International population migration

International population migration is a population movement with the crossing of state borders. Citizens who enter the country are called immigrants traveling abroad - emigrants.

Migration of the population is classified into several types.

Thus, the movement of the population with the crossing of the borders of states can be permanent (untimely). In this case, citizens move for permanent residence in the host country.

There is a temporary migration of the population. Stay in the country in this case, as a rule, is limited to a period of one to six years (due to the professional, family, age-sex characteristics of those entering, and also due to the continued dependence on the state of departure). Such migrants in international statistics are called "temporary contract workers", "long-term immigrants and emigrants" or "permanent migrant workers".

Short-term entry (within one year) is called seasonal. As a rule, migrants in this case enter the state to work in economic sectors that are seasonal in nature (for example, in the service sector, in agriculture).

A variety of seasonal movement of citizens is nomadism. This population migration is prevalent, mainly in the Middle East, in West Africa. As a kind of seasonal movement, there is also a pilgrimage to holy places.

Pendular migration of the population (frontier, shuttle) is, as a rule, daily (in rare cases, weekly) movement of the population across the border and back. Citizens who enter this country for work are called "working frontaliers." This type of migration has become quite common in North America and Western Europe, for example, tens of thousands of citizens cross the border of the United States and Canada every day.

It deserves special attention such a kind of migration of the population as illegal. Underground citizens enter other countries in search of work. For example, more than a million people cross the US border each year from Mexico. Illegal migrants are also called those who entered the country legally (as tourists or on an invitation), but subsequently worked illegally to work in the host state.

The number of underground migrants has grown significantly since 1970. It is almost impossible to accurately determine their number. For example, in the United States, the number of underground emigrants ranges from two to fifteen million, in Europe from 1.3 to 5 million, in Japan from three hundred thousand to a million people.

The causes of population migration in such cases are related to political, environmental and economic conditions. Mainly, underground migrants are a fairly disenfranchised and cheap labor force for entrepreneurs.

Forced crossing of borders is also connected with the ecological and political situation in the country of departure. This movement of the population became apparent in the 1980-90s. During this period, the migration of citizens has acquired enormous proportions. This, in turn, entailed many problems. Forced resettlement then acquired a global character and affected many countries of the world. Thus, according to statistics, about 87% of refugees settled in developing states. By the 1990s, the number of internally displaced persons who had entered the economically developed countries on short-term visas and who had remained with a request for asylum increased sharply.

A special type of migration of citizens is an episodic movement of the population. Border crossing in this case is connected exclusively with international tourism or other trips abroad.