Migration and Development: A Critical Relationship

Abstract

Wide income differentials, the threat of increased illegal immigration from developing countries, and sub-replacement fertility in the developed countries are some reasons for the recent reassessment of the relationship between migration and development. New theoretical models have emerged to identify migration's role in transitional sequences of economic and political evolution. The task of government is to integrate migration into its program for socio-economic development. The model presented in this article proposes different roles for permanent immigrants, contract workers, professional transients, illegal migrants and others according to the stages of modernization of the sending and receiving countries. The model was found consistent with the experiences of Mauritius, Seychelles, Singapore and, to a lesser extent, Malaysia.