International Migration and Migrants
Elderly couple in Goerlitzer Park in Kreuzberg, Berlin. (© Susanne Tessa Müller)In contrast to the long-term structures of demographic processes, as they become apparent in the current demographic change, international migration in Europe is subject to more pronounced variations depending on the time period and region in question; these developments can only be described in broader terms. These developments are constituted by complex factors, such as the causes for migration, migrants’ motives, ages, or gender, the social structure of the migrating populations, migration distances, the permanence or periodicity of migration, as well as the resulting reciprocal effects between the populations in the regions of origin and the destination regions.
Many migration flows these days react very quickly to changing conditions, for instance favorable conditions in national labor markets. Also the influx of refugees and asylum seekers is based upon quick fluctuations regarding their intensity as well as their countries of origin. Finally, a significant share of immigration is not intended to be long-term, for instance temporary assignments of highly qualified workers or the periodic employment of seasonal workers. It is thus difficult to consider such immigration patterns in model calculations of the future population development. Other demographic effects of immigration, however, are long-term in scope. Considering the relationship between migration and demographic change, so-called "chain migration" plays an important role in Europe. To this day the former "guest worker migration" is still being followed by their families, and the regions which were the main destinations for immigration in the past are still demographically profiting from this.
Migration and Population Structure
Migration movements of the past have impacted the current population structure of many European countries. The most substantial immigrant groups in European countries include the migrants from the former colonies (e.g. from Algeria and Morocco in France, from Pakistan and India in Great Britain, and from Indonesia in the Netherlands) or from “guest worker recruitment countries” (e.g. from Turkey in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, and from Italy in Germany and France), but also migrants which arrived as part of refugee migration to Europe (from Iraq, Nigeria and Sudan e.g. in Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and the Netherlands) (see Chart 4). Also the migration within the EU, which is based upon the principal of freedom of establishment, has impacted the population structures in the selected EU-countries, especially the migration from their respective neighboring countries.
Chart 4: Migrant Populations in Selected European Countries in 1990, 2000, and 2010, according to their Regions of Origin Lizenz: cc by-nc-nd/3.0/de/ (bpb)This text is part of the policy brief on "Demographic Change and Migration in Europe".
