Global foreign workers’ supply and demand and the political economy of international labour migration

2015 ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
Hélène Pellerin
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
The Political ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
International Labour Migration

The Return of Malawian Labour from South Africa and Zimbabwe

1983 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Christiansen ◽  
Jonathan G. Kydd
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Economic Stress ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Unusual Phenomenon ◽  
International Labour Migration

This article examines an unusual phenomenon in the context of modern African labour migration. It explains how Malawi, which had long been a significant source of migrant workers for its neighbours, managed to withdraw over one-half of its international labour force from abroad in the first six years of the 1970s, and to integrate these individuals into the domestic economy within a very short period of time. Traumatic movements of large numbers of migrant workers have been all too common in contemporary Africa, usually manifested as expulsions from host countries during periods of economic stress. A recent notable example was the exodus of about a million foreign workers from Nigeria in the course of one month in 1983. What is unusual about the reduction in international labour migration from Malawi is that it was induced mainly by economic opportunities rather than by coercion.

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