191 Million Migrants Worldwide in 2005, UN Report Says

A UN report released by Secretary General Kofi Annan has given new reasons for global concerns with regard to yet another important trend of contemporary times.

The document reports that in 2005 there were 191 million migrants all around the globe, up by about a quarter as compared to the 155 million people in 1990, most of which have traveled to more wealthy countries.

Nevertheless, the report also informs that 75 million people did not necessarily travel to a better place, but exchanged one developing country for another. Among the top countries chosen for migration is the USA, with almost one in five migrants going there. For the time being, 34 per cent of all migrants in 2005 live in Europe, 23 percent in North America, 28 per cent in Asia, 9 per cent in Africa, 3 per cent in Latin America and 3 percent in Oceania.

Another coordinate of the document was the amount of money sent to home countries by former citizens, which in some countries like the Philippines and Montenegro, represented a big share of the country's national income, the BBC news service informs.

According to Kofi Annan, social migration does not necessarily have to be an issue; on the contrary, it might represent a truly beneficial action both for host countries and for those people initially originate from. "International migration, supported by the right policies, can be highly beneficial; for the development both of the countries they come from and for those where they arrive". Yet, in order for this action to be lucrative for all parties involved, the rights of the migrants need to be "respected and upheld", warned Annan.

However, a negative consequence of the migration trend, warned Annan is the so called "brain drain", highly educated people who leave their native countries in search for better options, but who, at the same time, create a void of intellectual life: according to the report, 60 per cent of the intellectuals in Guyana, Haiti and Jamaica now live in other countries.