Immigration is the movement of people between countries, including those who settle permanently or temporarily for work. History shows human migration began in Africa and spread worldwide. There are currently 244 million international migrants globally, with the US hosting the most (19% of the total). While countries have varying immigration laws, studies find immigration has overall positive economic effects on native-born populations, with little evidence it negatively impacts employment or wages. Remittances from migrant workers also benefit both sending and receiving countries.

1. IMMIGRATION

2. Immigration is the international movement of
people into a destination country of which they
are not natives or where they do not possess
citizenship in order to settle or reside there,
especially as permanent
residents or naturalized citizens, or to take
up employment as a migrant worker or
temporarily as a foreign worker.

3. History• Human migration started with the migration out of Africa
into the Middle East, and then to
Asia, Australia, Europe, Russia, and the Americas. This is
discussed in the article pre-modern human migration.
• Recent history is discussed in the articles history of
human migration and human mifration
• When people cross national borders during their
migration, they are called migrants or immigrants (from
Latin: migrare, wanderer) from the perspective of the
country which they enter. From the perspective of the
country which they leave, they are called emigrant or
outmigrant. Sociology designates immigration usually
as migration (as well as emigration accordingly outward
migration).

4. • As for economic effects, research suggests that migration
is beneficial both to the receiving and sending countries.
Research, with few exceptions, finds that immigration on
average has positive economic effects on the native
population, but is mixed as to whether low-skilled
immigration adversely affects low-skilled natives

5. Studies show that the elimination of barriers to
migration would have profound effects on
world GDP, with estimates of gains ranging between
67 and 147 percent. Development economists argue
that reducing barriers to labor mobility between
developing countries and developed countries would
be one of the most efficient tools of poverty
reduction.

6. • The academic literature provides mixed findings for the
relationship between immigration and crime worldwide,
but finds for the United States that immigration either has
no impact on the crime rate or that it reduces the crime
rate. Research shows that country of origin matters for
speed and depth of immigrant assimilation, but that there
is considerable assimilation overall for both first- and
second-generation immigrants.

7. Sign Immigration near the border
between Mali and Mauritania;
sponsored by EU

8. Statistics
As of 2015, the number of international migrants has reached 244 million
worldwide, which reflects a 41% increase since 2000. One third of the
world's international migrants are living in just 20 countries. The largest
number of international migrants live in the United States, with 19% of
the world's total. Germany and Russia host 12 million migrants each,
taking the second and third place in countries with the most migrants
worldwide.

9. • Saudi Arabia hosts 10 million migrants, followed by
the United Kingdom (9 million) and the United Arab Emirates
(8 million). Between 2000 and 2015, Asia added more
international migrants than any other major area in the world,
gaining 26 million. Europe added the second largest with about
20 million. In most parts of the world, migration occurs
between countries that are located within the same major area.
In 2015, the number of international migrants below the age of
20 reached 37 million, while 177 million are between the ages
of 20 and 64. International migrants living in Africa were the
youngest, with a median age of 29, followed by Asia (35
years), and Latin America/Caribbean (36 years), while
migrants were older in Northern America (42 years), Europe
(43 years), and Oceania (44 years).

10. ECONOMIC MIGRATION
The term economic migrant refers to someone who has
travelled from one region to another region for the
purposes of seeking employment and an improvement
in quality of life and access to resources. An economic
migrant is distinct from someone who is
a refugee fleeing persecution.

11.  Many countries have immigration and visa restrictions
that prohibit a person entering the country for the
purposes of gaining work without a valid work visa. As a
violation of a State’s immigration laws a person who is
declared to be an economic migrant can be refused entry
into a country.
 The World Bank estimates that remittances totaled
$420 billion in 2009, of which $317 billion went to
developing countries.

12. ECONOMIC EFFECTS
A survey of leading economists shows a consensus behind the view
that high-skilled immigration makes the average American better
off. A survey of the same economists also shows strong support
behind the notion that low-skilled immigration makes the average
American better off. A survey of European economists shows a
consensus that freer movement of people to live and work across
borders within Europe makes the average European better off, and
strong support behind the notion that it has not made low-skilled
Europeans worse off.
According to David Card, Christian Dustmann, and Ian Preston,
"most existing studies of the economic impacts of immigration
suggest these impacts are small, and on average benefit the native
population". In a survey of the existing literature, Örn B Bodvarsson
and Hendrik Van den Berg write, "a comparison of the evidence from
all the studies... makes it clear that, with very few exceptions, there is
no strong statistical support for the view held by many members of
the public, mainly that immigration has an adverse effect on native-
born workers in the destination country."

14. Delimichali Maria
Kontoyianni Kleopatra
Kosmetou Anastasia