IN AND OUT OF AUSTRALIA

Abstract

China and India, with four out of ten of the world's inhabitants, must loom large in any discussion of global international migration, especially so-called South–North migration. They have become major sources of migrants to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. This paper focuses on the migration relationship between China and India and one of the OECD nations, Australia. Australian international migration data allow a comprehensive picture of all movement in and out of the country to be made, and for this article, flows with China and India are analysed. It is argued that the migration relationship is best depicted as a complex migration system involving flows in both directions and circularity, reciprocity, and remigration. A conceptual scheme is developed to identify the main components of the migration system and it is shown that many migrants transit between the different elements in the system. The analysis demonstrates that the traditional conceptualisation of the migration relationship between India and China on the one hand and high income countries on the other hand as being ‘South–North’ in nature is inappropriate. Some of the implications of reconceptualising mobility in this way for understanding the migration process and for the development of migration policy in China, India and Australia are discussed.

Keywords:

• circular migration
• migration systems
• migration and development
• India
• China
• Australian migration

Notes

1. Since Australia is an island nation, policing the national boundaries is made easier than nations with land borders so that clandestine migration into or out of the country is miniscule.

2. This is a programme opened only to nationals of countries with which Australia has a special bilateral agreement. India and China are currently not among those countries.

3. The number of US educational institutions authorised to admit foreign students fell from 77,000 before September 11 to 7000 after (Migration News, January 2005).

4. That is, temporary but intending to stay longer than one year.

5. That is, temporary movers who intend to say less than one year at the destination.

6. That is, those Australian residents who, on leaving the country, indicate that they intend to leave permanently.

7. Temporary, but for a time period of more than one year.