Majority Of Migrants Research Articles

Caring for migrant patients in the UK: how the Migrant Health Guide can help

The latest figures estimate that in 2009 11% of the UK population had been born abroad,1 representing an increase on the 8% recorded during the 2001 Census.2 India, Poland, and Pakistan were the top three most common countries of birth for migrants living in the UK in 2009, but in London the largest groups among those born abroad were African-born (just under a quarter in both inner and outer London) and European-born (a quarter in inner London and a fifth in outer London).1 The largest number of new long-term migrants over the last 5 years has come from the European Union (the majority from the original EU-15 countries).3 Most migrants have come to the UK to study or work,3 but some are more vulnerable, such as those who are seeking asylum, unaccompanied children, and those who have been trafficked. Although the majority of migrants have few health problems, some will have health needs that are different from those of UK-born patients.4 There are many influences on health and these can include exposures and experiences in someone's country of origin, during the migration process itself, as well as their living conditions once they have arrived in the UK. In addition, cultural practices and ethnicity can influence health throughout someone's life When a migrant patient presents for treatment within a primary care practice it can be difficult to understand what health issues are relevant to that patient without knowing more about their background and the country they …

The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture, and Society in Venezuela

This book examines the impact of the Venezuelan oil industry on the social and political development of the country. Although the book spans the oil industry’s development from its beginning in the nineteenth century to the arrival of the current administration of Hugo Chávez Frias in 1999, the author concentrates mainly on events that took place during the Juan Vicente Gómez dictatorship (1908 – 35), when the country became the second largest crude oil producer in the world. The book tries to prove that the oil industry was the modernizing conduit for the country, but there is no adequate definition of what is meant by modernization. The few examples given refer to the haphazard development of townships that became cities. Possible indicators of modernity, such as the introduction of electricity, banking facilities, or sports played by the oil community do not help. The first bank in Maracaibo was opened in 1878 and the first electric generator was installed in the city in 1888. The quintessentially American and English games of baseball and cricket were played by the expatriate oil community, but cricket never caught on, and baseball only took off after 1941 when Venezuela won the world championships in Havana, Cuba.The book suffers from a lack of essential facts on which to anchor the social and political impact of the industry. The author argues that the oil workers became a modernizing influence, but the total number of people employed by the oil companies is not given. The author relies instead on vague statements, such as that the oil industry’s labor force “remained exceedingly small” (p. 172). Detailed employment statistics appeared annually in the Development Ministry’s Memorias. In 1936, for instance, the ministry reported that the industry employed 13,754 workers directly (14 percent foreign) out of a national population of 3.4 million. The author also states that the oil industry in Zulia and other oil states was responsible for the largest internal migration of people in the country, but again the evidence contradicts such an assertion. John Robert Moore shows that between 1928 and 1936 the total migrant population accounted for 12 percent of the country’s population and that the oil states received 24 percent of total migrants. According to E. J. Stann, the majority of migrants went to Caracas, accounting for 25 percent of the city’s population in 1920 and rising to 40 percent in 1936. The reason for such a movement was the wage differential between urban and rural sectors, which existed long before the arrival of the oil companies. There is scant information on the wages paid in the oil industry compared with local wages. In 1917, the average wage in the mining sector was 33.3 percent higher than the oil industry. With the oil boom after 1922, wages increased and began to exert a slight pull in attracting rural labor to the region. In 1936, there were few industries in Zulia that could match the oil industry’s average monthly salary for native staff, but there were still three sectors, chemical firms, financial services, and transport services, that paid higher salaries than the oil companies.On the political front, the author inexplicably fails to mention the undisputed example of foreign political intervention by a hydrocarbon company. In 1901, the New York & Bermudez Co., owned by the Asphalt Company of America, contributed US$140,000 toward Manuel Antonio Matos’s Libertadora Revolution (1901 – 3), which almost toppled the government of Cipriano Castro (1899 – 1908). The author gives little credit to the Gómez dictatorship for tackling the abuses perpetrated by the oil companies during the early part of the 1920s in Zulia. The appointment of Vincencio Pérez Soto as state president of Zulia in 1926 was partly to bring order to the oil industry that he found out of control. The author refers to a racist undercurrent in both the oil companies and the Venezuelan elite, but the examples quoted can be found in almost any of the expatriate literature of the time describing the native population. Indeed, it would be remarkable to find the contrary, especially as racial segregation existed in the US southern states up to the 1960s, and the British ruled a vast empire.In spite of the lack of a convincing argument that the oil industry had a modernizing influence, the book adds value in its treatment and description of the social development and activities that took place within the oil industry. The author manages to bring to life an important and fascinating aspect of the oil industry that is not often seen in the literature.

Knowledge of free voluntary HIV testing centres and willingness to do a test among migrants in Cayenne, French Guiana

In Cayenne, French Guiana, 80% of HIV-positive patients followed at the hospital are migrants. Behavioural information is crucial for optimising HIV testing for this vulnerable group. Predictors of ignorance of the existence of free voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre and willingness to get tested were investigated in 2006 among 398 migrants from Haiti, Guyana, Suriname and Brazil using a structured questionnaire. Only 27% of migrants knew simultaneously about the existence of free VCT, its localisation and its operating hours. Factors associated with ignorance of the existence of free VCT centre were birthplace in Haiti, being in French Guiana for less than three years, not thinking one's birth country as strongly affected by HIV and not thinking to be personally at risk for HIV. Factors independently associated with willingness to get tested were thinking to be at risk for HIV, birthplace in Brazil and Haiti, having a high-integration level and fear of suffering if HIV test was positive. In order to improve testing among migrants, the accessibility of testing facilities and the knowledge of their whereabouts and operating hours must be improved to promote the desired behaviour among the majority of migrants which is often willing to do the test.

South African HIV/AIDS programming overlooks migration, urban livelihoods, and informal workplaces

South Africa has the largest population of people living with HIV globally and is associated with high population mobility. The majority of migrants move in search of improved livelihood opportunities, and many who migrate (both internally and across borders) move into urban areas, often through peripheral informal settlements where HIV prevalence is shown to be double that of urban formal areas. While the relationship between migration and the spread of HIV is acknowledged as complex, the context of migration may place individuals at increased risk for acquiring HIV. Studies have demonstrated the long-wave impact of HIV and AIDS on livelihood activities and, more recently, on patterns of migration. Many migrants engage in livelihood strategies situated within the urban 'informal economy'; these informal workplaces are often overlooked in global and national legislation governing workplace responses to health and HIV and AIDS. This study draws on existing research and limited primary data to explore the implications of HIV/AIDS programming for diverse migrant groups labouring in informal workplaces in Johannesburg, South Africa. We describe three case studies: waste-pickers at a dumpsite in a peripheral urban informal settlement; barmen and cleaners working in inner-city hotels where sex is also sold; and, migrants engaged in informal livelihood activities who are also members of burial societies. Given the importance of varied informal livelihood activities for diverse migrant groups, particularly in urban areas of South Africa, we propose that the national HIV/AIDS response can and should engage with internal and cross-border migrants in informal workplaces — which is in line with the principle of universal access and will strengthen the national response. Especially, we point out the potential for burial societies to provide an entry point for HIV/AIDS programming that targets migrant groups involved in the informal economy of South African cities.

Coraje, nervios, and susto: Culture-bound syndromes and mental health among Mexican migrants in the United States

PurposeThis study explored inter-relationships among three culture-bound syndromes, coraje, nervios, or susto, commonly found among Latino populations. Associations of each syndrome to a range of indicators of health, culture, and sociodemographic background were examined. Implications for mental health practitioners working with migrant populations coming from diverse cultural backgrounds were addressed.MethodsA total of 179 Mexican-origin migrants were interviewed using a Spanish language questionnaire. Participants were asked whether they had experiences with coraje, nervios, or susto. Phi correlation coefficient was reported as a measure of the degree of co-occurrence of (a) current and lifetime culture-bound syndromes, and (b) the three syndromes with each other. Associations of each syndrome with gender, and urgent health care need were tested using the chi-square test. Relationships between each syndrome with (a) each item contained in the PHQ-9, and (b) other demographic, health, and culture related variables were tested using the t-test.ResultsA majority of migrants reported experiencing at least one culture-bound syndrome in their lifetime, and nearly a third of participants reported to be currently suffering from at least one syndrome. Women reported significantly higher prevalence of all three culture bound-syndromes. Significant relationships between lifetime experiences of culture-bound syndromes with health related indicators were found. Findings suggest that coraje and nervios are the most prevalent and co-morbid.Conclusion/ImplicationsThis study illuminated some of the links that exist between three non-Western cultural expressions of mental/emotional distress (coraje, nervios, or susto) and indicators commonly used by the Western biomedical model of mental illness. These findings offer some evidence for how mainstream mental health systems providing services to Mexican migrants and other Latinos can interpret the meaning of these cultural idioms of distress.

‘There's One Shop You Don't Go Into If You Are English’: The Social and Political Integration of English Migrants into Wales

Research into ethnic minorities in Wales has gathered pace in recent years. Yet little is known about Wales' largest ethnic group, the English, although the Welsh–English boundary remains the main marker of ethnic distinction, and migration into Wales from England represents a continuing challenge to the maintenance of distinctive ‘Welshness’—including Welsh language and associated culture. Evidence from a study of English migrants into selected communities in North-West Wales throws light on the characteristics of a previously neglected ‘dominant minority’ and is used to assess the extent to which some of the most-frequently voiced criticisms of migrants' attitudes and impact correspond to their own perceptions and evaluations of the inmigrant experience. The majority of migrants are shown to be attempting to integrate into Welsh life, socially and politically, but a minority express awareness of lines of ethnic tension and division.

Evaluating the effect of slot size and environmental variables on the passage of estuarine nekton through a water control structure

Water control structures (WCSs) installed to regulate water levels can alter both the hydrology and ecology of salt marshes. WCSs are thought to limit nekton ingress into, and egress from, managed marshes. Slots (vertical openings that span most of the water column) incorporated into WCSs are thought to facilitate nekton passage through structures, but little research has directly examined how slot size affects passage rates. We used dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) acoustic imaging to examine the effect of slot width (10, 15, 30, or 60 cm), tidal cycle, diel period, and season on nekton passage at a WCS located in a tidal salt marsh canal. Few individuals (total numbers and relative percentages) used the slots for passage through the structure during any stage of the tidal cycle, day or night, or seasonally. The number and size of migrants were similar for all four slot sizes examined. Nekton used the slots most often on flood tides to access the managed marsh (i.e., swim inside), primarily at night. Individuals entering the managed marsh were larger than those observed leaving the managed marsh. Whereas the majority of migrants were observed during winter months, season did not affect nekton passage in our study. Acoustic imaging allowed a unique and comprehensive evaluation of nekton passage by permitting an examination of factors such as swimming direction and proportion of migrants that are unobservable with other sampling techniques.

Drifting and getting stuck: Migrants in Chinese cities

Residential mobility patterns are an important indicator of the future socioeconomic standing of rural–urban migrants in the urban society. In Chinese cities there are significant barriers for migrants to settle permanently. Given this context and housing choices available to migrants, what types of housing career do they follow once in the city? Drawing from survey data from three large cities, this paper studies migrant intra‐urban residential mobility through three lenses—temporal patterns, spatial trajectories and tenure shifts. The majority of migrants are renters and remain so despite a lengthy residence in the cities. They experience a high level of mobility over time, but the trajectories of their moves are spatially confined and involve few tenure shifts.

Interregional migration, self-selection and the returns to education in Brazil

During the last decade Brazil has seen an astonishing reversal in the original north-east-to-south-east direction of migration. Within a framework of human capital and self-selection theory we try to identify the individual characteristics and motivations linked to the migration pattern. The overall results of this procedure suggest that there is a key difference between NE $${\Rightarrow }$$ SE movers and SE $${\Rightarrow }$$ NE movers. (1) SE $${\Rightarrow }$$ NE movers were adverse self-selected in terms of observable education characteristics. (2) No self-selection could be observed among migrants in the NE $${\Rightarrow }$$ SE direction. In general the North-East seems less attractive to highly skilled people. (3) Labor market segmentation with respect to sector occupation is likely. (4) There are clear differences in income determinants between movers and non movers. The majority of migrants except for migrants with higher education cannot expect to realize a return to education comparable to the average in the region of departure or destination. However, in the context of the Borjas selection model the returns to education analysis would predict a different pattern of migrant selectivity than the one observed in Brazil. Apart from soft characteristics connected to the regions we believe, that the large share of the non formal labor market is likely to indicate a surplus labor leading to a migration pattern different than expected from selection theory.

Patterns of migration and residency in coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii from two tributaries of the lower Columbia River

Coastal cutthroat trout Onchorhynchus clarkii clarkii life-history variants, migration and freshwater residency were monitored using stationary passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag arrays in two tributaries of the Columbia River from 2001 to 2005 (Abernathy Creek, river kilometre, rkm 76) and from 2002 to 2005 (Chinook River, rkm 6). In 2001-2003 and 2002-2003 (Abernathy and Chinook, respectively), 300-500 coastal O. c. clarkii were captured in each tributary by electrofishing and implanted with 23 mm PIT tags. PIT arrays monitored movements from the initiation of tagging through the spring of 2005. Rotary screw traps were also operated on both tributaries. In Abernathy Creek, 28% of tagged individuals were observed through either active capture or passive interrogation. Of these, 32% were identified as migrants and 68% were identified as residents. In the Chinook River, 48% of tagged fish were observed subsequent to tagging; 92% of these fish were migrants and only 8% were resident. In both tributaries, a greater proportion of resident fish were in the upper reaches. The majority of migrants (78-93%) moved the spring following tagging. Migrants leaving at age 2+ years tended to grow faster than those that migrated at age 3+ years or residents. Patterns of growth or growth opportunities may influence both patterns of life-history expression and the timing of migration.

Resistance and Respectability: Dilemmas of Irish Migrant Politics in Victorian Britain

This essay focuses on the fact that Irish migrants in Victorian Britain were settling in a context which severely challenged their cultural traditions, for they were entering the dynamic metropolitan core of an expanding, increasingly confident and assertive imperial system. Moreover, the great majority of migrants settled in rapidly growing conurbations, each of which by the second half of the nineteenth century had developed a distinctive, robust and self-aware civic tradition. Using the concepts of ‘cultural hegemony’ and ‘subaltern resistance’, the study examines the pressures on the Irish to conform to the dominant mores of the host society, most notably in regard to evolving ideas on ‘respectability’. With particular reference to the Irish in Manchester, the essay examines the ways in which the Irish conformed to dominant expectations in terms of upward social mobility, behaviour in public space and participation in local public institutions. However, whilst noting the tensions and compromises involved, it also demonstrates how, in their contributions to local social and political life, the Irish adapted many of the established conventions and institutions to express their enduring Catholicism, their sense of Irishness and their support for the Home Rule project.

Ukrainian Migration to Hungary: A Fine Balance between Migration Policies and Diaspora Politics

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the multiple registers of policies and nodal points where the migrants' strategies and migration policies encounter, miss or ignore the policy measures. Although Hungary is not a major immigration country and the majority of migrants to Hungary are not from the Ukraine, it concentrates on Ukrainian migration to Hungary in order to explore the different trajectories of migrants in the tension-ridden field of Diaspora politics and migration policies that are shaped by EU concerns of security and regulation on the border of EU and non-EU. It raises questions about the periodization of border closures and the historical legacies involved in borders of Central and Eastern Europe, where politics of ethnicity and of migration do not overlap as easily as they do in other parts of Europe.

Determinants of Remittances: A Case Study of Migrant Labourers in Alang Ship-Breaking Yard

Migrants often save some part of their income to remit to their place of origin, which may be used to meet the current consumption needs of the remaining members of the households or for productive purposes provided that there is an opportunity for investment. Therefore, remittances may induce significant changes in socio-economic development of the families of migrants in their native place. The aim of this paper is to examine the remittance pattern of migrant labour at Alang ship-breaking yard. This paper also examines the various determinants and factors, which are responsible for the remittance. The result shows that remittances account for 38 per cent of the monthly income of the labourers. The majority of migrants send money on monthly basis and various determinants, such as marital status, ownership of land and family sizes etc., are important variables in the decision to remit.

Multiple scales of genetic connectivity in a brooding coral on isolated reefs following catastrophic bleaching

Understanding the pattern of connectivity among populations is crucial for the development of realistic and spatially explicit population models in marine systems. Here we analysed variation at eight microsatellite loci to assess the genetic structure and to infer patterns of larval dispersal for a brooding coral, Seriatopora hystrix, at an isolated system of reefs in northern Western Australia. Spatial autocorrelation analyses show that populations are locally subdivided, and that the majority of larvae recruit to within 100 m of their natal colony. Further, a combination of F- and R- statistics showed significant differentiation at larger spatial scales (2-60 km) between sites, and this pattern was clearly not associated with distance. However, Bayesian analysis demonstrated that recruitment has been supplemented by less frequent but recent input of larvae from outside the local area; 2-6% of colonies were excluded from the site at which they were sampled. Individual assignments of these migrants to the most likely populations suggest that the majority of migrants were produced at the only site that was not decimated by a recent and catastrophic coral bleaching event. Furthermore, the only site that recovered to prebleaching levels received most of these immigrants. We conclude that the genetic structure of this brooding coral reflects its highly opportunistic life history, in which prolific, philopatric recruitment is occasionally supplemented by exogenously produced larvae.

Income transfers of Chinese rural migrants: some empirical evidence from Jinan

This paper explores the determinants of migrant remittances to rural households using data on male migrant workers drawn from the Jinan Municipality in Shandong province in the summer of 1995. The majority of migrants are found to retain close links with their rural households with 85% remitting some income in the 12 months preceding the survey date. The transfers accounted for over a third of urban labour earnings. A number of models are used to undertake the estimation of remittance functions. No evidence of altruistic behaviour is uncovered and evidence for exchange and coinsurance theories is mixed. Labour earnings proved the most robust determinant of the level of remittance and the remittance/wage elasticity calculated is found to be at the top end of the range of estimates obtained in the literature.

The Impact of Hukou Status on Migrants’ Employment: Findings from the 1997 Beijing Migrant Census

This article uses new data to analyze whether the 1990s brought a change in terms of migrants’ access to urban jobs. The November 1997 “Beijing Migrant Census” provides a unique data set that enables a quantitative assessment of non-locally registered migrants’ access to the formal sector, and more specifically to “white-collar” occupations. The results show that a university degree and a nonagricultural registration status are both means of increasing access to employment in the formal sector. The “formal” sector is defined as employment with five types of large, relatively stable employers – government organizations, state-owned enterprises, joint ventures, shareholding enterprises, and enterprises owned/invested in by foreign, Hong Kong, or Taiwanese capital (San Zi). White collar jobs, in particular, are only available to migrants with a university degree, with hukou status having a limited relative effect. This article shows that qualified migrants are penetrating the formal job market while the majority of migrants are still taking low level jobs in the informal sector. This dichotomy represents a recent change that could reflect a new stream of migrants and/or more open urban employment. At the same time, the continuing segregation or marginalization of most migrants is clearly evident from the data.

The Origins of Anthropometric History

I knew nothing of anthropometry—not even the meaning of the word—when, in 1977, Robert Fogel invited me to give a seminar at Harvard. Over lunch after quite a grueling occasion, he asked me if I would be interested in taking part in a project to investigate the long-term decline in mortality in the United States. As he pointed out, the vast majority of migrants to the American colonies and the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries came from Great Britain and Ireland; it was important, in explaining their subsequent mortality experience, to be able to assess their state of health before they arrived in North America. Their heights and those of the British population as a whole might, he suggested, provide evidence for such an assessment.I was flattered to be asked to work with one of the leaders of the economic history profession, intrigued by the project—if initially skeptical about the use of height data—and, by the end of a long lunch, enthusiastic about working with Fogel and his collaborator, Stan Engerman, whom I had known for some years.

LA HISTORIA INFAUSTA DE LA INMIGRACIÓN ESPAÑOLA EN CHILE A TRAVÉS DE LOS CONFLICTOS COMERCIALES Y POLÍTICOS

In Chile, European migration did not occur on the massive scale observed in American countries on the Atlantic coast. The migrants in our country did not resolve the need for cheap manpower as they did in other places. The majority of migrants arrived in Chile in a spontaneous way, without any contribution from the government. Spaniards formed the most numerous community of Europeans at the beginning of the twentieth century and they kept this status through the years. We know normally, about those immigrants that have had a successful experience as migrants, that means people that come to Chile as a young poor boys and finally they become rich men. But, we want to study the situation of all those immigrants that had to affront adversity and discover some of the problems that they had suffered as foreigners in our country.

Why People Move to the 'Sun-belt': A Case Study of Long-distance Migration to the Gold Coast, Australia

This paper reports a study investigating long-distance migration to the Gold Coast in Australia's 'sun-belt'. A survey of in-migrant households, derived through a random digit dialling sample and telephone interviewing, collected data on aspects of the migration decision process. The data show non-economic, mainly lifestyle factors to be predominant in migration decisions. The relationships amongst employment status, housing tenure and household/family structure were investigated and changes as a result of migration were identified. While the majority of migrants are satisfied with their relocation to the 'sun-belt', 30 per cent of migrants were contemplating further long-distance migration, including return migration. The study also confirms the need for migration studies to look beyond the traditional form of push-pull factors as a theoretical framework.

Nasopharynx cancer in Italian migrants

Incidence and mortality for nasopharynx cancer in Italian migrants to Australia, Brazil (Saõ Paulo), Canada, England and Wales, France, Uruguay, and the United States (Connecticut; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California) are analyzed. While the available incidence and mortality rates in the south of Italy--from where a large majority of migrants derive--are comparable to or lower than the other Western countries, the study shows a high risk in Italian migrants compared with the locally-born populations. These results are consistent in both sexes and in all host countries with the exception of the two South American ones. This finding possibly reflects a migration from some Italian sub-areas at higher risk, consistent with the high risk reported for some other Mediterranean populations (Maghreb, Malta).