Migrating platforms

摘要

Migration from African countries has increased substantially in the last three decades, during which it went from 1 per cent in the 1990s to 31 per cent in the mid-2000s, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2017, approximately 25 million sub-Saharan migrants lived outside their country of birth. Africa accounts for nine out of the 10 fastest-growing international migrant populations since 2010, growing by roughly 50 per cent between 2010 and 2017. The majority of migrants are forced out by conflicts (South Sudan, Central African Republic, DRC and Somalia), including women and children fleeing intercommunal violence, economic decline and hunger; but migration also occurs from peaceful and economically stable countries such as Namibia, Botswana and Sao Tome & Principe. The European 'migrant crisis' or 'refugee crisis' is the term given to a period beginning roughly in 2013 when rising numbers of people arrived in the EU, either by crossing the Mediterranean or overland through south-eastern Europe. The numbers include asylum seekers and economic migrants, terms that are both contested and complex. Over the past decade, migrants accounted for 47 per cent of the increase in the workforce in the US and for over 70 per cent of the increase in Europe, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Contrary to populist depictions in the right wing tabloid press, of migrants as spongers who 'add £lbn to the National Health Service bill' or 'undermine British culture' (Daily Mail), migrants play a crucial role in the labour market, making up 22 per cent of entries in the fastest-growing occupations in the US and 15 per cent in Europe. According to the OECD, migrant workers contribute more in taxes and social contributions than they receive in benefits, but only a relatively small percentage of the workforce entrants into the US and Europe come through managed labour migration. The vast majority come through other channels, including family, humanitarian and free-movement migration (notably the European Union). Statistics notwithstanding, public sentiment in the developed world towards migrant workers from the developing world in particular is overwhelmingly negative.