First Issue of IOM New Publication Analyzes South American Migration Flows to Spain and Changes in the Country's Migration Policy and Management
A new publication launched today by IOM in the Argentine capital,
Buenos Aires, reports a four-fold increase in migration from South
America to Spain within the last decade of the 20th Century alone.
The report, part of a series entitled "Cuadernos Migratorios" or
Migration Notebooks highlights the fact that Spain became the main
destination country for migrants from Africa, Eastern Europe and
Latin America to the European Union in the 1990s. An estimated
500,000 migrants arrived in Spain each year with a total of five
million by the end of the decade.
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target="_blank" title="">Cuadernos Migratorios No.1 - Migrantes
Sudamericanos en España: Panorama y Politicas
At the height of these movements, mainly from Ecuador, Colombia
and Argentina and later from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela,
Uruguay and Chile, one third of all migrants in Spain were from
Latin America. The number of South American migrants surged
from 160,500 in 1990 to 708,700 in 1999, before tripling to 2.1
million in the period 2001-2009.
The United States had been the traditional destination country
for Latin American migrants but that changed when increased
immigration controls were put in place there after 9/11. As a
result, Spain became an alternative destination.
Language, religion, cultural and historical ties, as well as
liberal visa regimes for South American countries, also contributed
to this wave of migration.
The report stressed the need for unskilled migrant labour during
that time as more women entered the work force in Spain or acquired
further education, coupled with a marked decline in births and an
ageing population.
The construction boom of the 1990s provided ample employment for
male migrants, whilst most women migrants readily found jobs
providing domestic service and caring for the elderly.
But the global economic crisis has led to the tightening of visa
and immigration policies since 2008, beginning with the European
Union Return Directive issued the same year allowing for the
detention of undocumented migrants, including unaccompanied minors,
for up to 18 months while deportation orders were finalized.
The second part of the publication focuses on Spanish
immigration policy. It argues that Spain and Europe as a whole will
continue to need migrants to cover labour shortages and therefore
current immigration policies need to take into account today's
political and social realities.
The series Cuadernos Migratorios, to be published three to four
times per year, will examine relevant migration issues, current
trends and/or policy dilemmas in Latin America.
"The Cuadernos Migratorios aim to promote analysis and
discussion amongst policy-makers, practitioners, researchers and
students, and to provide inputs to governmental, non-governmental
and inter-governmental staff working on migration-related issues in
the region," explains Juan Artola, IOM Regional Director for South
America.
Forthcoming issues will be dedicated to the impact of
immigration in Argentina, extra-continental migrant flows in four
selected South American countries, the development of migration
regulations and agreements within MERCOSUR (South American Common
Market), a study on a Paraguayan migrant association in Argentina
and an analysis of organizational experiences of qualified
diasporas abroad.
The report is available online in Spanish at:
"/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/OIM-Migrantes-Sudamericanos-en-Espana-No1.pdf"
onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/pubdocs');"
target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/OIM-Migrantes-Sudamericanos-en-Espana-No1.pdf
For further information, please contact:
Ezequiel Texido
IOM Buenos Aires
Tel: +54 11 4 815 51 94
E-mail:
"mailto:etexido@iom.int">etexido@iom.int