Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331494 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
TIGER Working Paper Series No. 154
Publisher: 
Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research (TIGER), Warsaw
Abstract: 
Migration remains one of the most politicized and misunderstood phenomena in contemporary public discourse. This essay interrogates four persistent myths that continue to shape migration narratives: that global migration is historically unprecedented; that we are facing a large-scale refugee crisis; that poverty is the principal driver of migration; and that migrants constitute a burden on host societies. Drawing on robust empirical evidence - primarily from the work of Hein de Haas and leading international datasets - the author demonstrates that these claims do not withstand scrutiny. While the absolute number of international migrants has risen, their share of the global population has remained stable. Refugees comprise a small fraction of this total, and the notion of "crisis" often reflects political response more than demographic reality. Moreover, development tends to facilitate migration rather than suppress it, and migrants - contrary to popular belief - make net positive contributions to host economies over the long term. Rather than treating migration as an aberration or emergency, this paper argues for recognizing it as a structural and enduring dimension of global transformation. By replacing rhetoric with evidence and complexity with clarity, scholars and policymakers can foster more accurate, constructive, and equitable approaches to migration governance.
Subjects: 
International migration
Refugees
Population development
World
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.