Misperceptions of Migration

Misperceptions of Migration

By Dr Arvind Kumar

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in its World Migration Report 2011, states that about 214 million people were living and working outside their home country in 2010, and international migration has continued to grow despite the global economic crisis, but in many countries negative attitudes towards migrants are also rising. While focusing on the importance of communicating more effectively about migration, the Report notes that such attitudes stem in part from misinformation and misperceptions about migration that have been fuelled by opportunistic politicians and poor media reporting. It further observes: "Few areas of public policy are subject to greater misrepresentation... yet more influenced by public opinion, than international migration," write the report's authors. "Accurately informing relevant stakeholders and the wider public about migration may be the single most important policy tool in all societies faced with increasing diversity."

It is revealed that during periods of economic recession, national debates on migration issues are often politicized, and evidence of the economic benefits that migration can bring is ignored in favour of assumptions that migrants are fuelling unemployment and draining public resources. People in migrant-receiving countries tend to significantly overestimate the size of their country's migrant population, and often blame them for social ills ranging from crime to unemployment. A 2010 public opinion poll, cited in the report, found that 57 percent of Americans felt immigration had a negative effect on the country. Another recent study of eight migrant-receiving countries found that an American perception of 39 percent of the US population being migrants differed significantly from the actual figure of 14 percent. Italians believed 25 percent of their population were migrants, more than three times the actual number. The IOM report asserts that such episodes could be avoided by "a fundamental shift in the way we communicate about migration" so as to foster more informed debate and "prevent migration from being used as a platform for other political, social and economic issues".

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