Migration & Citizenship
English
* This Revision Guide is based on our full executive summary which is also available.
** Lectures with additional information are in text boxes. Lectures with extra information are added at the end of the week
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, Week 1
International migration, remittances and
development: Myths and facts
H. de Haas
Migration myths
1. We live in an era of unprecedented migration
Increasing visibility increases these false perceptions
2. Poverty and misery are the main causes of labour migration
Apply long-term continued growth and income disparities to emigration or immigration
3. Development policy, aid and trade liberalisation are an effective 'remedy'
against migration
Social and economic development empowers people to migrate and increases
aspirations
4. Migration causes a brain drain
Exodus of highly
educated people
- Not all migrants are highly skilled
- Only a problem in a few countries
- May be accompanied by a brain gain
Countercurrent of
money, knowledge
and information
5. The money that migrants send to the sending countries is spent on
consumption and non-productive investments
Migrant households often invest in the economy
6. The orientation of migrants towards their country of origin is an indication
of the lack of social and economic integration into the society of the
recipient countries
Transnationality is not incompatible with integration
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