10 countries are home to just over 50% of the world’s immigrants.
Of these, the United States alone has received almost 20% of the total global migratory flow in the last 25 years.
According to the most recent report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 46.6 million people left their countries to settle in the United States for different reasons and under different conditions.
However, in terms of population, the United Arab Emirates is the country with the largest presence of immigrants, 88.4% of its population.
After the United States, Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom are by far among the top five recipients of immigrants (see chart).
Why do so few countries host such a significant amount of the migratory flow?
The reasons go beyond geography.
What consequences can this bring?
According to the specialists consulted by BBC Mundo, political events that have taken place in some of the receiving countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, in addition to the violence in different parts of the planet, throw a panorama of more uncertainties than certainties.
Historical records from the United Nations show that the U.S. has doubled the number of immigrants it hosts in the last 25 years.
It had 23.3 million in 1990 and recorded 46.6 million in the last measurement in 2015.
During all that time, it remained and remains the main recipient of the global migratory flow.
In second place in the latest edition is Germany, where 12 million migrants reside, something that represents a novelty if we consider the previous measurements.
In 1990, Germany was home to 5.9 million and ranked sixth on the list of destination countries for global immigration.
In recent years, Germany has become the main destination for families trying to flee the wars in the Middle East.
The statistics also highlight that the United Kingdom went from being in 12th place in 1990 to fifth place in 2015.
There are 8.5 million immigrants residing in British territory.
In terms of population, however, the relationship is not the same.
The first, the United Arab Emirates, is followed by Qatar with 75.5% and Kuwait with 73.6%.
The United States has 14.3% of its total population as immigrants. Germany 11.9% (see table).
Causes:
Migration patterns cater to historical, geographical, political and economic variables, according to Jeanne Batalova, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI).
The expert pointed out that, in the case of the largest receiving countries, immigration occurs mainly “for work, family and work reasons”.
“People are moving around looking for work,” Batalova said, giving as examples the historic Mexican migration to the United States or the more recent migration from the Middle East to Germany.
“Flows are also determined by the good economic condition of destination countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany,” said the researcher.
Batalova gave the example of Germany, where some of the people fleeing violence in the Middle East point instead of countries that are geographically closer such as Greece.
Positive effects:
Former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, during the presentation of last year’s United Nations report, explained that the migratory phenomenon has not stopped growing in recent years.
He pointed out that at the beginning of the century there were 173 million immigrants, while in 2015 the figure rose to 244 million, including the 20 million existing refugees.
However, Eliasson clarified that this group does not include the approximately 40 million displaced people in their own countries.
The former deputy secretary, who left his post in December last year, added that despite the difficulties posed by these huge movements of people, immigration brings positive aspects for the target countries.
Mexico is the country of origin for most immigrants in the United States.
“The size of the population in Europe would have fallen between 2000 and 2015 without the presence of immigrants,” he said.
According to Eliasson, this is one of the positive dimensions of migration and refugees, as is the phenomenon of remittances to countries with smaller economies.
However, the years to come pose more uncertainties than certainties, according to Jeanne Batalova, a researcher at the Institute for Migration Policy.
Asked about recent events such as Brexit in the United Kingdom and the arrival of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States, the expert pointed out that it is difficult to predict how these events may affect the global migratory flow
Regarding the possible exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, Batalova said that, since that decision taken at the polls in June 2016, “migrants do not stop wondering what will happen.”
“We don’t yet know what the conditions of migration will be and we don’t know if the chances of getting a job in the UK for a migrant are going to get harder in the coming years,” she said.
Batalova added that President Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric and first decisions also represent a wave of consequences not yet possible to know beyond possible mass deportations and vetoes.
“What experience tells us is that these kinds of policies not only affect migrants, but also the economy,” he concluded.
