation in American history. Fewer Millennials are non-Hispanic whites, compared to older Americans born before 1945. The share of Millennials who are Hispanic is nearly three times as large as older Americans, and the shares of younger Americans who are black, Asian or some other race have also increased.
All of this data means that anti-immigrant rhetoric is increasingly out of touch with a large share of voters. As older generations make way for younger voters, campaign messages – as well as actual laws and policies – will likely be re-assessed to appeal to new voters and be in tune with economic, cultural, and social realities.
Source: http://immigrationimpact.com/2016/04/04/millennials-immigration-polling/
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Remittances to Latin America, Caribbean Hit $68.3 Billion in 2015 |
By Miriam Jordan
The amount of money migrant workers world-wide sent to Latin America and the Caribbean reached $68.3 billion in 2015, surpassing a pre-recession peak of $64.5 billion in 2008, according to a report set to be released on Tuesday.
The analysis by the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, D.C., think tank that tracks immigration-related economic issues, attributed the increase to a spike in Central American immigrants, devaluation of regional currencies, and growing economic opportunity in the U.S. Most of the money came from immigrants working in the U.S. who help support family in their countries of origin.
“Remittance levels not only are back at prerecession levels, but we expect them to keep rising,” said Manuel Orozco, the report’s lead author.
Guatemala had the biggest jump in the total value of transfers of any country, increasing more than 15% to $6.3 billion from $5.45 billion in 2014. Neighboring Honduras and El Salvador had 10.9% and 3% growth to $3.72 billion and $4.28 billion, respectively, compared with 2014.
Gang activity has turned the three Central American countries into some of the world’s deadliest. As a result, the number of migrants from those countries flocking to the U.S. has surged in recent years. “We found a strong correlation between violence in Honduras and Guatemala and migration,” said the report, highlighting violent crime and extortion as important push factors.
The analysis is based on data obtained from central banks of more than 20 countries in the region.
Colombia had the second-largest increase in money transfers in the region last year, with a 13.3% jump to $4.64 billion.
Many migrants saw the sharp depreciation of that South American country’s currency against the dollar as an opportunity to invest in real estate as well as education and amenities for relatives back home, according to experts, who said they saw this trend bolstering remittances to other countries, such as Mexico.
Migrants “are becoming a lot more strategic about how and when they send money, paying attention to exchange rates,” said Daniel Ayala, head of global remittance services at Wells Fargo & Co. In the past two years, the bank’s clients have been sending more money, more frequently, he added.
Despite a drop in Mexican immigration to the U.S., remittances to that country rose 4.8%to $24.77 billion, which the report attributed to a continued flow of workers entering on temporary agricultural visas, others coming illegally not accounted for in official data and better job prospects overall raising migrants’ earnings.
New jobs in construction, services and other sectors that employ migrants also are propelling the increase. Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, a nonprofit group that runs seven employment centers that cater to immigrants in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, said day laborers and full-time workers are in ever-greater demand.
During the recent mid-Atlantic storm, Mr. Torres said small businesses and homeowners hired more than 700 day laborers from his centers to clear snow.
“Everyone was shut inside except the workers,” he said.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/remittances-to-latin-america-caribbean-hit-68-3-billion-in-2015-1455598863
The amount of money migrant workers world-wide sent to Latin America and the Caribbean reached $68.3 billion in 2015, surpassing a pre-recession peak of $64.5 billion in 2008, according to a report set to be released on Tuesday.
The analysis by the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, D.C., think tank that tracks immigration-related economic issues, attributed the increase to a spike in Central American immigrants, devaluation of regional currencies, and growing economic opportunity in the U.S. Most of the money came from immigrants working in the U.S. who help support family in their countries of origin.
“Remittance levels not only are back at prerecession levels, but we expect them to keep rising,” said Manuel Orozco, the report’s lead author.
Guatemala had the biggest jump in the total value of transfers of any country, increasing more than 15% to $6.3 billion from $5.45 billion in 2014. Neighboring Honduras and El Salvador had 10.9% and 3% growth to $3.72 billion and $4.28 billion, respectively, compared with 2014.
Gang activity has turned the three Central American countries into some of the world’s deadliest. As a result, the number of migrants from those countries flocking to the U.S. has surged in recent years. “We found a strong correlation between violence in Honduras and Guatemala and migration,” said the report, highlighting violent crime and extortion as important push factors.
The analysis is based on data obtained from central banks of more than 20 countries in the region.
Colombia had the second-largest increase in money transfers in the region last year, with a 13.3% jump to $4.64 billion.
Many migrants saw the sharp depreciation of that South American country’s currency against the dollar as an opportunity to invest in real estate as well as education and amenities for relatives back home, according to experts, who said they saw this trend bolstering remittances to other countries, such as Mexico.
Migrants “are becoming a lot more strategic about how and when they send money, paying attention to exchange rates,” said Daniel Ayala, head of global remittance services at Wells Fargo & Co. In the past two years, the bank’s clients have been sending more money, more frequently, he added.
Despite a drop in Mexican immigration to the U.S., remittances to that country rose 4.8%to $24.77 billion, which the report attributed to a continued flow of workers entering on temporary agricultural visas, others coming illegally not accounted for in official data and better job prospects overall raising migrants’ earnings.
New jobs in construction, services and other sectors that employ migrants also are propelling the increase. Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, a nonprofit group that runs seven employment centers that cater to immigrants in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia, said day laborers and full-time workers are in ever-greater demand.
During the recent mid-Atlantic storm, Mr. Torres said small businesses and homeowners hired more than 700 day laborers from his centers to clear snow.
“Everyone was shut inside except the workers,” he said.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/remittances-to-latin-america-caribbean-hit-68-3-billion-in-2015-1455598863
244 million international migrants living abroad worldwide, new UN statistics reveal
By UN Department of Public Information
The number of international migrants — persons living in a country other than where they were born — reached 244 million in 2015 for the world as a whole, a 41 per cent increase compared to 2000, according to new data presented by the United Nations today. This figure includes almost 20 million refugees.
In November, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a roadmap to address the issues on migrants and refugees. In response, the General Assembly decided to convene a high-level meeting on large movements of migrants and refugees on 19 September 2016. The Secretary-General has now appointed a Special Adviser to prepare the high-level meeting, Ms. Karen AbuZayd.
“The rise in the number of international migrants reflects the increasing importance of international migration, which has become an integral part of our economies and societies. Well-managed migration brings important benefits to countries of origin and destination, as well as to migrants and their families,” noted Mr. Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, the importance of international migration.
The new UN dataset, “Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 Revision,” shows that the number of international migrants has grown faster than the world’s population. As a result, the share of migrants in the global population reached 3.3 per cent in 2015, up from 2.8 per cent in 2000. There are, however, considerable differences between large regions of the world. In Europe, Northern America and Oceania, international migrants account for at least 10 per cent of the total population. By contrast, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, fewer than 2 per cent of the population are international migrants.
Rapid increase of migrants in Asia, with intra-regional migration dominating worldwide
In 2015, two out of three international migrants lived in Europe or Asia. Nearly half of all international migrants worldwide were born in Asia. Among major regions of the world, Northern America hosts the third largest number of international migrants, followed by Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania. Between 2000 and 2015, Asia added more international migrants than any other major region, or a total of 26 million additional migrants.
In many parts of the world, however, migration occurs primarily between countries located within the same geographic zone. In 2015, most international migrants living in Africa, or 87 per cent of the total, originated from another country of the same region. The equivalent value was 82 per cent for Asia, 66 per cent for Latin America and the Caribbean, and 53 per cent for Europe. In contrast, a substantial majority of international migrants living in Northern America (98 per cent) and Oceania (87 per cent) were born in a major region other than the one where they currently reside.
In 2015, two thirds of all international migrants were living in only 20 countries, starting with the USA, which hosted 19per cent of all migrants, followed by Germany, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
India has the largest diaspora in the world, followed by Mexico and Russia
In 2015, 16 million people from India were living outside of their country, compared to 12 million from Mexico. Other countries with large diasporas included the Russian Federation, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ukraine. Of the twenty countries with the largest number of international migrants living abroad, 11 were in Asia, 6 in Europe, and one each in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Northern America.
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders last September at the United Nations, stresses the multidimensional reality of migration. The Agenda calls on countries to implement planned and well-managed migration policies, eradicate human trafficking, respect the labour rights of migrant workers and reduce the transaction costs of migrant remittances. The Agenda also highlights the vulnerability of migrants, refugees and IDPs, and emphasises that forced displacement and related humanitarian crises threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said migrants need to be protected: “We need to take greater responsibility for protecting the lives of many thousands of migrants – men, women and children – who are compelled to undertake dangerous and sometimes fatal journeys. Those forced to flee should never be denied safe haven or rescue. Migrants, as all people, deserve protection and empathy.”
Source: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/01/244-million-international-migrants-living-abroad-worldwide-new-un-statistics-reveal/
