PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - MIGRATION IN 2000

Economic growth in China in the year 2000 exceeded expectations. GDP growth rose to 8 percent, mostly from manufacturing (56 percent) and services (28 percent). However, agriculture output was lower (5.1 percent), which explains the transfer of population from the agricultural to the urban and coastal areas. The number of layoffs in state-owned enterprises reached 6.7 million by September, while the registered unemployed in urban areas (excluding those laid off from state-owned enterprises) reached 5.9 million. Thus, high economic growth was not sufficient in absorbing the labor force in this time of economic restructuring. Migration pressure, therefore, is likely to continue and will exceed the number of those regularly admitted in western countries.

Emigration from China figured frequently in the news in the year 2000, mostly about unauthorized Chinese migrants caught in various parts of the world.

The story of the 590 Chinese who arrived in British Columbia in 1999 continued throughout the year. Most of them claimed refugee status and were detained until their case was adjudicated. However, by the end of the year only 24 had been granted refugee status; 310 were deported; 191 were released; and the rest had disappeared. The Federal Court did not allow the deportation of nine children, for fear that they might be persecuted by the human smugglers. The incident led to a visit by Canada’s Immigration Minister, Elinor Caplan, to China and the launching of a public education campaign, similar to the one conducted by Australia, to warn people in Fujian Province about the dangers of trafficking.

There was a steady stream of news about Chinese migrants who were caught as they were trying to irregularly enter various countries. About 270 were deported from Guatemala and five from Thailand in January; more were apprehended on the Virgin Islands of St. John and St. Thomas in February; 47 were found in a Singapore-owned container ship bound for the US in April; 30 were arrested in Florida in June, 40 in Italy in July, while others were spotted in Yugoslavia. Their stories are rather similar: most of them came from Fujian, they paid huge sums of money to traffickers, then something went wrong before they reached their destinations. The year 2000 revealed new routes developed by smugglers. The Virgin Islands became the dropping point for those heading to the US while  Eastern Europe was widely utilized to enter Europe. The others even flew directly to Switzerland and proceeded to Italy thereafter.

The most dramatic case of trafficking of migrants was the Dover tragedy, i.e., when 56 Chinese immigrants were found dead in an 18-meter tomato truck. This spurred diplomatic activities to ensure the cooperation of China in fighting the alleged 50 gangs that control emigration from Fujian. Chinese authorities scored some success in busting smuggling rings. Penalties against traffickers were increased. In April, police embarked on a nationwide crackdown on the kidnapping of women and children, who are then forced into marriage, prostitution, child labor or beggary. About a thousand women and a few hundred children were rescued. In 1999, 7,600 women and 1,814 children (an increase of 11 percent over the previous year) were kidnapped and sold. However, trafficking to western countries, particularly the US, continued. US Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner estimated that around 30,000 Chinese immigrants enter the US irregularly every year, while those repatriated as of July were 2,700. Fees have increased from $30,000 to $50,000 and the trade has expanded to other provinces such as Jiangsu.

Migration has increased the Chinese diaspora in the world. At the end of 1999 there were 34,505,000 Chinese around the world, most of them in Asia (26,788,000), followed by the Americas with 6,013,000, Europe with 968,000, Oceania with 605,000 and Africa with 132,000. Even Rome now has its Chinatown, in the lower middle class Esquilino neighborhood, where Chinese immigrants have been buying properties for the past ten years. In the meantime, China completed its census in November, which is expected to reveal an overall population of 1.3 billion. For the first time, the 2000 census used a special form for persons who are away from the place of registration for more than six months. Also for the first time no fine was exacted from families with more than one child.