Migration on rise worldwide, especially among women, IOM says

GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Large-scale movements of voluntary and forced migrants have uprooted more than 150 million people worldwide and are likely to continue, an international aid agency said on Thursday.

Women now make up 47.5 percent of all international migrants, and many females relocate abroad as principal wage earners rather than as accompanying family members, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Mass human trafficking has emerged as a trend in China, while smuggling networks have been uncovered in Europe, including Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, the Geneva-based agency said in its World Migration Report 2000.

"Many trafficked migrants find themselves forced into prostitution and/or effective slavery to pay off their debt to the traffickers or otherwise dependent on jobs where they suffer severe exploitation and abominable working conditions," it said.

Economic globalization and the end of the Cold War have led to the steady rise in cross-border flows since 1990, when there were an estimated 120 million international migrants, it said.

The age-old phenomenon is complex and diverse, ranging from people seeking better economic opportunities to those fleeing persecution or violence, the IOM report said.

"As of the year 2000, there are an estimated 150 million international migrants," the report said. "The 21st century is likely to continue to see large-scale movements of people -- both voluntary and forced."

The United States is by far the largest recipient of international migrants, with about 25 million foreign-born residents at the end of the 1990s, it said.

The top 10 receiving countries -- the United States, India, Pakistan, France, Germany, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United Kingdom and Iran -- accounted for 55 percent of all international migrants in 1990 and continue to host large immigrant populations, according to the report.

A significant new trend is the increasing number of female migrants, but these women are especially vulnerable to hardship, discrimination and abuse, it said.

"They have limited access to employment and generally earn less than men and than native-born women. Legally, many migrant women are vulnerable if their residence is dependent upon a relationship with a citizen or 'primary migrant'," it added.

In East Asia, China is the largest source of unskilled labor, according to the report. Between 300,000 and 400,000 Chinese migrate annually, either as contract workers, settlers, students or other unauthorized labor, it said.

Up to 200,000 Chinese migrants are smuggled illegally by organized rings into countries including the United States, Canada and Australia each year, according to the report.

Unauthorized migrants in Europe -- including ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, Kurds from Iraq and Roma (gypsies) from eastern Europe -- were estimated at three million in 1998, up from about two million in 1991, the IOM said.

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