Part 1: Migratory trends and patterns in the Americas
C. Comments on sessions A and B
C.1 Comments from Rosana Baeninger
Rosana Baeninger comments on the work of Miguel Villa and Jorge Martínez, "International migration trends and patterns in Latin America and the Caribbean". These comments are based both on the discussion of the patterns of international migration observed in Latin America and on an analysis of the Brazilian case. The studies based on the information collected by the IMILA project (Investigation of Inter- national Migration in Latin America) indicate that there are three main patterns of international migration. According to Villa and Martínez (2000), the international migration trends recorded in the region over the twentieth century consist of: (a) migration from overseas, mainly from Europe, which took place between the end of the nineteenth cen- tury and the beginning of the twentieth century 25; (b) the intraregional migration displacements, or movements within Latin America, which predominated in the 1970s; and (c) migration to an external destina- tion, or international migration to outside Latin America and the Carib- bean, which has been increasing since the 1980s.
Some analyses of the first of these patterns in Latin America and the Caribbean26 show that the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century 27 are a typical period of interna- tional migration movement originating outside the continent; it was a time of large-scale flows of migrants from Europe, especially of Span- iards, Portuguese and Italians who arrived in Argentina, Brazil 24 National Commission on Population and Development, Brazil.
25 Villa and Martínez (2000); Pellegrino (1989); Lattes and Lattes (1997); Maguid (2000). 26 Villa and Martínez (2000); Pellegrino (1989); Lattes and Lattes (1997); and Maguid (2000). 27 Lattes and Lattes (1997) refer to the period 1880-1930.
and Uruguay, and flows from China to Peru and from India to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean colonies. It is estimated that between the beginning of the nineteenth century and 1970 almost 21 million immigrants entered the region from overseas (Lattes and Lattes, 1997).
Although a significant proportion of the immigrants who arrived –mainly at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century– have returned to their countries of origin (Alvim, 1986; Lattes and Lattes, 1997), net immigration to Latin America and the Caribbean reached 13.8 million persons in the period referred to, including over 11 million from Europe - Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards, Germans, Swiss, Irish, Austrians and French. Brazil and Argentina absorbed 73% of this international migration balance (35% and 38%, respectively, according to Lattes, 1985). In the case of Brazil, international immigration has played an important role in the structure of its population28 since the country was discovered. In distinct phases occurring during different economic stages, it contributed to the formation of Brazilian society 29; the Portuguese were the first immigrants to arrive in Brazil. In around 1550 –in view of the need for manpower to work with sugar cane– the slave trade began and between 1550 and 1850 almost 3 million Africans entered Brazil.
Coffee cultivation began at the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century, and this led to large-scale European immigration. In the transition from an economic system based on slavery to a capitalist system, a large number migrants was needed to meet the demand for manpower. There was thus a change from one type of migration movement –the forced African migration, related to a particular stage of economic development (the sugar-cane monoculture)– to the migration of a free labour force of European origin 30, which is connected with the main exporting period of the Brazilian economy.
Between 1872 and 1950, a total of 4,554,646 foreigners entered Brazil, including 1.5 million of Italian origin (Levy, 1973). During the 1950s, a total of 583 068 immigrants entered, mainly originating from Portugal (41.4% of the total), Spain (16.2%), Italy (15.75%) and Japan (5.7%). Starting in the 1960s, international immigration from overseas 31 declined quite significantly and this trend continued until the end of the 1970s.
Nevertheless, at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s significant economic, social, political, demographic and cultural changes occurred at the international level. Changes arising from the process of restructuring production 32 were associated with a need for mobility of capital and of population in different parts of the world (Sassen, 1988). Brazil began to enter this new context of international migration, and, at the end of the twentieth century, foreign immigration from overseas began to increase. Although for Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole this migration pattern had practically ended by the 1950s, in the case of Brazil these flows, without establishing a clear pattern, brought a new form of international immigration movement, particularly as of the 1980s.
In the context of globalization, these new forms of migration drew attention to the need to re- evaluate the paradigms in order to gain a greater understanding of international migration. The new forms of migration are thus not significant only in terms of numbers.
The rapidity of technological change (Castells, 1999), the understanding of space and time (Harvey, 1993), the new structure of the international urban hierarchy (Sassen, 1988), the consolidation of networks of locations and locations of networks, the intensity and variety of population displacements –which define and redefine transnational areas (Glick and Schiller, 1997)– mean that
28 The analyses of international migration to Brazil from the end of the nineteenth century to the mid-1950s are based on Patarra and Beninger (1995).
29 There is an extensive bibliography on the subject. See the contributions of Graham and Holanda (1971). 30 The economic conditions prevailing in Europe during this period encouraged the emigration of thousands of persons (Alvim, 1986; Bassanezi, 1997, inter alia).
the importance of the international phenomenon of migration lies now more in its specific features, in its different intensities and geographical areas and in its differentiated impacts (particularly at the local level) and not the numbers of immigrants involved.
The diversity of geographical mobility of the population in the post-modern world (Harvey, 1993) brings a diversification of international migration movements, where the significance of these flows acquires importance in the context of the integration of each country of origin and destination in the current process of international economic restructuring.
One characteristic of foreign immigration in the context of globalization is the clandestine nature of the migrants (Sales, 1991; Patarra and Baeninger, 1995), which makes it even more difficult to measure the flows; it is thus difficult to observe and record the new flows of immigrants to Brazil.
The information available on foreign migrants 33 shows that the numbers of recent entries are unlikely to have an impact on the demographic structure, as the numbers are lower, thus corroborating the theory of a pattern that ended in the middle of the twentieth century.
From the census information on immigrants resident in Brazil in 1991 who claimed to have arrived during the period 1981-1991, the scale of the overseas flows can be measured in the context of the country’s international migrations at the end of the twentieth century; these include the flows from Portugal and Japan.
The foreigners of European origin (including 41.7% of Portuguese origin) and from Asia (over half of Japanese or Korean origin) who entered 34 Brazil during the period 1981-1991, amounted to 41% of the total of foreign immigrants35 over that period, and they added to the stock of foreigners from overseas; for this period the number of immigrants (28,257 persons) is close to the number of international migrants of Latin American and Caribbean origin (29,366 persons). The flows from Europe and Asia are reproducing the paths of the international flows of the previous overseas pattern in today’s globalized world, owing partly to transnational investments (Sassen, 1988) and partly to the social networks that have been established (Tilly, 1990).
The information on work visas granted in Brazil (by the Ministry of Labour) reflects this trend 36. Between 1993 and 1996, 30.2% of the visas were granted to foreigners from the main European countries (Portugal, Italy, Germany, France, England and Spain); the total increased from 13,828 foreigners to 16,586 between 1997 and 1999; between this period and June 2000, 3,086 persons of these nationalities entered the country. Visas were granted to 2,659 Japanese immigrants between 1993 and 1996, and to another 2,100 between 1996 and 1999; there was then a declining trend and in the first six months of 2000 only 284 visas were granted.
In the case of Brazil it is important to consider the new phase of the overseas migration movements, although these flows are on a smaller scale than the pattern at the beginning of the century. This new perspective of international migrations has already been considered by experts and there has been substantial research on the recent flows of Portuguese, Koreans, Japanese, and African refugees (Ribeiro, 1996).
The population movements between the countries of Latin America are historical, rather complex and include intercontinental flows as well as those occurring between two or three
32 See Harvey (1993), Piori (1979) and Benko and Lipietz (1998).
33 This is one of the basic data items collected by the IMILA project from the censuses of each country. 34 This refers to those who entered, remained in the country and were alive at the date of the census. 35 This refers only to persons born abroad and claiming previous residence in a foreign country; it thus does not include Brazilians with prior residence abroad (returned Brazilians).
36 Although there is some difficulty with this source (it does not record the time of residence of the foreign immigrant in Brazil) it does reflect the new forms of international migration.
neighbouring countries. These migrations include various forms of population mobility in the Latin American and Caribbean area and have their origin in economic and political factors 37.
This intraregional migration pattern has been more visible since the 1970s. In fact, the stock of 1,218,990 persons from Latin America and the Caribbean residing (in 1970) 38 in countries of the region other than that of their birth increased to 1,995,149 in 1980, and 2,242,268 intraregional migrants in 1990 (Villa and Martínez, 2000). From the 1970s to the 1980s there was a slowdown in the increase in the stock of these migrants, with the levels remaining fairly stable for the two decades. Villa (1997: 109) notes that the depressive effects of the great crisis of the 1980s may have contributed to attenuating this pattern, especially as its repercussions were especially strong in the countries that had traditionally been destinations for intraregional migrants. The re-establishment of democratic government also alleviated migration tensions and made it possible for a significant number of persons to return. Another factor is the increase in types of movements which –without implying a change of residence– are reversible, itinerant, or circular in nature.
The ease of crossing the borders between Latin American countries, in a context of regional economic integration, contributes to the increase in transboundary displacements (Pellegrino, 1995; Patarra, 1997).
In the case of Latin American migration, it is more obvious that its significance as a phenomenon lies in the new situations arising from the intraregional migration processes, as the vast diversity and potential of migration areas in Latin America contribute to a lower concentration of migrant numbers. In relation to migration to outside Latin America, Villa and Martínez (op. cit.) emphasize that this pattern is a case of South-North migration, which has many repercussions for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, including the loss of qualified human resources and the exposure of migrants to the risk of not achieving integration at their place of destination; this migration involves the formation of transnational migrant communities –which may lead to further migration– and the generation of an economic potential in the form of remittances sent by the emigrants to their countries of origin.
The number of Latin American and Caribbean persons enumerated in the United States censuses increased from 1,725,408 persons (1970) to 4,231,919 (1980) and to 8,191,797 in 1990 39; in 1980 this set of international immigrants amounted to 30.1% of the foreigners in the United States and in 1990 to 41.4%: in the most recent census 40 they amounted to 3.3% of the population of the country and their growth rates were 8.8% between 1970 and 1980, and 6.3% between 1980 and 1990; the total population of the United States grew by 1.1% over the period 1970-1980, and 0.94% in the 1980s. Mexico produces more than half of the emigrants from the region who are resident in the United States, followed at a great distance by Cuba and El Salvador. The number of Latin American and Caribbean residents in Canada reached 523,880 in 1996, which is 10.5% of the total population of the country. With an annual growth rate of 4.6% between 1981 and 1996, the population from Latin America and the Caribbean had a growth rate higher than that of the Canadian population (1.13%) over the same period. The structure of the emigrant population from the region who reside in Canada is different to that in the United States, with emigrants mainly from Jamaica, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and the "others" category, which includes emigrants from South America.
37 See, inter alia, Pellegrino (1989), Villa (1997), Lattes and Lattes (1997), and Maguid (2000).
38 In order to compare the census information from different countries, the IMILA project uses dates which correspond to years close to the national censuses (Villa and Martínez, 2000).
39 The high increase in the stock is partly explained by the amnesty granted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act passed in 1986 (Villa and Martínez, 2000; Sales, 1999).
40 This refers to the population born in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean resident in the United States; if the children born there of these immigrants are included (an indirect effect of migration), the rate would be much higher.
Analyzing the Latin American and Caribbean countries as a whole, the largest emigrant flows reflected in the demographic censuses of th countries are to the United States and Canada. In this pattern –as well as in others– the significance of the phenomenon lies not only in numbers. From the point of view of the receiving country, the most numerous flows are also the most obvious 41; "invisible" immigration, however, in the country of destination (both because of its lower numbers and its illegal nature), reinforces this emigration pattern in different countries of Latin America. Countries such as Peru, Ecuador and Nicaragua were enumerated as the place of birth of more than 150,000 emigrants in each case.
Emigration from Mercosur countries contributed to increasing the stock of foreigners in those countries. Comparing the stocks of foreigners from Mercosur who were resident in the United States and Canada in 1980 and 1990, an increase is observed (independently of their scale) and the case of Bolivia stands out, as the stock of emigrants enumerated in the United States doubled (from 14,468 to 29,043) and in Canada tripled (from 780 in 1981, to 2,335 in 1996). Brazil also doubled its stock of foreigners which increased from 40,919 persons to 82,489. Although many of the immigrants resident in these countries are undocumented - and therefore not counted in official statistics - this information helps to see the general trends of international migration.
The South-North flow is the main international emigration movement and is a contributory factor to the stagnation in migration between Latin American and Caribbean countries.
From the perspective of the United States and Canada, as receiving countries, the numbers of migrants originating in the Southern Cone are insignificant (as recorded by the censuses); these international movements reflect the search for opportunities unavailable in the migrants’ own countries, the loss of a young population with medium and higher levels of education and the need for these immigrants to exercise 42 their rights as immigrants.
There are three main migration patterns in Latin America and the Caribbean:
(a) the historic immigration from overseas to Latin America, which occurred between the mid- nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century, consisting mainly of Southern Europeans; (b) intraregional migration, which is encouraged by short-term economic and especially structural factors, such as the different levels of economic and social development between countries; and (c) emigration of Latin American and Caribbean persons mainly to the United States, which has increased significantly in the past decade.
Prior to the 1990s, there was a growing trend of partial replacement of traditional migration by other forms of movements which are reversible - as they include temporary displacements of varying duration and do not imply a change in the place of residence - which seem to reflect an expansion of the living spaces of a growing part of the population, a constant phenomenon with the new models of territorial structure.
Emigration out of the region is a case of South-North migration, which has negative repercussions such as the loss of qualified human resources on the part of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, but also involves the formation of transnational migrant communities and the generation of an economic potential associated with remittances. As for the characteristics of the migrants, the census information collected by the CELADE project Investigation of International Migration in Latin America (IMILA) indicates that in recent years the continental trend towards women’s participation in the migration stocks has
41 Equally important in the disaggregation of this information on Latin American immigrants in the 1990 United States demographic census is the fact that a minimum limit has been established of at least 100,000 foreigners of a particular nationality; it is thus not possible to obtain information on the Brazilians resident in 1990, as only about 80,000 were renumerated.
been declining. If, however, only intraregional migration is considered, there is a growing process of feminization. Another relevant characteristic of those participating in international migration is the level of education, which is very diverse. Among the intra-Caribbean immigrants these levels are usually above average for the populations of the countries of both origin and destination, which reflects the selective nature of the migration process in this subregion. In the region as a whole, the levels of education tend to be very low for persons migrating between neighbouring countries.
With regard to information, the importance of the IMILA Project for obtaining knowledge of international migration is generally recognized, and there is unanimity with regard to the need to continue the initiative that CELADE has been supporting for more than thirty years. It is thus more important to make efforts to develop other sources of data, by achieving, for example, conceptual and operational standardization of the migration variables and categories in the tools for recording entries and departures by air, land and river from the countries of the region. Also, progress is needed towards compatibility in computer systems and in the production of standardized statistical tabulations, in order to ensure that migration information is comparable. It would then be possible to deal with the true lack of documentation of international migration. With a view to establishing migration information systems in the Americas, it might be appropriate to take into account the experience of SOPEMI, where the information on migrant flows and population comes from a wide variety of sources, which vary between the countries. The difficulties with compatibility have not been resolved and the data reflect migration systems and government policies that are a response to different situations, and always difficult to harmonize. However, this experience has made it possible to establish an empirical basis which contributes to the knowledge and evaluation of actions taken in the field of international migration.