M9U4A1

Voluntary and Involuntary Immigrants

Emily, London, Shannon

Teach-Now

Synthesis

It is very interesting to look at the trends and patterns in Asia within the past decades.

Asian migration is not new at all, westward movements from Central Asia has helped shaped

European history in the Middle Ages, while Chinese migration to Southeast Asia goes back

centuries. In the colonial period, millions of indentured workers were recruited, often by force.

The number of international migrants reached 258 million in 2017. Nearly half of the

international migrants worldwide were actually born in asia which says alot about the region.

Over half the world’s population lives in the Asia- Pacific region. Asia hosted 53 million

out of the worlds 191 million migrants according to the United Nations Department of Economic

and Social Affairs in 2005. After this unit, and doing research on the migration and immigration

to and from Asia, we see that in the 1970s and 1980s, international migration from Asia grew

dramatically. Since the 1990’s migration within Asia has grown, it seems like from the less

developed countries with huge labor surpluses to the more fast growing industrializing countries.

To put in perspective the number of Chinese residents who have moved to cities since

around 1979 is greater than the total current population of North America and has been

increasing ever since. We also looked at some trends within Asia and their ageing population.

When speaking about foreign workers, they are actually filling labor opening in places like

China. China is in need of people because their labor force is decreasing due to this ageing

crisis. How they actually go about things in the future will shape some of the Asian migration

patterns. We are definitely intrigued with staying up to day on some of the key issues and

patterns in this region.

 It is interesting to read about some of the problems Asia is having and comparing them

to our recent issues here in the United States on immigration and the policy that Trump has in

place along with the aftermath of misplaced children from their families. CNN announced that in

the United states people over 65 will outnumber children by 2035 with a fallen rate of fertility. A

shrinking workforce and an aging society is a recipe for a stagnating economy, such as in

Japan. It was very interesting to do our research on Asia during this time and to be able to

compare it to the United States. Some of their migration trends, patterns and policies really hit

home.

References

Connor, P. (2016, 18 October). Retrieved from, http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/10/18/middle-easts-

migrant-population-more-than-doubles-since-2005/

Immigration Data Portal. Retrieved June 15, 2018, from

https://migrationdataportal.org/?i=stock_abs_&t=2015&m=2&rm49=142&sm49=145

Key Trends and Issues on International Immigration in Asia. (2008, September). Retrieved June 19,
2018, from
http://www.un.org/esa/population/meetings/EGM_Ittmig_Asia/PPoint_Presentation_Keiko.pdf

Sander, N., Abel, G., & Bauer, R. The Global Flow of People. Retrieved from, http://www.global-
migration.info/.
Trends in international migration, 2015. (2015, December). Retrieved June 15, 2018, from
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/populationfacts/docs/Migr
ationPopFacts20154.pdf

Trends in international migration, 2015. (2015, December). Retrieved June 15, 2018, from
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/populationfacts/docs/Migr
ationPopFacts20154.pdf