Effects of International Migration on Origin Communities. The Brain Drain. Refugees

International migration affects communities of origin as well as destination countries. The tendency for younger, more highly skilled, and better educated people to migrate increases the dependency ratios in their home countries. Children, elderly people, and the disabled make up an increasingly large share of the population. Because so many workers are away, children are often encouraged to work rather than attend school. In the long run, children may sacrifice the opportunity for more advanced education, making it more difficult for them to achieve high-skill, high-wage jobs as adults.

The negative consequences of a high dependency ratio are offset in some areas by wages sent back home by migrants. Many guest workers and other international migrants send at least some of their wages earned abroad back to their home communities. Also, people who migrate from less developed countries to America or Europe as young adults often return to their native countries after they retire. Pension and social security checks are directed home where purchase power is greater, and used to support retirees and their relatives.

The Brain Drain. Migration from less developed to developed countries is by no means limited to laborers and unskilled workers. Some of the most highly skilled and educated Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans have settled in the United States and other developed countries. These people have been joined by educated Russians and Eastern Europeans following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many of these people are physicians, engineers, scientists, and educators for whom the material rewards offered by Western societies are pull factors. The large-scale, permanent migration of highly skilled professionals from less developed origins to developed destinations has been termed the brain drain.

The brain drain has removed thousands of the best and brightest workers from the labor forces of their less developed countries of origin. Some critics have argued that these people ought to return home, yet many find little opportunity to use their skills in their home countries. The incentive to return home may be further reduced by political persecution directed by repressive regimes against Western-educated intellectuals.

In some developed countries, the brain drain has contributed to fierce competition for jobs. In the United States, laws discourage the hiring of foreign nationals unless no Americans are qualified for various professional positions. Similarly. Canadian law requires that all government-funded professional positions be advertised "in the first instance" to Canadian citizens.

Refugees. Migrants who move in response to religious or political persecution are termed refugees (Figure 3-12). A refugee is someone who is forced to leave his or her home country and who chooses not to return for fear of political or religious persecution.

Figure 3-12. Major Refugee Flows. In recent years, wars, famine, insurrections, and other conflicts have left millions homeless, forcing their emigration. Many migrate to nearby countries. Others head for countries that have traditionally welcomed immigrants, such as Canada, the United States, and Australia

Wars generate large numbers of refugees. Following World Wars I and II millions of European refugees wound up in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Today, most refugees originate in the less developed countries. Prior to the 1970s, most refugee flows resulted from conflicts involving colonial independence. Once independence had been achieved, the refugees were generally permitted to return home. Recently, refugee flows have originated from independent yet politically unstable countries. It is less likely that these refugees will soon be able to return to their home countries. Over three million natives of Afghanistan fled that country during the 1980s following the Soviet-backed takeover of the Afghan government. Sub-Saharan Africa. Central America. Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia have also generated large numbers of refugees.

In recent years, many people have become refugees because their homelands have been devastated by environmental disasters. For example, the nuclear accident near Chernobyl in 1986 displaced tens of thousands of people in the Soviet Union. Throughout Africa, many people have been forced to move because drought-stricken lands can no longer support agriculture. Migrants displaced following environmental disasters are known as environmental refugees.

Throughout its history, the United States has been an important destination for victims of political and religious persecution. Current American immigration law specifically permits the unrestricted migration of victims of "political oppression" into the United States. Thousands of Cubans, Vietnamese, and other political refugees have entered the United States under this law. The law requires, however, that the individual prove to the government that he or she is migrating as a result of specific political or religious persecution rather than simply to better his or her economic circumstances.

Some critics of the law have suggested that the approval procedure reflects cultural and racial biases. In recent years, large numbers of migrants from Haiti, Guatemala, and El Salvador have been denied entrance to the United States, whereas migrants from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have been generally accepted without question. The controversy was renewed in late 1992, when the outgoing Bush administration avowed its refusal to admit Haitian refugees.

Although large numbers of refugees continue to move to the United States, most of the world's refugees today remain in less developed countries. As many as fifteen to twenty million refugees currently live outside their homelands, in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In most cases, refugees flee to nearby countries, especially if the citizens of those countries are people of similar cultural, linguistic, or religious heritage.

Thus, most Afghan refugees have moved to neighboring Pakistan and Iran, which share Afghanistan's Islamic heritage and were not part of the Soviet Union. Most refugees from war-torn El Salvador and Nicaragua are now living in Honduras, Costa Rica, or Mexico. The arrival of large numbers of refugees has strained the resources of governments of the destination countries. Especially during periods of economic recession, many countries are unwilling or unable to provide services needed by large numbers of refugees from neighboring countries.