International Labor Migration Research Articles

Innovations in river passenger transportation as a factor in the development of the human capital of the regions

The object of research in this article is the relationship between the innovative development of river passenger transportation, increasing labor productivity in the economy of the respective territories and the cost of human capital involved in the production process. The subject of the study was the labor resources, the level of their territorial fragmentation with production capacities and the determination of ways to fill the needs of production in the missing qualified personnel. Particular attention is paid to the development of inland waterway transport as a link between labor resources and production facilities. The relevance of this study is confirmed by the presence of a large potential for the development of passenger transportation by river transport using innovative vessels, modern digital systems and navigation tools. The methodological basis of the study was the methods of statistical observation, analysis and calculation of the possible effect. The use of the abstraction method gave the authors the opportunity to obtain an approximate quantitative assessment of the effect obtained from increasing the labor mobility of the population as a result of the development of innovative passenger transportation by river transport. The main scientific results of the study are: 1) confirmation of the hypothesis about the relationship between the growth of economic activity with increased labor mobility, 2) justification of the need for innovative development of passenger transportation by inland waterway. The scientific novelty of the work is to substantiate the need to increase labor mobility within one region and between regions connected by waterways by innovative development of passenger transportation by river transport, as well as in an attempt to quantify the development of human capital on the example of internal labor migration in order to fill in the missing qualified personnel in modern (including innovative) industries.

Why is farming important for rural livelihood security in the global south? COVID-19 and changing rural livelihoods in Nepal's mid-hills

Over the last three decades, Nepal has experienced a rapid transition in rural livelihoods, from largely subsistence farming to more diversified off-farm employment and remittances. Despite this, subsistence farming continues to be a central part of rural production. Why does farming persist in the face of other, more remunerative, off-farm employment options? In this article we argue that subsistence food production continues to be important for rural livelihood security by providing food needs from farming, thus helping households to cope with uncertainties in off-farm employment and international labor migration. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of a high level of livelihood stress, the paper provides insights and further explanations on the logic of maintaining subsistence food production as part of rural households' livelihood security. Drawing on in-depth qualitative study, complemented with a quantitative survey from eight villages in rural Nepal, we examine the impact of the pandemic on farming and off-farm activities and explore the reasons behind peoples' choice of livelihood strategies and how these vary between different social groups. We show that there was only limited impact of the dramatic disruptions caused by the global pandemic on subsistence farming, however it brought substantial challenges for emerging semi-commercial farming and off-farm incomes, including both local and migratory wage labor. During the pandemic, people increased their reliance on locally produced food, and subsistence farming served as a critical safety net. Our analysis underscores the continued importance of subsistence production amidst contemporary shifts toward off-farm employment among rural households. We also find a growing interest in semi-commercial farming among farmers with better access to land who seek state support to develop such production. This suggests that it is important for agricultural development policy to recognize and support subsistence farming alongside emerging commercial agriculture production as an integral foundation of future farming and rural livelihood security.

Approach to population estimation in Ukraine using mobile operators’ data

Estimating the size and places of residence of the population of Ukraine has been this country’s problem for the past decade, and is related to the lack of census data for the 2010 round, large-scale processes of external and internal labour migration, and Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine that started in 2014. This already disadvantageous situation has been significantly exacerbated by Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine which began on 24th February 2022. Conducting statistical surveys, especially surveys regarding the population, turned out to impossible under war circumstances. Therefore, the task of developing effective approaches to estimating the population size using data from existing sources, in particular the data of mobile operators regarding the number, location and mobility of subscribers, has become even more pressing. The article highlights the results of a study on the use of data from mobile operators, data from administrative registers, and the results of a special population sample survey on the use of mobile communication for the purpose of estimating the population. It also provides the results of experimental calculations of the population size in Ukraine as a whole and in particular regions. The study moreover showed that the size of Ukraine’s population in November 2019, unlike the official estimate of 41,940.7 thousand people, was probably about 37,289.4 thousand people. The developed approaches can be used to estimate the number and location of the population of Ukraine during the intercensal period or significant population movements due to environmental disasters or military conflicts.

Turkey's role in international labor migration

Turkey's role in international labor migration

International labor migration and its impact on the labor market of Ukraine in the context of Russian military aggression

The modern development of the global economy is characterized by globalization, the tendency of economies towards openness, free movement of factors of production, including labor. The article discusses the phenomenon of international labor migration as the cross-border movement of individuals for the purpose of further employment. It is noted that it occurs under the influence of a range of interconnected factors, in conditions of growing differences between countries. The article analyzes the impact of mass labor migration of Ukrainians on the national labor market during the full-scale russian aggression, which the author considers as a crisis and destructive condition. It is proved that the unsatisfactory state of the labor market under the influence of crisis phenomena can also encourage migrants to leave and find employment in other countries. The conclusion is made that international labor migration and the national labor market are definitely interconnected and influence each other. It is noted that the consequences of international labor migration are ambiguous and have an impact on both the recipient and donor country. In particular, international labor migration can cause such obvious negative consequences for the national labor market as increased competition, lower overall wages in the receiving country, and brain drain in the country of origin. Using the example of Ukraine during the full-scale russian invasion, a labor shortage on the labor market due to the migration of workers abroad is noticed. It is emphasized that with appropriate comprehensive regulation, international labor migration becomes a real tool for improving the situation on national labor markets and has a positive impact on the well-being of states even in a crisis period. For example, foreign workers specially recruited from abroad or returning Ukrainian migrants can help overcome labor shortages in sectors where there is a significant lack of workforce Therefore, the necessary conditions for the formation of an effective migration policy during crisis conditions are: the study of current trends in international labor migration, the identification of the reasons that cause these trends, and the consequences of the impact of this phenomenon on the labor market in Ukraine.

СФЕРИ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ГРОШОВИХ КОШТІВ МІЖНАРОДНИХ ТРУДОВИХ МІГРАНТІВ

Remittances of international labor migrants are of critical importance for poorer countries – both in terms of the longterm survival of households and the adequate functioning of these states in terms of macroeconomic stability, the ability to provide basic state services, and the ability to finance socio-economic development in priority directions for these states and societies. At the same time remittances from international labor migrants are, by their economic essence, primarily a transfer, and not extra resources. That is why this phenomenon should be considered not only in the plane of monetary and fiscal policy of governments, but also in terms of the social policy complex of the labor donor country. This is in line with the significant social role of remittances from international labor migrants – primarily for households and local communities, especially in depressed regions and rural areas. The peculiarities of the use of remittances of international labor migrants are reflected in the structure of their households' expenses in the donor countries. The expenses of this group of economic agents are divided into two large groups: 1. current consumption and 2. savings and investments, which reflect the main components of the GDP of the labor donor country and are key drivers of the socio-economic growth of the state. International labor migrants form informed, based on their own perspective and previous experience, micro-level decisions on the use of remittances earned abroad, based on the short- and long-term needs of their household, as well as the household's future plans in combination with a set of macro-environmental limiting factors in the country of origin. All this in a complex affects the tendency of international labor migrants to the frequency and methods of transferring earned funds to the donor country, the specific areas of use of this transfer by households whose members are employed abroad, as well as the nature of the state policy of labor donor countries, which are aimed at the maximum involvement of this resource in one's own national economy and its adequate use within the framework of stimulating socio-economic development in the short- and long-term time horizons.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНИЙ ДИСКУРС МІЖНАРОДНОЇ ТРУДОВОЇ МІГРАЦІЇ: ЕКОНОМІЧНИЙ ВИМІР

The dominant channels of globalization of the labor market, as one of the determining patterns of its modern structural transformation, are, on the one hand, the convergence of individual subsystems of national labor markets and the elimination of legal, national-ethnic, cultural-humanitarian and other barriers between them, and on the other – international labor migration. Due to its economic nature and the driving forces of development, the cross-border movement of labor resources is an extremely complex process capable of exerting a powerful transformational influence on both the scale and structure of national labor markets, as well as the demographic, professional-qualification, educational, gender, and age composition of the population of states and entire regions. It is no accident that issues related to the regulation of international labor migration processes have become an integral component of global economic policy and the adoption of various political decisions regarding interstate cooperation in recent decades. In this regard, the substantiation of the conceptual design of the global theory of labor migration based on the generalization of its theoretical arsenal and taking into account the most constructive elements of existing theories and concepts acquires significant theoretical and methodological importance. And to generalize the theoretical discourse of international labor migration processes, let us emphasize the following: each of the theories and concepts of cross-border labor movement, having its competitive advantages and methodological flaws, performed an important ontological function in the formation of scientific views on its essence, driving forces, vector orientation, organizational-economic and institutional-regulatory formats, as well as the mechanisms of the impact of migration on global employment and the functioning of national labor markets. Their key methodological principles make it possible to adequately understand the key patterns of the development of international labor migration at various stages of global economic development, to forecast their prospective trends, as well as to develop effective migration policies of states and regional groups. Despite the fact that various aspects of the classical concepts of labor migration to some extent lose their relevance in modern conditions, they are still actively used by states and regional groups to solve a wide range of strategic goals and tasks of competitive development.

Перспективи розвитку співпраці України з ЄС у сфері трудової міграції

The paper is devoted to the prospects for the development of Ukraine's cooperation with the EU’s countries in the field of labor migration regulation. It is established that in current time the international labor migration is one of the most characteristic manifestations of the globalization of the world economy due to the fact that now the number of recipient countries is about 67 units in comparison with 39 units a few decades ago, while the number of donor countries has increased from 29 to 55 units. It was determined that the main reasons for such changes are: global political crises and changes in the world coordinate system. The hypothesis was proposed and confirmed that, given the objective factors, including the political and the presence of the armed conflict in the country, emigration will only increase in the near future due to the state of the economy and the desire to receive material income. The cause-and-effect relationships between migration and the socio-economic state of the economy are considered by analyzing its main indicators, among them such as: population size, birth rate, education level and retention rate. The hypothesis was put forward and proved that the amount of the earned salary is one of the reasons for voluntary dismissal or reluctance to extend the employment contract. The geographical mapping of labor migrants from Ukraine in the countries of the world was studied. Key macroeconomic variables such as GDP growth, (un)employment, remittance flows, international development aid and foreign direct investment are identified, which are crucial to understanding the effects of migration as they provide an overview of the economic situation of any country. The forecast values of GDP growth and GDP per capita of Ukraine was analysed in the context of putting forward a hypothesis regarding for the further migration tendencies. The necessity of regulating the negative consequences for the Ukrainian economy in order to counteract its decline in the future due to the decreasing in the number of economically active population in the future, which are the main producers of the country's GDP, has been established.

ДЕТЕРМІНАНТИ МІГРАЦІЙНИХ ПРОЦЕСІВ ЯК ПЕРЕДУМОВА ФОРМУВАННЯ МІГРАЦІЙНИХ ПОТОКІВ В УМОВАХ ГЛОБАЛІЗАЦІЇ

The article discusses the main aspects of intermational migration. International migration is a process of crossing borders by population for long-term aims. International migration streams are described as the amount of migrants that cross the border within the one certain route. The volume of international migration depends on key important factors. Studying the determinants, the author has found out that the they are firmly connected with the problem of reasons and consequences of international migration streams. The question of the mounting amount of population in poor countries and the problem with the increasing of negative effects of transnational corporations activity have been investigated in the aspect of the globalisation of international economic relationships. Various factors have been mentioned. The risks connected with the tax dodge, the acts of taking control over the largest part of domestic firms and politic impact on the country’s parliaments are among the most hazardous. The vital issue that has been studied by the autor is the influence of world crisises and military conflicts on the world economy at all. In the addition to the main part of the study the graph with the information of increasing amount of migrants has been attached to the work. During the study the author has figured out that the consequences of globalisation affected mostly the volume of international labour migration. The number of migrants has rocketed since the first features of globalization have been noticed. According to the open resources that have been used while studying the determinants of migration processes, globalization is the process the is described as an increase of number of international connections among the countries all over the globe. The most known features of global world are the enhancement of international division of labour, the economy of volume of production, the improvement of competitiveness, the increase of productivity, the maximization in usage of financial resources and the progress of innovation implementation. As a result of the work it has been concluded that precondition of formation of migration streams is determinants (key factors) that influence the rate and volume of migration and, as a fact, change its structure and directions.

Экономико-статистический анализ основных тенденций развития международной трудовой миграции

Subject. At the present stage of development, migration processes are considered as one of the fundamental factors influencing the formation of society. Migration processes are one of the key population problems and are interpreted not only as the movement of citizens, but also as a complex social process that affects many socio-economic aspects of life. Goal. Research and assessment of international labor migration in modern conditions. Method or methodology. In the course of the work, general scientific methods were used: comparison, analysis, synthesis, analogy, as well as rating. Results of the work. For 2018–2021 there is a positive migration balance, i.e. the number of arrivals in the Russian Federation is greater than those leaving. The main influx of migrants comes from the CIS countries, and a large share of them is a labor force with a fairly low level of professional training. At the same time, one of the characteristic features of migration in Russia is the uneven distribution of flows across the territory of the state. Most migrants are sent, as a rule, to the Central and Northwestern federal districts, since they are the most economically attractive for migrants. Conclusion. Taking into account previously identified trends and research into foreign experience in migration policy, the following directions have been formulated: in the field of interstate regulation of labor migration, taking into account agreements with foreign countries – Russia’s key migration partners; in the field of general issues of regulating labor migration in the interests of the Russian labor market; in the field of ensuring working and living conditions for migrant workers; in the sphere of integration of some migrant workers into Russian society; in the field of improving the system of statistical accounting and monitoring of labor migration.

"Hu Line" and the problem of imbalance in China's territorial development

The article is devoted to such a phenomenon as the imbalance of the territorial development of China, which is based on the concept of the Chinese geographer Hu Huanyong. This concept was called the "Hu Line", which divided the country into western and eastern parts. On its basis, the development of China is shown within the framework of the Reform and Opening Policy, Development of Western China and other state plans. Based on the analysis of the territorial development of the PRC from 1979 to 2019, it is shown that the attempts of the PRC government to move the "Hu Line" westward for more than forty years have not led to success. The development of the eastern regions of China only led to an increase in the disproportionate development of the PRC and exacerbated the social problems of eastern China, which were caused by large internal labor migration. The article also examines the current concepts of China's development, the purpose of which is to break the "Hu Huanyong Line". Analyzed the main approaches of Chinese scientists, which are reduced to the formation of development belts. The development belt, according to Chinese researchers, should be formed either from biterritorial concepts of development, or from concepts that lead to the fragmentation of the "Hu Huanyong Line" into several regions, lined up in a belt. The article proposes the concept of "Four China", which was formed on the basis of demographic, economic and climatic factors. Comparing and superimposing these factors on the map of China has led to the emergence of four regions, showing the economic and social state of modern China. Within the framework of this concept, it was possible to demonstrate the specifics of the four regions within the framework of the modern territorial development of China. Each region has its own distinctive potential: Region I has economic potential, Region II - political and economic, Region III - resource and tourism, Region IV - traditional and tourism. Moreover, the concept shows that a shift in the "Hu Huanyong Line" within the framework of territorial features is practically impossible.

Status of Foreign Labour Migration and Impact of Migrants by COVID-19 in Nepal

The paper based on the status of labour migration and remittances of Nepal in 2014 to 2022. The aims of this paper are to find out the situation of foreign labour migration in Nepal and to examine the impact of COVID[1]19 on the Outflow of Nepali Migrants. It is descriptive in nature and entirely based on secondary sources of information. The trends in foreign employment are presented for past eight years, 2009/10-2018/19. Although Nepal labour migration report 2022 and prelimanari report of 2021, this report reiterates those trends along with updated data from the past fiscal year to create a single comprehensive report. According to National Living Standard Survey 2011, 56 percent of Nepali households have at least one member of their family working and living abroad. The remittances sent by these members have helped improve the standard of living of Nepali households. In 2020, the remittances sent by migrant workers covered to 23.5 percent of the Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, international labor migration plays a huge role in keeping Nepal’s economy afloat. The decision of the youths to go abroad as labor was a strategy to escape from the potential threat, livelihood options, and get new country experience which ultimately became the major source to bring back remittance. Though low- skilled, foreign labor migration has been the major phenomenon for the country, which is now fully dependent on the remittance economy and counts for over one- fourth of the total national income. Nepal has undertaken several policy measures to overcome these anomalies. Although the implementation aspect is fragile to meet the ground reality, and from the notion of strategic intervention, it is necessary to revisit the policy measures to make foreign labor migration safe, secure, and informed choice based.

After Covid-2019 Pandemic: Returnee Migrants' Economy Management on Their Household

This paper is based on returnee migrants' economic management of their households of ward no. 4 in Gauradaha municipality, Jhapa district. The objectives of this paper are to identify the returnee migrants' economic management of their households and to find out the used of their remittances after the COVID pandemic. The paper used a descriptive and analytical research design with the primary source of data method. The study selected 247 households and 163numbers of forms filled up within one month and used the purposive sampling method (non-probability sampling. These data are analyzed through frequency distribution, cross table and the main output. The paper concludes that the majority of international labour migrants seek better income in cities, job seeking on forced idleness during the part of year and services. They are compelled to send their husbands and sons to gulf countries to earn for the subsistence of the households. After returning, the foreign migrant workers to the homeland by the cause of theCOVID-19 pandemic increase the household workloads the financial problems day by day, when they stay in foreign countries improving their economic status from household to community basis level. However, they have the difficulty in getting government services characterized with corruption like nepotism, favoritism and briberies to secure jobs. Low-paid work and illegal transfer, employment discrimination with respect to colour, age, sex, ethnicity, religion and others are major problems facing migrant workers. Although they are trying to engage different types of income generation works or self-employment t at the different local levels, it is necessary for the developing countries to solve these problems.

Economic Prospects and International Labor Migration

The expectation was a crucial element in the decision-making process about migration, so this study analyzed the impact of economic prospects on international labor migration on Java Island. The data sourced from the Indonesian Statistics includes international labor migration, economic prospects, unemployment, wage difference, and poverty in six provinces on Java Island from 2011 to 2020. This study utilized regression analysis based on the Panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and the Panel Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS). This method was complemented by expert judgments summarized in the Delphi analysis to identify the causes of international labor migration. The result shows that improving economic prospects negatively affects international labor migration. The better economic prospects would be followed by lower international labor migration. Meanwhile, increased unemployment and poverty rates lead to a rise in international labor migration. However, the wage difference has no impact on international labor migration. The Delphi analysis revealed that international labor migration is associated with some causes, such as vacancies in the home country, poverty, economic prospects in the home province, language similarity with the home country, distance to the destination country, and living costs in the destination country. Nevertheless, the wage difference between the wage rate in home country and the destination countries unrelated to international labor migration.

Migration, Diversity and Development in the Villages in Murshidabad District, West Bengal

With their significant social and cultural diversities, people live together in villages of Murshidabad district, West Bengal. The densely populated villages have high pressure on resources such as land and the rural labour market. NITI AYOG has reported Murshidabad district as one of the most backward districts in India. International labour migration started in the 1970s following the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for better jobs and income. Devastating floods in 2000 accelerated the emigration of labour to the Gulf countries to mitigate the damage. In recent years, especially post-flood time, Hindu neighbours with Muslim counterparts also moved to Gulf countries for better income. Remittances improved villagers’ material conditions (land and housing) and developed the growing local rural market. The knitted social cohesion between Hindus and Muslims initiated and accelerated the emigration process of Hindus, too, later on, further tightening the family and social ties in the post-migration period. This trust and ties of diverse groups have strengthened the potential for creating sustainable societies and attaining several SDGs, specifically SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).

Labor migration and its impact on economic status

The present study entitled Labor Migration and its Impact in Bhaktapur has been carried out with the main objective to identify the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of international labor migrants' households, This study was conducted by applying descriptive type of research by using survey based research design. International labour migration is a process which is very significant. Remittance from abroad is supporting the national economy to a great extent. Unemployment is a burning issue and foreign employment is providing employment to many from across Nepal. Foreign currency has weight and with the high exchange rate it can really be rewarding Work and Wage is mostly determined by skill, education and fluency. People are surviving and at the same time hoping that sooner or later foreign employment will be a blessing. It is just a matter of years spend abroad by the migrants that will improve the economic condition of the respective households. Level of income for migrant households has increased but expenditure also increased respectively. Standard of living and quality of food are raised of their family. Unemployment lack of agricultural land and poverty are important factors for emigration associated with origin. Likewise, high wage rate, easy availability of unskilled works and no need of higher education other important factors associated destination. Some positive and negative impacts also seem in foreign employment.

INNOVATIVE DIRECTIONS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL LABOR MARKET IN GLOBALIZATION

The article analyzes the economic essence of the world labor market in the conditions of globalization. The world labor market is a complex economic system that is modified under the influence of the dynamics of demand and supply of labor resources in the world market; under the influence of the peculiarities of the formation of the price of labor, the formation of conditions and the amount of remuneration, the specifics of social protection; quantitative and qualitative movement and placement of labor in different countries of the world; differences in national approaches to the reproduction of the workforce, its professional training and retraining. In the conditions of globalization, national labor markets are quickly losing their closedness and isolation, becoming components of the world labor market. The strategic priorities of the development of the world labor market are formed under the influence of the multidirectional action of a number of factors: globalization and the openness of the national economy, structural and innovative shifts in the world economy, as a result of the intensification of labor migration and the strengthening of the role of international organizations as coordinators of the development of international economic relations. The main benefits of labor migration go to recipient countries. It is not easy to estimate the scale, because not all of them are quantifiable. They consist of savings on the training of specialists in host countries, the cost of products and services created by immigrants in the host country, and income from taxation. Immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, contribute more to the country's income than they receive from the public sector. International labor migration is becoming more and more global in nature. Today it covers the absolute majority of countries in the world. The main directions of modern migration processes are the North and South American region, the Western European market, Southeast and Western Asia, and the African section of migration movements. That is why these processes require regulation by the states participating in the exchange labor resources, and balanced international migration policy.

INTERNATIONAL LABOR MIGRATION AS ECONOMIC SCIENTIFIC CATEGORY: NEW CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

International economic integration, transnationalization and world economy globalization are the most important catalysts for international labor migration development, involving all countries of the world, shaping the labor global demand and supply, labor markets trends, and as a result, contribute to the growth of international migration, change its geographical directions, as well as the qualitative structure of foreign labor. On the other hand, international migration itself, being a complex and ambiguous phenomenon, has a multidirectional impact on the economic, social, political, and cultural development of the world population. The paper proposes a new conceptual approach to revealing the essence of international labor migration, as an economic scientific category, through its multidimensional nature.

THE IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION PROCESSES ON THE ECONOMY ON THE EXAMPLE OF UKRAINE

The need to study the consequences of international migration processes is urgent for Ukraine, which is the general purpose of this work. The purpose of this work is to generalize theoretical approaches to the study of methods of analysis of the impact of international migration processes on the economy of the state, to study specific aspects of the impact on the economy of Ukraine. Despite the fact that the theoretical base, although present, cannot fully reveal all the aspects presented in the work, there is a need to use a significant methodological apparatus. The methods of induction, deduction, synthesis and analysis, comparison, historical retrospective, economic-mathematical analysis, graphic method for visual presentation of the results were used to write this research. The object of research in this paper is actually the processes of international labor migrations at the current stage of development. The subject of research in this paper is the economic aspect of the consequences of international labor migration for the economy of the country in the conditions of globalization. The practical significance of the article is to study the impact of international migration processes on the economy of Ukraine. The bottom line is that similar works were mainly aimed at studying the effects of individual factors that shape international migration processes or at the limited economies of individual countries that have their own characteristics and, accordingly, such conclusions cannot be extrapolated to absolutely all world economy. Value/originality lies in the fact that the article analyzed applied aspects of the impact of international migration processes on the economy of Ukraine. As a result of the study, key aspects of the positive and negative impact of international migration processes on the economic development of countries were analyzed. It was found that despite the presence of positive aspects of the impact of migration in the overall result, the labor donor country still loses. And on the example of Ukraine, we found that as a result of migration, the Ukrainian economy still loses.

Meaning and Experience of International Migration in Black African South African Families.

This article explores the experiences of some Black South African families affected by international migration. Historically, emigration from South Africa has occurred in waves, and has been associated with specific political moments. Such migration has often been perceived as a predominantly “White phenomenon”, but recent trends reveal a more complex picture. Prior research on Black migration has focused primarily on internal labour migration, exilic migration and the “brain drain” phenomenon of medical professionals. So far, little research has been done on the impact of international outward migration on the Black family system. This article addresses this gap, drawing on a larger qualitative project exploring the impact of South African emigration on elderly family members staying behind. The findings highlight the significance of close relational ties in the Black South African family system. Familial separation through emigration brings feelings of loss and apprehension for the wellbeing of family members living abroad, including potential racism in destination countries. Migrants abroad highlighted the value of family and of maintaining a Black South African identity, despite separation from the country of origin and the extended family. Significantly, migration is often perceived as a temporary state, in contrast to White South African counterparts. Given increased international migration, the results shed light on the interplay between racial identity and emigration, and the impact of international migration by Black South Africans on family that they leave behind.