Wide variations in migrant work statistics, report finds
Research by MigrationWatch, which campaigns for tighter immigration controls, looked at employment status, wages and benefit claims.
Migrants from the US, Australia and South Africa were found to earn much more than the UK-born population.
By contrast, people from Pakistan and Bangladesh tended to earn much less, the research suggested.
The study used data from the official Labour Force Survey of 100,000 people.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33603993
Migrant Smuggling in Asia April 2015 Current Trends and Related Challenges
Executive Summary This report outlines patterns of migrant smuggling in Asia and presents evidence-based knowledge to guide policy and strengthen international cooperation. Developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, it is part of a series of knowledge products considering acute and far-reaching issues confronting governments and communities in South-East Asia, as part of an ongoing analytical and capacity-strengthening process. Migrant smuggling occurs against the backdrop of regional integration within Asia, which has created a rapid increase in the cross-border movement of people and goods. Countries often have a multifaceted relationship to the migration phenomenon, simultaneously serving as a source, transit and destination for regular and irregular migration.
Although most migrant smuggling in the region takes place within Asia, smuggled migrants are also reaching destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. The majority of smuggled migrants are young male adults but there are also a significant number of young women and children. While a range of factors motivate migration, such as family reunification or escaping (political) persecution, the majority of migrants are in pursuit of better economic opportunities. Smugglers are used when accessing legal channels for migration proves unsuccessful or remains difficult. Regular labour migration channels are typically inadequate, and therefore informal, unlicensed, and also licensed recruitment agencies exploit these shortcomings and fill in the gaps.
In South-East Asia, labour opportunities are the primary driver for irregular migration, with male smuggled migrants taking on positions in manufacturing, agriculture, fisheries and construction. Female migration is also on the rise and often leads to work in domestic service, hospitality, entertainment or the sex industry. Irregular migrants are typically young and willing (and able) to face the risks associated with what can be a difficult journey. They can adapt to what sometimes are harsh work and living conditions in the destination country. However, families and unaccompanied minors are also migrating irregularly, which risks even more dramatic consequences. Smuggling is often a complex process with real dangers for the lives, health and safety of migrants. In addition to being far away from their home communities and in the destination country illegally, smuggled migrants find it difficult to assert their rights. They are more vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and trafficking as well as susceptible to involvement in criminal activities.
Despite the lack of comprehensive research or documentation, an estimated 40,000 irregular migrants have died worldwide since 2000. Smugglers of migrants are driven by profit and the complexity and level of organization of a journey depends on the intended destination and the amount a migrant is willing or able to pay. Smuggling networks have been reported to manage complex operations covering source, transit and destination countries. The majority of operations in Asia, however, take place on an ad hoc and less sophisticated basis. Active in a variety of roles, smugglers are involved as recruiters, transporters, accommodation providers, facilitators, enforcers, organizers and financiers. They can adapt quickly to changing circumstances and comprise a range of diverse backgrounds, nationalities and age groups. In many cases, the smugglers were once smuggled migrants. Data collection was challenging for this report. Migrant smuggling remains to be an underresearched and under-reported crime, and there is a lack in good quality official data in Asia. When irregular migrants are detected, either entering, exiting, or residing in the country, little information is collected regarding assistance provided to the migrant.
MDG final report, an EU strategy on migrants, and the value of democracy
Successes and failures of the millennium development goals, the EU’s plan for the migration crisis, and why democracy is key to new development agenda
The millennium development goals have driven “the most successful anti-poverty movement in history”, the UN said in its final report before the targets expire. While the MDGs have ended extreme poverty for more than a billion people since they began in 2000, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon warned that inequalities persist and progress has been uneven.
Minority and indigenous communities, such as Burma’s Rohingya and Iraq’s Yazidi, are being displaced into cities at an alarming rate, said a report by Minority Rights Group. A crucial problem is that governments are not consulting with communities in their policymaking processes.
The EU must plan 25 years ahead in its strategy for dealing with surging numbers of refugees and migrants, warned François Crépeau, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. Crépeau said increasing aid spending to help stabilise turbulent countries would not immediately help stem the flow of migrants and refugees.
Migrant journey: fifth report
Understanding the processes that migrants go through when they decide to stay in the UK or switch their status helps to inform Parliament and the public on the impact of changes to the Immigration Rules.
The findings presented here are based on combining data collected from 2 UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) databases. These databases hold records of individuals granted entry clearance visas, and any subsequent grants of extensions of stay in the UK.
This report updates analysis from ‘The migrant journey: fourth report’ published in February 2014; and presents the data in two different and complementary ways, providing information on a forward-view and backward-view of the extent to which different types of non-EEA migrants change their immigration status or achieve settlement in the UK. The forward-view analysis examines the immigration status in 2013 of migrants issued visas to the UK in 2004 and in subsequent years. The backward-view analysis looks at those whose entry to the UK ultimately results in them applying for settlement (permission to stay permanently in the UK) and which visas they used on arrival to the UK. The latest findings include the cohort of those issued a visa in 2008.
The data presented in this report relate to all cases (main applicant and dependants combined) and the supplementary tables separately identify all cases, by main applicants and by dependants.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migrant-journey-fifth-report/migrant-journey-fifth-report
Report: EU has abandoned migrants crossing Balkans
Rights group says migrants risk death or violence making journey across the Balkans and are forced to pay bribes.
Rights group Amnesty International has accused the European Union of abandoning migrants trying to access member countries through the Balkans, where it says they face abuse and exploitation.
In a report published on Tuesday, Amnesty said criminal gangs and officials were taking advantage of people trying to claim asylum in, or migrate to the 28-member bloc, because of the EU's "failing" system for handling their cases.
"Refugees fleeing war and persecution make this journey across the Balkans in the hope of finding safety in Europe only to find themselves victims of abuse and exploitation," said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia.
The rights group's study focused on Serbia, Hungary, Greece, and Macedonia, with researchers interviewing more than 100 refugees and migrants, who were making the journey across the Balkans.
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