A study on Chinese student migration in the United Kingdom

This paper provides insights into PR Chinese student migration into the United Kingdom, examined within both historical and contemporary contexts. It analyses student migration patterns, financial flows and the impact of such processes on UK Universities. It also suggests various modifications to immigration policies and promotes social debates on the impact of the phenomena of a massively increasing student flow, for both the UK and for Europe. This paper aims to analyse the multiple financial and social implications of this massive student flow. It shows the need for policy adjustments towards better migration management in both China and Europe. The return of students remains a matter of serious concern for both China and European host countries. The net gain of skilled migrants in many European countries, accompanied by a corresponding loss of skilled workers in China, has heightened anxiety over the consequences of this ‘brain drain’. Student migration will remain one key domain for the emergence of global labour market, enhanced cooperation for Europe and China on information sharing, data exchange and orderly management of return migrants, and this in turn will boost the potential benefits for both parties in a long run.     

Migration of health professionals from India: tracking the flow

India has a vast reservoir of highly skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled labor force and is one of the major source countries in the global labor market. The current paper is the first of its kind to focus primarily on migration of health professionals from India. In the absence of national-level data on migration, the paper uses data from different sources to outline the magnitude and direction of flow of health care providers from India. The paper also assesses the existing global and national policies on migration and discusses their relevance in the context of migration of health professionals from India.     

Migratory flows in the Mediterranean Basin

Recent trends in international migration in the Mediterranean region are analyzed, with the focus on South-North migration to Europe. "This migration towards Western Europe has taken various forms, from labour force migration, in a first phase, to family reunification, and more recently, asylum requests and irregular immigration. These migratory flows must be understood within the context of a severe imbalance--demographic and economic--between the Southern and Northern banks of the Mediterranean. Europe and especially the European Union is directly confronted by this persistent migratory pressure coming from the other Mediterranean countries. Its future can only be conceived of through new and innovative forms of cooperation with its Mediterranean partners." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Women and globalisation: challenges and opportunities facing construction workers in contemporary India

This article identifies the opportunities and constraints faced by female construction workers in urban India, citing empirical research conducted in the city of Ahmedabad. The Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) conducted three surveys in 1998, 2003, and 2007 to learn more about the needs and priorities of construction workers in the context of economic globalisation. While enthusiastically endorsing the role that training and certification can play in providing skilled women with opportunities for quality employment, the author emphasises the need for wider policy intervention at the state and national levels to ensure that such programmes have replicable, sustainable, and gender-equitable results.     

Horizontal and Vertical Diversity: Unintended Consequences of EU External Migration Policy

ABSTRACT

Unintended consequences arising from EU external migration policy are a result of the multi-actor nature of this policy and of policy interactions. In addition, scholars face serious methodological challenges in establishing what the EU’s ‘intent’ is in external migration policy and, therefore, in determining which consequences are intended and which are unintended. The literature on the implementation and evaluation of EU external migration policy is in its infancy, and future work should take into account all policy outcomes – both those that were intended and those that were not.     

Migrations toward Western Europe: trends,outlook, policies

Recent trends in international migration affecting Europe are reviewed. The author notes that since the 1970s, the pressure from migrants has shifted from northern to southern Europe. He concludes that the focus of future trends will be the Mediterranean region from northern Africa to southern Europe. The possible effect on migration of aid policies to developing countries is considered.     

Contextualising ICT benefits in an educational environment: the case of the DOC-WILS initiative

Abstract

The programme of the DoC-WILs is an initiative of the Department of Communication in collaboration with Telkom, established through the Human Resources Fund to enable human resources development at historically disadvantaged learning institutions. The Telecommunications, 1996 (Act 103 of 1996) establishes a Human Resources Fund to promote the provision of adequately skilled human resources at all levels of the telecommunications sector in numbers sufficient for the telecommunications needs of the country. The Department of Communication Web Internet Laboratories (DoC-WILs) emphasise skills development through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in areas such as network management, creating Websites, use of e-mail and the World Wide Web, multimedia applications and Intranet development. It is, however, not known under what contextual circumstances this kind of ICT-usage will lead to interactive learning benefits and how the DoC-WILs should go about achieving them. This article therefore attempts to shed some light on the conditions under which ICT usage could impact on educational outcomes desired by the DoC-WILs and on how these DoC-WILs could best go about taking appropriate actions to improve the possibility of achieving desired interactive learning benefits. It is argued that the ability of the DoC-WILs to achieve desired benefits successfully is crucially dependent on contextual conditions, policies or processes that apply to the DoC-WILs or their users. This is in line with the social shaping of technology approach that local circumstances surrounding the deployment of ICTs in different sectors of society are more important in shaping the consequence of ICTs than technological variables.     

Protecting labor rights in preferential trade agreements: The role of trade unions,left governments,and skilled labor

This paper investigates variation in the design of labor provisions in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) by focusing on the power of trade unions, the role of government partisanship, and the relative strength of skilled labor. We expect strong trade unions and left-leaning governments to be associated with more, and more far-reaching labor provisions in PTAs. We also expect the strength of skilled workers relative to the strength of unskilled workers to negatively correlate with the depth of labor provisions in PTAs. In addition, the effect of trade unions should be conditional on both the presence of left government and democracy. We test these hypotheses relying on an original dataset of labor provisions included in 483 PTAs signed between 1990 and 2016. This dataset covers 140 different labor provisions that relate to six overarching dimensions. The quantitative analysis finds support for the expectations concerning the influence of trade unions and the role of a country’s skill profile.     

论中国人移民东南亚的四次大潮

中国人移民东南亚历史，根据其动力和规模，可分为四次大潮。东南亚为中国海外移民的最主要目的地。中国人大规模移民东南亚始于17世纪，盛于20世纪上半叶，历三波移民高潮。20世纪50年代初期至中国改革开放前，移民东南亚工程中断。随着大陆改革开放及中国与东南亚经济合作的飞速发展，中国人重启移民东南亚热潮。虽然推动不同时期的移民潮各有其不同的国内外因素，但就四次大规模移民潮而言，中国与东南亚的经贸发展和合作都是主要动力之一。随着中国与东南亚经济一体化进程加速，如中国与东南亚的政治关系保持良好，前往东南亚的移民潮仍将继续。与此同时，东南亚各国进入中国的移民也将日益增多，并呈加速之势。     

Illegal Migration: Ukraine

Illegal migration poses a threat to the national security of all countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but as a measure of its parameters, Ukraine’s case is quite representative. This is due to Ukraine’s size and its geographically important positioning from the northern shores of the Black Sea deep into the Central European heartland—along one of the three main routes of illegal migration from Asia to Western Europe and its national policies, which significantly affect the problem.

Three factors highlight its importance: first, Ukraine itself is a source of illegal migration; second, it is a barrier to its spread from Asia and Middle East to Europe and the West; and third, it is a potential target for illegal migration. Though currently Ukraine is considered first of all as an origin and as a transit country, there is a growing tendency for it to become a destination country too.

This article examines the state of the illegal migration threat for Ukraine, as well as measures to respond to it and perspectives for future development. Conclusions are drawn about the complexity of the problem and the necessity of a multi-faceted approach to solve it.     

Using birthing kits to promote clean birth practices in Ethiopia

This article explores three NGO projects that assemble and distribute clean birthing kits in Ethiopia. It contrasts the government's health strategy that aims to increase skilled birth attendance, with local realities as most women in rural and remote settings give birth at home, often in unhygienic conditions, and without skilled assistance. Many health facilities are also unable to provide hygienic conditions for birthing women. The findings indicate that clean birth kits have assisted the NGOs to effectively promote clean delivery at home or in health facilities, and to encourage antenatal care, and early referral to emergency obstetric and new-born care.     

Civilizations and the twenty-first century: some theoretical considerations

Since the end of the Cold War, globalization has become the centralphenomenon in world politics. Civilizations, once geographically based,are now loosened from fixed space, as migration of peoples andof ideas has accelerated. A focus on the dimensions of intersubjectivitywill give some understanding both of differences among civilizationsand on transformations of civilizations. Attention is thus givento different forms of substantive economies, to historical dominanceand subordination of civilizations and to the reawakenings ofcultures; to what Sorokin called the sensate and ideationaltypes of consciousness and to different forms of spirituality,and to relative orientations toward time and space. Two propositionsare implicit in a concern for civilizations: (i) that thereare alternatives for the human future, and (ii) that if differentcivilizations do coexist, the problem of mutual comprehensionbecomes paramount for the maintenance of world order. The implicationsfor a research program are to study civil societies as the sourcesof intersubjective meanings, the maintenance of the biosphereas the basic material condition of existence of all civilizations,and world governance as the modus vivendi of a plural world.     

Illegal Migration: Russia

The author interprets issues related to illegal migration in Russia in the context of the new general international migration situation in the Euro-Asian region that resulted from collapse of the USSR and integration of the newly independent states in the world migration flows. The fact that Russia acts as a sending and—to a much greater extent—as a receiving and transit country is crucial for understanding the nature, reasons, challenges, and perspectives of illegal migration. The “multi-layer” character of illegal migration in Russia needs a diversity of approaches to how best to fight against security threats rooted in it. The major portion of illegal migrants in Russia are in fact labor migrants form former Soviet states, and their illegal status is often due to extremely complicated official registration procedure. The government’s official position in managing this type of illegal migrant (in terms of punishment, legalization, or granting citizenship if wanted) should be different from actions against numerous transit illegal migrants from Asian and African countries who use Russia as a waystation on their way to Europe or other developed regions. However, these transit migrants are mainly managed by migrant-traffickers. Along the borders of Russia, especially with China, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine there exist numerous well-organized channels for migrant smuggling. Therefore, the main efforts at national and regional levels should be directed against criminal trafficking organizations. They should be joined efforts of all the concerned countries.     

The Deceptive Simplicity of Teaching Negotiation: Reflections on Thirty Years of the Negotiation Workshop

What is required for effective teaching depends on the goal of the effort, and our criteria for success should be much more demanding than positive ratings from participants. If the goal is to improve participants' effectiveness as negotiators, we need a proven theory and associated skills. In the absence of robust confirming empirical data, which is still mostly lacking, we can take some confidence from qualitative evaluations. But whether or not we have a proven theory, the pedagogical task is complex and challenging, calling for a variety of sophisticated techniques deployed by a skilled instructor committed to joint learning. This article tells the story of some of the instructors' pedagogical learnings in thirty years of teaching the pioneering Negotiation Workshop at Harvard Law School, many of which now have empirical support. It also suggests some areas and tools for more experimentation in future advanced courses.     

The United States in 1990: the debate over immigration

Trends in migration to the United States are reviewed, with a focus on migration policy and changes in migration legislation in recent years. The author evaluates the U.S. policy of selective immigration based on migrants' professional qualifications or socioeconomic status. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Community involvement in constructing village health buildings in Uganda and Sierra Leone

Three public health projects in Uganda and Sierra Leone are used to illustrate a new approach to construction of health buildings in villages. Emphasis is placed on community involvement. The health projects were comprehensive and relied on health education, employment of local village health workers, and establishment of village health committees. The objective of community involvement was described as encouragement of people to change their own diets and living conditions. This approach to primary health care is considered to be a strong basis for sustainable social development. Each of the three communities initiated the building projects slightly differently. There was a range of structures: traditional meeting halls, simple rooms with imported materials and a pit latrine, new buildings combining local and imported materials and labor, new nontraditional buildings, rehabilitated existing nontraditional buildings with imported labor and materials, and temporary mobile clinics. Community involvement was at different levels. All three projects were the result of a combined effort of national governments or mission hospitals, nongovernmental organizations, and the host community. The following should be considered before beginning construction: a suitable site, appropriate staff accommodation, the likely motivation of the host community, seasonality, local materials available, availability of skilled labor, and design. A plan of work during construction should include a building design, site supervision, transportation of local and non-local materials, unskilled labor, and skilled labor. Village health committees with or without government help would be responsible for maintenance of buildings after construction. A key feature of this approach is the assessment of the community's ability and capacity to contribute.     

Temporary and circular migration in the construction of European migration governance

Increased interest and debate in Europe and at European Union (EU) level about the potential utility of ‘temporary’ and ‘circular’ forms of migration is accompanied by a certain elusiveness about the meaning of these terms. This elusiveness has actually created some opportunities for interactions at EU level to flesh out the meaning of these terms and inform policy development at member state and EU levels. By focusing on information gathering and the role of knowledge, the article develops a practice-based approach to analyse the relationship between research and policy, the role of the Commission and the activities of European Migration Network (EMN) in the quest for the meaning of temporary and circular migration. Information gathering and knowledge creation at EU level are shown to serve instrumental purposes by informing policy choices (‘evidence-based policymaking’) but it is also shown that existing policy choices cast a long shadow, shaping the context within which knowledge is developed (policy-based evidence-making), while information gathering and knowledge development can legitimate institutional roles, such as the Commission (policy-based institution-building).     

More Labels, Fewer Refugees: Remaking the Refugee Label in an Era of Globalization

This paper revisits the concept of refugee labelling I elaboratednearly two decades ago. In radically different conditions, thecontemporary relevance and utility of the concept are re-examinedand re-established. Formulated at a time of regionally contained,mass refugee migration in the south during the late 1970s andearly 1980s, the paper argues that the concept still offersvital insights into the impacts of institutional and bureaucraticpower on the lives of refugees in a globalized era of transnationalsocial transformations, mixed migration flows, and the continuingpresence of large scale refugee migration. The core of the paperargues that the ‘convenient images’ of refugees,labelled within a co-opting humanitarian discourse in the past,have been displaced by a fractioning of the label which is drivenby the need to manage globalized processes and patterns of migrationand forced migration in particular. The paper re-evaluates theconcept using the three original axioms—forming, transformingand politicizing the label ‘refugee’. The core argumentis that in the contemporary era: a) the formation of the refugeelabel reflects causes and patterns of forced migration whichare much more complex than in the past, contrasting with anessentially homogeneous connotation in the past; b) respondingto this complexity, the refugee label is transformed by an institutional‘fractioning’ in order to manage the new migration;c) governments, rather than NGOs as in the past, are the pre-eminentagency in the contemporary processes of transforming the refugeelabel, a process driven by northern interests; d) the refugeelabel has become politicized by the reproduction of institutionalfractioning and by embedding the wider political discourse ofresistance to migrants and refugees.     

Migration decision from Bangladesh: permanent versus temporary

More than 50% of the total migration from Bangladesh occurred from Sylhet, located to northern part of the country since the middle of the last century. This paper provides an empirical distinction between the temporary migrants (Bangladeshi citizens engaged in earning aboard) and the permanent migrants (those who have the dual citizenship) based on their cost conditions, earnings, and utilization of remittances in their country of origin. Temporary migrants’ educational status, per capita income allocation to family members, work experience before migration, source of income and income range are much lower compared with the permanent migrants. But, the dependency ratio, contribution to the family, remittances, risk etc. are higher for the permanent migrants than the temporary migrants. Cost of migration and the migration decision are inversely related. Migration costs determine individual’s decision to migrate permanently or temporarily. Our results suggest that higher migration cost reduces the probability of permanent migration.