The consequences of international migration vary greatly depending on the destination country, its political and social environment, its cultural values and moral standards. Some destinations prefer immigrants to people born in a country with a distinct ethnic identity. But most destinations want immigrants to assimilate into local communities with distinct cultural affiliations.
1. Economic Consequences
Remittances are monies sent by migrants who work outside their regions of origin. They are the largest source of foreign exchange earnings for countries around the world, exceeding international aid and foreign direct investment. The term is broad, encompassing any transfers of money by people living in one country to another or to themselves.
Migration from rural areas of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to the rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh accounted for the success of their green revolution strategy for agricultural development.
2. Demographic Consequences
Rural urban migration is one of the important factors contributing to the population growth of cities. Age, sex and skill selective out migration from the rural area have adverse effect on the rural demographic structure.
Rural urban migration is one of the important factors contributing to the population growth of cities. Rural urban migration refers to the movement of people from rural to urban area. The coming together of different types of people, may also generate social changes which are not always easily anticipated.
3. Social Consequences
Migrants act as agents of social change. The new ideas related to new technologies, family planning, girls education, etc. get diffused from urban to rural areas through them.
Migration not only can create social impacts at local level, but also contribute to the economic growth in the areas of destination.
It does so by increasing the size of economic sectors, particularly in service industries where migrants are often employed – thereby contributing to rising labour productivity.
4. Intermixing of people from diverse cultures
Intermixing of people from diverse cultures is very useful and beneficial. It has positive contribution such as evolution of composite culture and breaking through the narrow considerations and widens up the mental horizon of the people at large.
Intermixed people gather inspirations and energy from each other and get new and positive motivation and aspirations based on new social activities, which is leading to new achievements in all spheres of life of them
But it also has serious negative consequences such as anonymity, which creates social vacuum and sense of dejection among individuals. Continued feeling of dejection may motivate people to fall in the trap of anti-social activities like crime and drug abuse
5. Environmental Consequences
People are forced to migrate from rural areas to urban centres because of social, economic, political and environmental reasons.
First the pressures are putting on the existing social and physical infrastructure in the urban areas resulting in unplanned growth.
This phenomenon coupled with poor planning results to formation of slums which are characterized by deteriorated housing conditions, poor sanitation, overcrowding etc. These settlements lack proper facilities like sewerage system, drainage system etc.
6. Others
Migration (even excluding the marriage migration) affects the status of women directly or indirectly.
In the rural areas, male selective out migration leaving their wives behind puts extra physical as well mental pressure on the women.
Migration of women either for education or employment enhances their autonomy and role in the economy but also increases their vulnerability.
If remittances are the major benefits of migration from the point of view of the source region, the loss of human resources particularly highly skilled people is the most serious cost.
The market for advanced skills has become truly a global market and the most dynamic industrial economies are admitting and recruiting significant proportions of the highly trained professionals from poor regions. Consequently, the existing underdevelopment in the source region gets reinforced.