Dossier: Migration and Development

The discussion as to whether or not sex work can be a choice a woman makes, or whether it should always be considered as violence against women is still ongoing, and has its continuing influence on the issue of human trafficking. In this short article I outline some of the positions on this topic, and the latest literature that attempts to link the legalisation of sex work with a rise of human trafficking.

Since the beginning of the so-called refugee crisis, migration has received increasing attention. The global number of international migrants rose, reaching 258 million in 2017, comprising diverse populations with complex, transnational exchanges.

Shifts in the demographic characteristics of migrant populations often signals more fundamental changes to the geographies and functions of migration.

Contrary to popular belief, the extent of displacement today is not without precedent, and the vast majority of the world’s displaced flee within their own country’s borders or to neighboring countries within the Global South. Nonetheless, the elevated interest in forced migration has encouraged further academic research on the topic, helping to build our collective understanding of the dynamics of displacement and inform policy and practice.

International student mobility and the internationalisation of higher education receive increasing attention for some time already, especially since they relate to sensitive topics of public concern including education, migration and development. Migration for education is not a new phenomenon. However, the number of foreign students enrolled in tertiary education worldwide rose significantly during the past decades, from 0.8 million in 1975 to 4.6 million in 2015.

Three questions need to be asked when we want to understand how corruption and migration are interlinked: 1) what do we mean with corruption in the context of migration; 2) how does corruption impact peoples’ decision to leave their home country?; and 3) how do people experience corruption throughout their migration journey?

believe that the scenarios projected by policy makers are not grounded on pertinent assumptions. Migration does not result in a linear integration from origin to destination country; it is more often the case that migrants craft a combination of origin and destination country orientations

migrants bring valuable skills, expertise and knowledge to their country of destination and thereby make an important and positive contribution to the societies of destination country. Yet, this is only one aspect of migration and knowledge transfer.

Particularly in rural areas of the global South, environmental drivers of migration have a strong influence on people’s decisions to migrate (or not). In the context of climate change, the influence of these environmental drivers is increasing over time. How environmental changes precisely drive migration depends heavily on their context-specific interaction with other social, political, economic and demographic factors – however, the fundamental linkage is clear.