A/72/173 diversity that will give meaning, coherence and direction to current and future action. 24. A human rights-based approach would have a positive impact on the public discourse and facilitate the integration of migrants into society by changing the general perception of migration from being seen as a burden and expense to being seen as a shared responsibility and valuable investment. 25. Migrants are drivers and enablers of development, contributing to economic growth wherever they go. Studies show that immigration has a minimal impact on unemployment among residents in host countries and a positive overall impact on employment generation and investment. 4 Increasing evidence suggests that migrants contribute more in direct and indirect taxes than they consume in government benefits. 5 In 2015, migrants sent approximately $601 billion in remittances, some $441 billion of which were estimated to have been received by developing countries, which is nearly three times the amount of official development assistance. 6 26. Economic research also demonstrates that migrants complement rather than compete with citizens, therefore generating greater overall productivity within the economy. 7 In one study, the impact of the global recession was shown to decrease but not eradicate that positive phenomenon, disproving the argument that an economic downturn justifies repressive policies agains t migrants. 8 Although some nationals may be displaced by migrants in small and other specific labour markets, it is better to address such marginal consequences through retraining policies rather than by trying to curb migration. 27. Although the economic incentives to migrate are diverse and, for many, very strong, they are constantly evaluated and scrutinized by potential migrants. Migrants go to destination countries that have jobs available for migrants in official or underground labour markets. Migrants respond to the demand for labour, and, under normal circumstances, when demand declines in a particular area, so does migration to that area. 28. Many factors influence the decisions of migrants as to why, when, where and how they want to migrate. The main push factors are poverty, violence, discrimination and poor governance. The main pull factors are official or unacknowledged labour needs and family reunification. Public discussion about those factors is, on the whole, extremely shallow, often constituting nothing more than scaremongering about “benefit scroungers” and migrants “stealing jobs”. 29. Rather than addressing the reasons behind migration, States often respond to increased migration movements by creating and progressively increasing barriers to __________________ 4 5 6 7 8 17-12223 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Migration Outlook 2013 (Paris, 2013). Available from www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migrationhealth/international-migration-outlook-2013_migr_outlook-2013-en. The Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Migrants in an Irregular Situation (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.14.XIV.4), p. 99. World Bank Group, “Migration and remittances factbook 2016”, advance 3rd ed. Available from www.worldbank.org/en/research/brief/migration-and-remittances. David Card, “The impact of the Mariel boatlift on the Miami labour market”, Industrial and Labour Relations Review, vol. 43, No. 2 (January 1990); Mette Foged and Giovanni Peri, “Immigrants’ effect on native workers: new analysis on longitudinal data”, Institute for the Study of Labour Discussion Paper No. 8961 (March 2015); Andri Chassamb oulli and Giovanni Peri, “The labour market effects of reducing the number of illegal immigrants”, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 18, No. 4 (October 2015). Francesco D’Amuri and Giovanni Peri, “Immigration, jobs and employment protection: evidence from Europe before and during the Great Recession”, Bank of Italy Working Paper No. 886 (October 2012). 7/26