Global Migration? Actually, The World Is Staying Home

Despite news about waves of refugees fleeing conflict and poverty, the number of people on the move has held fairly steady for the past five decades. Less than 1 percent of the world’s population of 7.3 billion has migrated for any reason during the last five years. The Wittgenstein Center for Demography in Vienna delves into United Nations statistics and offers surprising findings. For example, an oft-cited UN statistic of 244 million migrants worldwide includes anyone who has left his or her home, including men and women who have lived and worked in their new countries for two decades or more. The center also cautions about describing the Syrian refugee crisis as the largest since World War II because today’s population levels are three times those of 1945. The statistics, used by both supporters and opponents of migration in alarming ways, can seem overwhelming. The center cautions societies against panicking over demographic events like low fertility rates, aging populations or refugee flows which can be managed with good planning and policies, including adequate funding for resources like the UN’s World Food Program. – YaleGlobal