Today, 150 millions of people are leaving throughout the world outside the country in which they were born or from which they have the nationality. This represents less than 2,5% of the planet’s population. The world has not been the place of migration waves since the XIXth century and the settlement in the “new countries” and the colonies. The modern immigration is mostly seen as a move towards the North from emigrants, who are fleeing war, poverty, and are looking out for a better future for them and their families. The pictures of the wet-backs trying to cross the Rio Grande in order to sneak in the United States, or those of the Africans trying to reach Europe on fragile boats are really present in the mind of the occidentals. These facts send back to a real truth but they do not cover the whole entity of the migration moves.
Firstly, it is important to precise than a bit more than one migrant out of two is located in a country of the third world. This can be explained by the apparition of new centre of employment in emerging countries of South-America and within the Asian Dragons, which benefit from short distance moves. Moreover, the forced migrations have taken an increasing place in the south-south moves with the development of violent political crisis, notably in Africa and Asia, but also with the new “eco-refugees” having undergone important environmental degradations. Concerning the migration moves South-North, it would be wrong to think that they are mainly constituted by the poorest populations. The candidates for departure are rarely the poorest: they are generally in the middle class and qualified people. There are for example more Beninese doctors in France than in Benin.
This reality of the South-North moves is not without an impact on the concerned societies. After the Second World War the European states needed foreign working people so as to rebuild the old continent. The integration difficulties of the emigrating population are known today with the problem of discrimination. On top of that, after the rebuilding of Europe, the states from the Union have engaged a common policy about immigration with the entry into force of the Schengen space in the beginning of the nineties. The immigration conditions of non communitarian emigrants are harder now than before. This turning has provoked unwaited detrimental consequences. First of all it has contributed to the constitution of illegal immigration networks at outrageous prices and in dangerous conditions. The clandestines status in incoming countries is particularly precarious because massive regularisations occur rarely, in order not to favour the passers, and expelling procedure have been introduced. The detention and expelling conditions of the clandestines are often denounced by organisations which defend the Human Rights.
Secondly, the recourse to a chosen immigration by the countries of the Schengen space deprives the Southern states from their living forces. The example of the Beninese doctors in France can find its parallel with United Kingdom which has got more Ghanaian doctors than in Ghana. This situation puts a lot of family in emigrating countries in a state of dependence towards the money coming from their relatives who have emigrated. This can not be a sustainable process of co-development at long term.
The recent tendency of international migrations is the diversification of the moves and the migrants. Indeed, some traditionally emigration countries have become lands of important immigration. Mexico with the South Americans and Morocco with the sub-saharian Africans constitute a perfect illustration of this phenomenon. Globalisation has largely contributed to the spreading of the picture of an occidental eldorado. It is essential to wonder whether the contemporary migrations are compensating or increasing the unbalance between rich and poor countries. The answer to this question requires a real North-South dialogue where the rich countries do not only want to receive the fruits of the immigration, but make up a true policy of co-development.
The refugee status
The United Nations Convention of 1951 considers as a refugee any one “out of his country and who cannot return to it, fearing with reason to be persecuted because of his ethnos, his religion, his nationality, his political opinions or his belonging to a certain social group”. The same year the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in order to manage the problems of ten thousands of people uprooted after the second world conflict. Its activity has been constantly increasing since its creation in 3 main areas: in Africa since the wave of independence, in Asia during the cold war time, and in Europe with the development of conflicts in the Balkans. From 2,1 millions of refugees in 1951, this number has come to 21 millions at the end of 2006. The people trying to get the refugee status are sometimes called asylum seekers, because the fact to welcome them constitutes a political asylum. In France, this is the Office de protection des refugiés et apatrides (OFPRA), which rules on the quality of refugee allowed to stay on the French territory.
The eco-refugees
The eco-refugees constitute a controversial concept taken from international law. This terminology has been invented by the United Nations Program for Environment which has published his report in 1985, which has estimated to 25 millions the number of environmental refugees, which is more than the number of traditional refugees. They have appeared in the African regions suffering from the progressive desertification. These eco refugees do not benefit from the refugee status and their juridical condition is unclear. They seem for the moment to be assimilated to the economic migrant. With the consequences of the global warming this category of forced migrants is sure to increase.
Firstly, it is important to precise than a bit more than one migrant out of two is located in a country of the third world. This can be explained by the apparition of new centre of employment in emerging countries of South-America and within the Asian Dragons, which benefit from short distance moves. Moreover, the forced migrations have taken an increasing place in the south-south moves with the development of violent political crisis, notably in Africa and Asia, but also with the new “eco-refugees” having undergone important environmental degradations. Concerning the migration moves South-North, it would be wrong to think that they are mainly constituted by the poorest populations. The candidates for departure are rarely the poorest: they are generally in the middle class and qualified people. There are for example more Beninese doctors in France than in Benin.
This reality of the South-North moves is not without an impact on the concerned societies. After the Second World War the European states needed foreign working people so as to rebuild the old continent. The integration difficulties of the emigrating population are known today with the problem of discrimination. On top of that, after the rebuilding of Europe, the states from the Union have engaged a common policy about immigration with the entry into force of the Schengen space in the beginning of the nineties. The immigration conditions of non communitarian emigrants are harder now than before. This turning has provoked unwaited detrimental consequences. First of all it has contributed to the constitution of illegal immigration networks at outrageous prices and in dangerous conditions. The clandestines status in incoming countries is particularly precarious because massive regularisations occur rarely, in order not to favour the passers, and expelling procedure have been introduced. The detention and expelling conditions of the clandestines are often denounced by organisations which defend the Human Rights.
Secondly, the recourse to a chosen immigration by the countries of the Schengen space deprives the Southern states from their living forces. The example of the Beninese doctors in France can find its parallel with United Kingdom which has got more Ghanaian doctors than in Ghana. This situation puts a lot of family in emigrating countries in a state of dependence towards the money coming from their relatives who have emigrated. This can not be a sustainable process of co-development at long term.
The recent tendency of international migrations is the diversification of the moves and the migrants. Indeed, some traditionally emigration countries have become lands of important immigration. Mexico with the South Americans and Morocco with the sub-saharian Africans constitute a perfect illustration of this phenomenon. Globalisation has largely contributed to the spreading of the picture of an occidental eldorado. It is essential to wonder whether the contemporary migrations are compensating or increasing the unbalance between rich and poor countries. The answer to this question requires a real North-South dialogue where the rich countries do not only want to receive the fruits of the immigration, but make up a true policy of co-development.
The refugee status
The United Nations Convention of 1951 considers as a refugee any one “out of his country and who cannot return to it, fearing with reason to be persecuted because of his ethnos, his religion, his nationality, his political opinions or his belonging to a certain social group”. The same year the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in order to manage the problems of ten thousands of people uprooted after the second world conflict. Its activity has been constantly increasing since its creation in 3 main areas: in Africa since the wave of independence, in Asia during the cold war time, and in Europe with the development of conflicts in the Balkans. From 2,1 millions of refugees in 1951, this number has come to 21 millions at the end of 2006. The people trying to get the refugee status are sometimes called asylum seekers, because the fact to welcome them constitutes a political asylum. In France, this is the Office de protection des refugiés et apatrides (OFPRA), which rules on the quality of refugee allowed to stay on the French territory.
The eco-refugees
The eco-refugees constitute a controversial concept taken from international law. This terminology has been invented by the United Nations Program for Environment which has published his report in 1985, which has estimated to 25 millions the number of environmental refugees, which is more than the number of traditional refugees. They have appeared in the African regions suffering from the progressive desertification. These eco refugees do not benefit from the refugee status and their juridical condition is unclear. They seem for the moment to be assimilated to the economic migrant. With the consequences of the global warming this category of forced migrants is sure to increase.
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