Youth Migration

Our world is a big global village. With the opening up of the world economy resulting in the free movement of youth, both within their countries across the nations for better education, better jobs, and better quality of life, migration, both internal and international, has emerged as a burning issue. Migration is a multi-dimensional, transnational, multicultural issue. It is a complex problem. It is not a simple demographic or economic problem; there are socio-psychological, cultural, ethnic, and legal issues involved. The issue of migration needs to be examined in a holistic manner.

In today’s world, knowledge is power and Information is the key to success. In most third-world developing nations, the youth in rural and semi-urban areas are confronted with poor educational Infrastructure. In the Indian context, there are broadly three types of schools-

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1. schools having teachers and children but no buildings or insufficient classrooms,
2. schools having buildings and students, but no teachers,
3. schools have buildings and teachers, but no students because of the non-availability of quality teachers, educational tools, and equipment.

The colleges in these areas are no better. Next is the lack of quality technical vocational education, lack of qualified science teachers, scientific tools, equipment, and other educational infrastructure. The lack of quality educational infrastructure in rural semi-urban areas in most Third world Developing nations focuses the mere ambitious modern rural youth to migrate to schools and colleges in cities and metropolia. More than 75% of the rural population is dependent on agriculture, but ironically agriculture is neither remunerative nor sustainable.

For example, 75% of land in rural India is owned by 5% of landlords, big farmers absentee landlords. Shoddy land reforms fragmentation of land leading to the uneconomic size of land holidays, lack of modernization and commercialization of agriculture, and further marginalization of marginal farmers have forced modern youth to move to urban areas for better education, better employment opportunities, and better quality of life. The factors that drive the migration of youth from rural to urban areas at the micro-level are more or less the same as those that determine migrant motives at the International level. Better education, better employment opportunities, better vertical and horizontal mobility in job situations, more lucrative pay packets, a better quality of life, and increasing aspirations of the youth in a liberal free economic world are the migrant motives. The number of young students from Third World countries and Developing economies like India and China in American and Western Universities has quadrupled over the last two decades.

For some a foreign degree is a status symbol; but for the majority of students from poor Third world countries and developing economies, it is the quest for knowledge and better job prospects that drive them to migrate to American and Western Universities and Colleges. Developing economies like China, Japan, India, and Brazil motivate their students, even at times with state sponsorships and scholarships, to study in Western Universities for acquiring better knowledge and access to modern technologies. Income maximization, social mobility and social status, and yearning for better qualities of life propel this youth to join schools of Higher Learning.

With economic and civilizational gaps between countries narrowing down day by day, the culture shock appears minimal and non-existent. Peer group influences also act as a motivating factor. Youth migration, both within the country and at the international level, is a modern-day reality and is not to be looked down upon with suspicion or anxiety. World economies have opened up; nations and nationalities have become more liberal and tolerant; people-to-people contact, industry-to-industry contact besides Government to Government contact has become more democratic and participative.

A sort of give-and-take operates between the rich and powerful nations and the developing and Third world countries. International trade and commerce, and technological development particularly after the recent economic meltdown have made world economies more interdependent. No one nation can solve the problems facing the world. A new world has emerged where the Rich and poor nations need each other. In such a scenario, International migration, both in the sending country as well as in the receiving country, has affected one and all.

It has thrown open new challenges and opportunities for Governments and for communities and nationalities. The migrant youth, while migrating to an alien land, no more suffers from cultural shock; he slowly gets integrated into the alien land and becomes part of its society, its culture, and its economy. He contributes to the development process in the receiving country; he, in return, receives a better pay packet and leads a better quality of life. Next are, of course, occasional racial discriminations and race-related crimes; but they are of negligible proportions.

There are however attendant problems like social and family dislocations in the sending country, and greater pressure on the urban infrastructure in the receiving country. Next are occasional hues and cries in Developed economies regarding their jobs being cornered by youth from developing nations, thus contributing to increasing unemployment and resultant social tensions. At the domestic level, migration from rural to urban areas has put enormous pressure on urban civic amenities like housing, health, education, drinking water, sanitation, etc.

The brain drain from rural to urban areas has left the villages bereft of the best hands. There is a growing hiatus between Urban India and Rural India and the same is the case with all developing and third-world countries. At the International level, the free movement of youth for education and employment has meant that young immigrants make up an important and increasing share of the labor force in the receiving countries, particularly in the Developed economies. Instead of stealing, they have significantly contributed to the growth in employment in these economies.

With the relative and absolute size of the working population in the west getting smaller, the youth from countries like India have filled up the void. The net change in the working-age population in the countries has a direct bearing on the net youth migration levels. In western economies, there is a net shortage of labor in particular jobs like ICT, Health, Sciences, Construction and transport, hotels, cleaning, and the domestic sector. This has helped the inflow of labor force from Developing and Third world countries.

It also has meant that the cultural and social integration of immigrants and their families into the Western labor market and society has become smoother and faster. Adaptability levels in the host nations have increased manifold. So far as sending countries are concerned, brain drain is the biggest challenge. But migrant remittances have grown manifold which has helped the emigrant youth to improve the quality of life of their family members and communities back home. International migration is a complex and complicated issue - a multidimensional one.

The economic meltdown in the Developed economies, the war in Afghanistan, and Iraq, terrorism-ridden Pakistan, and the turmoil in the Arab world have made international migration, both legal and illegal, a burning issue. For more than 214 million international immigrants life has been uncertain, often treacherous. It has thrown open the debate of shared prosperity and shared responsibilities - it is both a challenge as well as an opportunity for various stakeholders to carve out a balanced mutually agreeable paradigm that will maximize the developmental benefits of migration for both the sending and receiving countries.

Migration benefits all stakeholders when it is legal, open, just, and orderly. Young migrants, both skilled and unskilled labor, have helped in reducing imbalances in the International labor market. Young migrants from the Third world and Developing countries like China, India, and Brazil bring with their hard work, creativity, cheap labor, entrepreneurial ability, dependence, and loyalty. Modern-day youth are constantly on the move- they help promote the exchange of ideas, values, expertise, and knowledge.

There are about 214 million international migrants out of which 128 million live in Developed countries of which 58% have their origin in developing countries. With the economic meltdown, there has been a net decline in young migrants from developing countries. The worst-hit sectors like finance, construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure in the Developed countries have negatively impacted the flow of young migrants to the Developed countries.

In spite of this, there is demand for highly skilled young workers, entrepreneurs, and unskilled and semi-skilled labor in sectors like health, ICT, and construction. These sectors remain to be filled by migrants from developing countries. But because of the economic crisis and slow industrial recovery in the west, unemployment among youth is rising, particularly among the children of immigrants. This leads to further marginalization amongst 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants leading to social tension, racial conflicts, and alienation.

There have been some panic and knee-jerk reactions from Governments in Developed countries who have tried to reduce migration by reducing quotas, adopting more stringent labor market tests, not renewing work permits, forcing private and state sector players to adopt a more pro-native recruitment policy, and reducing the size of the labor market. So far as their countries of origin are concerned, international migrants, particularly the young skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled labor, have helped improve the living standards of their family members left behind by way of remittances.

The nearly 316 billion dollars the immigrants sent home in 2009 not only helped improve the families' standard of living but also contributed to the increase in foreign exchange reserves in these countries, thus adding to their economic resilience in a bad economic year. The countries of origin have included international migration as a key focus area in this scheme of development, often by joining up with major stakeholders in drawing up plans and programs that benefit the migrants, their families, and the community at large.

Some countries of origin have developed innovative ways of involving expatriate communities by facilitating the transfer of collective remittances or by issuing ‘diaspora bonds’ to revise capital from these sources. As an initiative, the countries of origin have undertaken proactive policies and strategies to help these expatriate communities by facilitating support for labor migration, improving protection on foreign soil, facilitating the transfer of remittances, and safe return of migrants.

Multilateral agencies like Inter-American Development Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development have seized on the issues of reduction of remittance transfer costs. Some donor countries and agencies have taken initiative in engaging and supporting expatriates in their home countries by way of providing free expertise, services, and advice for the development of countries of origin. International migration of youth brings in its wake myriad opportunities and challenges at the migrant’s level, at the family and community level.

Better pay packets for the youth ensure a better standard of life for migrants, their families, and their home country. In states like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh in India, most families have a young qualified, and skilled hand serving abroad, as engineers, doctors, nurses, science teachers, construction workers, skilled, semiskilled, and unskilled. In the last two decades, most families and the community, in general, have prospered economically and socially from the foreign remittances their son or daughter sends home.

The Gujarati youth carry with them entrepreneurial abilities and expertise in the world order and carved out a niche of their own in the field of business and industry. There is upward mobility, both economic and social, not only for these young migrants but their families, kith and kin, and communities left behind in their home countries. The economic possibility of the people of Kerala, A. P., Gujarat, and Punjab can, to a large extent, be attributed to the youth migration in these states to greener and better pastures in the West and Third World countries and the fat remittances they send home.

While international migration, mostly economic, has boosted the economy of the migrant, their families, their communities, and the nation as a whole, the socio-psychological and cultural effects of such migration deserve attention. It is particularly relevant in the Indian context when the joint family system still remains dominant. The departure of a young family member staying and serving thousands of miles away passes serious psychological problems for age, family members, young brothers and sisters, and the peer groups at large.

It creates a psychological vacuum and raises serious problems of adaptability. There is a major problem in the lack of social support systems or programs both for the young migrants as well as their family members left behind. There is an urgency in addressing the issue of understanding how youth migration impacts parental needs and family needs. The old feel neglected and the young feel uncared for. The community feels betrayed. Society, over a period of time, forgets the young migrant who in their eyes has ceased to belong to them, at least socially and psychologically.

Due to a lack of constant support, old parents and other members of the family left behind by the young children became a socially and psychologically vulnerable group with a high risk of psychological and behavioral disorders, including alienation and feeling of isolation and depression. While the benefits of International migration to individual migrants, their families, communities, and nationalities are visible and apparent, the visible and invisible cost is an urgent area of concern.

While international remittances have helped improve the quality of life of millions back home, sustained poor economics improved the balance of payment situation, and contributed to foreign exchange reserves, the hidden cost and visible cost can no longer be swept under the carpet. The socio-psychological impact on family members left behind, the flight of intellectual capital from developing to developed countries, issues of migrant integration, exploitation of cheap labor, and lack of a policy of Inclusive development of migration pose serious challenges for our political and business leaders and policy planners.

Protection of migrants, cases of racial abuses, and human rights violations call for a multidimensional approach to various aspects of International migration, particularly its linkages with development, Inclusive growth, human rights, and natural justice. With knowledge holding the key in a globalized economy, international migration of youth for better education and better pay packet is going to be on the rise. In the Third world and developing economies it has developed into a permanent and integral structural part of the body politic and economy.

Lack of opportunities, disparity amongst economies and within economies, divergent demographic dynamics, and internal upheavals in home countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Arab world have acted as a ‘push factor’ for international migration. Labor market imbalances, availability of cheap labor, both skilled and unskilled from Asia-pacific countries, economic dependence and inter-linkages amongst nations, rich and poor, and growing aspirations of the people in these countries have propelled migration of youth across boundaries.

There has also been flowing of expert labor from Developed to developing countries, at times necessitated by transfer of technology, collaboration, and joint venture projects, or as strings attached to an economic or technological aid package. Both in the receiving and sending countries, there is a growing realization amongst policymakers and think tanks that international migration and development are interdependent and interlinked. Since international migration is multidimensional, multicultural, and multidisciplinary in character, we need to address the challenges in a more humane, understanding, and cooperative atmosphere.

It requires integration and cooperation at the local, regional, and transnational levels among governments, societies, and communities. There is a growing feeling that we can address the negative impacts of international migration and maximize benefits to both the sending and receiving countries by involving a collaboration and well-coordinated framework within the V. N. system. Such a framework should be well supported by Governments in both countries of origin and countries of destination, backed by civil society.

That way it can transcend cultural boundaries and take into account factors like cultural accommodation and integration, human rights, natural justice, and fair play. Countries in the Asia Pacific region account for nearly 30%of the world’s 200 million international migrants, the majority of them youths, both as sending and receiving countries. Young talented, skilled youth from India, China, the Philippines, etc. make their destination to the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe for higher quality education as well as to meet the growing technological, and semi-technological needs in these countries.

Besides the labor market needs, family reunification accounts for a major chunk of international migration. Besides transnational migration, inter-regional and intra-regional migration is on the rise. You will find a large number of young engineers, doctors, construction workers, and health workers from India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Philippines making their way to Gulf nations and Australia. This fills up the labor gaps and corrects labor imbalances in the region. The Gulf countries and countries in South East Asia have emerged as a temporary hubs of labor migration from South Asia.

Feminization of International migration is a discernible feature in the last decade or so. Large no. of young female workers, particularly in the health, ICT, infrastructure, and services, and domestic sectors from countries of India, China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh make their way to the Developed countries for attractive economic packages and then fill the gap in the labor market. There is a big outflow of temporary contract labor from Asia, particularly South Asia, and South- East Asia for labor-intensive 3D jobs (dirty, dangerous, and difficult), particularly in sectors like construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and cleaning services.

Women construct laborers who got engaged in domestic sectors or in cleaning services and construction activities often are lowly paid and also explicated at the hands of middlemen and service providers. There is a large number of illegal migrants who make their way to the Gulf countries. It is difficult to know the exact no. of such laborers since a sizable chunk does not register with national authorities. Besides, large no. of illegal migrants make their way because of porous geographic boundaries.

For example, every year lakhs of Bangladeshis illegally enter India for better economic opportunities through the porous boundary. Similarly, there is a free outflow of migrants within and amongst the countries of the erstwhile USSR. Because of the limited role played by Governments, these temporary migrants and conduct labor get exploited at the hands of private recruitment agencies, particularly in the countries of South Asia. Labor trafficking, particularly constructs laborers and women laborers by private recruiting agencies using the means of deception is rampant in the Asia-Pacific region.

The lack of a clear policy by the Governments in the region, rampant corruption by authorities, and a pathetic attitude of authorities have altered the private player's field day in exploiting the young migrants, particularly women. The poor economic status of young men and women makes them a vulnerable group. They get financially, physically, and sexually exploited at the hands of private players. In the name of migration, young women migrants, particularly from South Asia and South East Asia get lured by the private players to the Gulf countries and exploited, used, and abused in the process.

These helpless young women are victims of sexual exploitation, forced marriages, and domestic slavery in the rich Gulf nations. In the name of Contract labor, there are a large number of repulsed cases of women being forced into prostitution or used as keeps in the Gulf countries. Since Islamic society does not provide them much protection, young women, particularly from South Asia and S. E. Asia, are often lured into forced marriages or land in brothels in Gulf countries. Brain drain and brain gain are major areas of concern in international migration.

In the past, the brain drain from poor but talented countries like India, China, Pakistan, and South East Asia was a major area of concern because the flight of talented and skilled human capital from these countries affected national productivity and technological innovation and hit key sections like health, education, research and development and technology. But with the emerging economies of India, China, Brazil, South Africa, and oil-rich Arab countries embanking on a path of 9% to 10% growth rate with emphasis on individual production, infrastructure, better education, and health care, a reverse brain drain is taking place.

In some sectors, brain gain has really happened. Some of these governments have adopted a dual strategy of retention and return. By offering dual citizenship and sops for setting up industries and liberalizing terms and conditions of investment and providing tax breaks, these countries have succeeded in mobilizing the rich migrants to either return or invest in profitable ventures or in the share market in their home countries.

Countries like India have created a new department in Government for overseas Indians that addresses their concerns and problems, both abroad and at home. The Annual NRI meeting organized by the Government of India and meeting specific communities like Gujaratis by the Gujarat state Government is aimed at attracting and involving the rich NRIs in profitable ventures at home. Some Governments have adopted a policy and strategy of mobilizing the diaspora which helps in the transfer of knowledge, skills, technology, and capital that makes up for the flight of human capital from the home country.

The key areas of action require simplification of procedures for remittances so that illegal transfers are avoided. The understanding of the implications of gender dimensions of international migration, the concerns, and needs of the families of migrants left behind at home, preparing the second and third-generation migrants to take up the new challenges so that they don’t find isolated or disillusioned, taking care of the health and educational needs of the migrants and their family members and ensuring smooth integration of the emigrants in the country of destination are issues of urgent concern. The basic civil rights of the migrants need to be looked into by the Governments and civil society. The key areas of action and cooperation for broadening the opportunities of young migrants require their psychological, social, and economic integration in the process of development both in the receiving and sending country.

In order to fully understand and utilize the potentials and benefits of international migration, both the countries of origin and destination need to evolve suitable migration management policies taking care of the welfare of migrants and their integration into the socio-economic agenda, poverty amelioration strategy in the sending countries, racial and social integration in the receiving countries. National and regional developmental goals should be reflected in the migration policies. There must also be policy coherence at the national, regional, and international levels. The civil and legal rights of the migrants must be ensured at all costs.

The Governments, in both sending and receiving countries, must put in place mechanisms to eradicate human trafficking, regulate the modus operand of private recruitment agencies, and eliminate flesh trade in cases of young women migrants. Last but not the least, the national governments and civil society, cutting across geographical boundaries, must work in an atmosphere of trust and understanding so that international migration caters to the development needs and maintain labor imbalances, thus contributing to the development of young migrants, their countries of origin and countries of destination.

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