WUNRN
MIGRATION & WOMEN – GLOSSARY OF KEY MIGRATION TERMS
African Women Migrants in Southern Italy – UK Daily Mail
In addition to the exceedingly high numbers of WOMEN
migrants, UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency
says as many as 14,000 CHILDREN have arrived in Italy this
year, and the majority of them unaccompanied.
International Organization for Migration – IOM
http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/about-migration/key-migration-terms-1.html
Key
Migration Terms
Assimilation - Adaptation of one ethnic or social
group – usually a minority – to another. Assimilation involves the subsuming of
language, traditions, values, mores and behaviour or even fundamental vital
interests. Although the traditional cultural practices of the group are
unlikely to be completely abandoned, on the whole assimilation will lead one
group to be socially indistinguishable from other members of the society.
Assimilation is the most extreme form of acculturation.
Assisted Voluntary Return -
Administrative, logistical, financial and reintegration support to rejected
asylum seekers, victims of trafficking in human beings, stranded migrants,
qualified nationals and other migrants unable or unwilling to remain in the
host country who volunteer to return to their countries of origin.
Asylum seeker - A person who seeks safety
from persecution or serious harm in a country other than his or her own and
awaits a decision on the application for refugee status under relevant
international and national instruments. In case of a negative decision, the
person must leave the country and may be expelled, as may any non-national in
an irregular or unlawful situation, unless permission to stay is provided on
humanitarian or other related grounds.
Border management - Facilitation of
authorized flows of persons, including business people, tourists, migrants and
refugees, across a border and the detection and prevention of irregular entry
of non-nationals into a given country. Measures to manage borders include the
imposition by States of visa requirements, carrier sanctions against
transportation companies bringing irregular migrants to the territory, and
interdiction at sea. International standards require a balancing between
facilitating the entry of legitimate travellers and preventing that of travellers
entering for inappropriate reasons or with invalid documentation.
Brain drain - Emigration of trained and talented
individuals from the country of origin to another country resulting in a
depletion of skills resources in the former.
Brain gain - Immigration of trained and
talented individuals into the destination country. Also called "reverse
brain drain".
Capacity
building - Building capacity of governments and civil society by
increasing their knowledge and enhancing their skills. Capacity building can
take the form of substantive direct project design and implementation with a
partner government, training opportunities, or in other circumstances
facilitation of a bilateral or multilateral agenda for dialogue development put
in place by concerned authorities. In all cases, capacity building aims to
build towards generally acceptable benchmarks of management practices.
Circular migration - The fluid
movement of people between countries, including temporary or long-term movement
which may be beneficial to all involved, if occurring voluntarily and linked to
the labour needs of countries of origin and destination.
Country of origin - The country that is a source of
migratory flows (regular or irregular).
Emigration - The act of departing or exiting from
one State with a view to settling in another.
Facilitated migration - Fostering
or encouraging of regular migration by making travel easier and more
convenient. This may take the form of a streamlined visa application process,
or efficient and well-staffed passenger inspection procedures.
Forced migration - A migratory
movement in which an element of coercion exists, including threats to life and
livelihood, whether arising from natural or man-made causes (e.g. movements of
refugees and internally displaced persons as well as people displaced by
natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or
development projects).
Freedom of movement - A human right
comprising three basic elements: freedom of movement within the territory of a
country (Art. 13(1), Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948: “Everyone has
the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.”),
the right to leave any country and the right to return to his or her own
country (Art. 13(2), Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948:
"Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to
return to his country. See also Art. 12, International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. Freedom of movement is also referred to in the context of
freedom of movement arrangements between States at the regional level (e.g.
European Union).
Immigration - A process by which
non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement.
Internally Displaced Person
(IDP) - Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged
to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular
as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations
of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made
disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border
(Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2.).
See also de facto refugees, displaced person, externally displaced persons,
uprooted people.
International minimum standards -
The doctrine under which non-nationals benefit from a group of rights directly
determined by public international law, independently of rights internally
determined by the State in which the non-national finds him or herself. A State
is required to observe minimum standards set by international law with respect
to treatment of non-nationals present on its territory (or the property of such
persons), (e.g. denial of justice, unwarranted delay or obstruction of access
to courts are in breach of international minimum standards required by
international law). In some cases, the level of protection guaranteed by the
international minimum standard may be superior to that standard which the State
grants its own nationals.
Irregular migration - Movement that
takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving
countries. There is no clear or universally accepted definition of irregular
migration. From the perspective of destination countries it is entry, stay or
work in a country without the necessary authorization or documents required
under immigration regulations. From the perspective of the sending country, the
irregularity is for example seen in cases in which a person crosses an
international boundary without a valid passport or travel document or does not
fulfil the administrative requirements for leaving the country. There is,
however, a tendency to restrict the use of the term "illegal
migration" to cases of smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons.
Labour migration - Movement of persons
from one State to another, or within their own country of residence, for the
purpose of employment. Labour migration is addressed by most States in their
migration laws. In addition, some States take an active role in regulating
outward labour migration and seeking opportunities for their nationals abroad.
Migrant - At the international level, no
universally accepted definition for "migrant" exists. The term
migrant was usually understood to cover all cases where the decision to migrate
was taken freely by the individual concerned for reasons of "personal
convenience" and without intervention of an external compelling factor; it
therefore applied to persons, and family members, moving to another country or
region to better their material or social conditions and improve the prospect
for themselves or their family. The United Nations defines migrant as an
individual who has resided in a foreign country for more than one year
irrespective of the causes, voluntary or involuntary, and the means, regular or
irregular, used to migrate. Under such a definition, those travelling for
shorter periods as tourists and businesspersons would not be considered
migrants. However, common usage includes certain kinds of shorter-term
migrants, such as seasonal farm-workers who travel for short periods to work
planting or harvesting farm products.
*Documented
migrant - A migrant who entered a country lawfully and remains in the
country in accordance with his or her admission criteria.
*Economic migrant - A person leaving his or her
habitual place of residence to settle outside his or her country of origin in
order to improve his or her quality of life. This term is often loosely used to
distinguish from refugees fleeing persecution, and is also similarly used to
refer to persons attempting to enter a country without legal permission and/or
by using asylum procedures without bona fide cause. It may equally be applied
to persons leaving their country of origin for the purpose of employment
*Irregular
migrant - A person who, owing to unauthorized entry, breach of a condition
of entry, or the expiry of his or her visa, lacks legal status in a transit or
host country. The definition covers inter alia those persons who have entered a
transit or host country lawfully but have stayed for a longer period than
authorized or subsequently taken up unauthorized employment (also called
clandestine/undocumented migrant or migrant in an irregular situation). The
term "irregular" is preferable to "illegal" because the
latter carries a criminal connotation and is seen as denying migrants'
humanity.
*Skilled migrant - A migrant worker who, because of
his or her skills or acquired professional experience, is usually granted
preferential treatment regarding admission to a host country (and is therefore
subject to fewer restrictions regarding length of stay, change of employment
and family reunification).
*Temporary migrant worker -
Skilled, semi-skilled or untrained workers who remain in the destination
country for definite periods as determined in a work contract with an
individual worker or a service contract concluded with an enterprise. Also
called contract migrant workers.
Migration - The movement of a person or a group
of persons, either across an international border, or within a State. It is a
population movement, encompassing any kind of movement of people, whatever its
length, composition and causes; it includes migration of refugees, displaced
persons, economic migrants, and persons moving for other purposes, including family
reunification.
Migration management - A term used
to encompass numerous governmental functions within a national system for the
orderly and humane management for cross-border migration, particularly managing
the entry and presence of foreigners within the borders of the State and the
protection of refugees and others in need of protection. It refers to a planned
approach to the development of policy, legislative and administrative responses
to key migration issues. Naturalization -
Granting by a State of its nationality to a non-national through a formal act
on the application of the individual concerned. International law does not
provide detailed rules for naturalization, but it recognizes the competence of
every State to naturalize those who are not its nationals and who apply to
become its nationals.
Orderly
migration - The movement of a person from his or her usual place of
residence to a new place of residence, in keeping with the laws and regulations
governing exit of the country of origin and travel, transit and entry into the
destination or host country.
Push-pull factors - Migration is
often analysed in terms of the "push-pull model", which looks at the
push factors, which drive people to leave their country (such as economic,
social, or political problems) and the pull factors attracting them to the
country of destination.
Receiving country - Country of
destination or a third country. In the case of return or repatriation, also the
country of origin. Country that has accepted to receive a certain number of
refugees and migrants on a yearly basis by presidential, ministerial or
parliamentary decision.
Refugee - A person who, "owing to a
well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political opinions, is outside the
country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling
to avail himself of the protection of that country. (Art. 1(A)(2), Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees, Art. 1A(2), 1951 as modified by the 1967
Protocol). In addition to the refugee definition in the 1951 Refugee
Convention, Art. 1(2), 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention
defines a refugee as any person compelled to leave his or her country
"owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events
seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country or
origin or nationality." Similarly, the 1984 Cartagena Declaration states
that refugees also include persons who flee their country "because their
lives, security or freedom have been threatened by generalised violence,
foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violations of human rights or
other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order."
Remittances - Monies earned or acquired by
non-nationals that are transferred back to their country of origin.
Repatriation - The personal right of a refugee,
prisoner of war or a civil detainee to return to his or her country of
nationality under specific conditions laid down in various international
instruments (Geneva Conventions, 1949 and Protocols, 1977, the Regulations
Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Annexed to the Fourth Hague
Convention, 1907, human rights instruments as well as customary international
law). The option of repatriation is bestowed upon the individual personally and
not upon the detaining power. In the law of international armed conflict,
repatriation also entails the obligation of the detaining power to release
eligible persons (soldiers and civilians) and the duty of the country of origin
to receive its own nationals at the end of hostilities. Even if treaty law does
not contain a general rule on this point, it is today readily accepted that the
repatriation of prisoners of war and civil detainees has been consented to
implicitly by the interested parties. Repatriation as a term also applies to
diplomatic envoys and international officials in time of international crisis
as well as expatriates and migrants.
Resettlement - The relocation and
integration of people (refugees, internally displaced persons, etc.) into
another geographical area and environment, usually in a third country. In the
refugee context, the transfer of refugees from the country in which they have
sought refuge to another State that has agreed to admit them. The refugees will
usually be granted asylum or some other form of long-term resident rights and,
in many cases, will have the opportunity to become naturalized.
Smuggling - "The procurement, in order
to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of
the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a
national or a permanent resident” (Art. 3(a), UN Protocol Against the Smuggling
of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000). Smuggling, contrary to
trafficking, does not require an element of exploitation, coercion, or
violation of human rights.
Stateless
person - A person who is not considered as a national by any
State under the operation of its law" (Art. 1, UN Convention relating to
the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954). As such, a stateless person lacks those
rights attributable to national diplomatic protection of a State, no inherent
right of sojourn in the State of residence and no right of return in case he or
she travels.
Technical cooperation -
Coordinated action in which two or several actors share information and
expertise on a given subject usually focused on public sector functions (e.g.
development of legislation and procedures, assistance with the design and
implementation of infrastructure, or technological enhancement).
Trafficking in persons -
"The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons,
by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of
abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of
vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve
the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of
exploitation" (Art. 3(a), UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the UN
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000). Trafficking in persons
can take place within the borders of one State or may have a transnational
character.
Xenophobia -
At the international level, no universally accepted definition of xenophobia
exists, though it can be described as attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that
reject, exclude and often vilify persons, based on the perception that they are
outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity. There
is a close link between racism and xenophobia, two terms that can be hard to
differentiate from each other.