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U.S. Department of State

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Bureau of Population, Refugees, and MigrationWhat We DoMigration

  


MIGRATION




HOW MANY MIGRANTS ARE THERE WORLDWIDE?

Since time immemorial, people have left their countries in search of a better
life for themselves and their families. They leave for many reasons, including
the desire for economic improvement and family reunification; and to escape war,
civil conflict, and environmental degradation. According to the United Nations,
there are more than 190 million migrants in the world today, constituting
approximately 3% of the world’s population.


WHY IS MIGRATION SIGNIFICANT TO THE UNITED STATES?

From its inception, the United States has had a strong tradition of immigration.
The United Nations estimates that 20% of the world’s migrants live in the United
States.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37.5 million foreign-born persons lived in
the country in 2006, representing about 12.5 percent of the entire U.S.
population. Mexico-born immigrants accounted for 30.7 percent of all
foreign-born residing in the United States in 2006, by far the largest immigrant
group in the United States.



Between 2000 and 2005, 3.7 million immigrants chose to become citizens of the
United States. In 2006, the total number of persons who “naturalized” was
702,589. The leading countries of birth of new citizens were Mexico (83,979),
India (47,542), Philippines (40,500), China (35,387), and Vietnam (29,917).



According to the Department of Homeland Security, an estimated 12.1 million
legal permanent residents (LPRs) lived in the United States in 2006. In 2007, a
total of 1,052,415 persons became LPRs of the United States.


WHAT ARE THE BUREAU'S GOALS REGARDING INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION?

The United States supports safe, orderly and legal migration. Our policy on
international migration focuses on the human rights of migrants, protection for
asylum-seekers, opposition to uncontrolled and illegal migration, support for
anti-trafficking efforts, and encouragement of the rapid and successful
integration of legal immigrants.

One of the Bureau's strategies for advancing effective and humane migration
policies is through regional migration dialogues, such as the Regional
Conference on Migration. The United States believes regional and inter-regional
approaches allow for greater opportunity for concrete and practical outcomes
than global discussions.

An important emerging issue is the migration of health care providers. The World
Health Organization is drafting a voluntary “Code of Practice” on the
international recruitment of health personnel stemming from concern about the
critical understaffing of vulnerable health care systems in the developing
world. The Bureau works with many U.S. Government entities, such as USAID and
the Global AIDS Coordinator, to promote the view that the Code should also
respect the rights and choices of the individual health care worker.

The Bureau also participates in U.S. Government efforts to prevent trafficking
in persons, especially women and children, by increasing public awareness of the
criminal and human rights abuses involved and providing assistance to victims.
This assistance includes supporting voluntary return and reintegration programs
of trafficking victims to their countries of origin.




WHAT IS THE BUREAU’S ROLE IN COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS?



The Bureau plays an important role in U.S. efforts to combat trafficking in
persons, as part of its mission to protect and assist vulnerable populations,
and to support safe, orderly, and humane international migration. The Bureau
implements these activities through the International Organization for Migration
(IOM).



For example, in Ghana the Bureau provides funding to IOM for activities
assisting children trafficked to work in Lake Volta's fisheries under
life-threatening conditions. Sadly, many families send their children to work in
fisheries because they don’t have enough food for them, and they believe the
children will learn a livelihood skill that will enable them to earn some money.
IOM works with the Ghanaian government and the fishing communities to raise
awareness, reach agreements to release children, remove them from their
exploitative environment, return them to their families, and assist with
micro-credit enterprises. In four years, nearly 600 children have been assisted.

In Indonesia, the Bureau partners with IOM to provide protection, return
transportation, and reintegration assistance to trafficking victims. IOM
collaborates with several regional police hospitals to provide specialized wings
for victims in need of psycho-social and medical care, offers return
transportation to the communities of origin, and supports reintegration
assistance, such as job skills training and micro-credit to start small
businesses. Since the Bureau started this project in 2005 under the auspices of
the President’s anti-trafficking initiative, it has provided assistance to over
2,000 victims. Several hundred of these victims had been trafficked to Malaysia
for domestic labor and sexual exploitation.




WHAT TYPES OF MIGRATION PROGRAMMING DOES THE BUREAU PROVIDE?



To promote orderly and humane international migration, the Bureau funds regional
migration processes, assistance to vulnerable migrants, support for victims of
trafficking in persons, as well as related capacity-building activities for
interested foreign governments and civil society groups.



For example, the Bureau provides funding through IOM for regional migration
processes in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Asia. These
regional processes provide participating countries regular opportunities to
exchange data and best practices relating to migration management. Topics
covered include migrant integration and returns to country of origin,
asylum-seeker and refugee protection, combating migrant smuggling and
trafficking, human rights of migrants and their access to basic services.

We also support programs that address the dilemma of the asylum-migration nexus.
The challenge of mixed flows of migrants is to stop illegal migration while
effectively providing protection for those who need it, even when they are
traveling without proper documentation. One of our strategies is to provide
technical assistance to help interested developing nations manage migration
humanely. Another strategy is to support the joint IOM-UNHCR Seminars on Mixed
Migratory Flows in the Caribbean, initiated in 2001.


WHO ARE THE BUREAU’S PARTNERS IN ADVANCING U.S. POLICY RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL
MIGRATION?

The Bureau works closely with the Department of Homeland Security, the
Department of Labor, the International Organization on Migration (IOM), and the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to advance U.S. policy
goals regarding international migration.


 

 







  

HighlightsHandbook on Performance Indicators for Counter-trafficking Projects




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