MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Southern Europeans flocking to Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico

At the beginning of last century millions left Europe for Latin America

A European Union (EU)-funded IOM study released on Friday on migratory flows in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and between LAC and the EU, shows a marked increase in migration from the EU to LAC and a marked decrease in the number of LAC migrants entering the EU.

The study attributes the shift to the economic crisis affecting the EU, and in particular Spain, the main destination country for LAC nationals.

According to the report, in 2008 and 2009, more than 107.000 Europeans, including dual nationals, left their home countries to live in a LAC country. Most went to Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. The main source countries were Spain (47,701), Germany (20,926), Netherlands (17,168) and Italy (15,701).

According to the report the largest group were young, single Spanish and Portuguese men with higher levels of education in social sciences or civil engineering, who emigrated to LAC countries hoping to advance their careers.

While the study confirms that migratory flows from LAC countries to the EU have gradually increased since 2000, they decreased from a peak of some 400,000 in 2006 to 229,000 in 2009.

But it notes that almost 4.29 million people from LAC countries still reside in the EU, notably in Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and France, and almost 1.25 million EU citizens are currently living in LAC countries.

The study also highlights the importance of intra-regional migration. It notes that over four million migrants residing in LAC come from another country in the region. Most come from Colombia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Haiti, Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.

The main countries of destination for intra-regional migrants are Argentina, Venezuela, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Touching on the link between migration and development, the study notes that women in particular have been pioneers in migration from LAC to the EU, and the remittances they send back to their families in their home countries have been essential to development in the region.

Remittances from the EU to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) reached 7.25 billion dollars in 2010. Those from CELAC to the EU were 4.66 billion.

Remittance flows inside the CELAC region reached 4.57 billion in 2010, with Colombia, Nicaragua and Paraguay benefiting most from remittances sent by their nationals working in Venezuela, Costa Rica and Argentina.

The report, “Migratory routes and dynamics among Latin America and Caribbean countries (LAC) and between LAC and the European Union,” is intended to serve as a primary reference to further understanding of migratory dynamics, characteristics and trends in and between the two regions.

The study is published as part of a project: “Strengthening the dialogue and cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to establish management models on migration and development policies” implemented by IOM, in partnership with the International and Ibero American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP).-