A massive migration of emigrants who had moved from developing to developed countries back to their homelands is happening. “The Great U-Turn,” as it was dubbed, is due to the depressed job market in developed countries affected by the global economic crisis. According to the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday, unemployment in the United States rose to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in 26 years. 

There are no statistics figures on the total number of migrants on their way back to the native land, but government papers at the national level and reports by research bodies confirm the trend. The number of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year dropped 13 percent from a year ago. The number of Mexicans leaving the U.S. was greater than the number who entered, with 139,000 and 137,000, respectively. 

In the U.K., the number of labor migrants from recent additions to the European Union such as Poland and the Czech Republic shrank by 55 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to a year ago. In Singapore, some 200,000 migrant workers are expected to return to their home countries by next year. Hiring of skilled foreign workers fell by 14 percent in Australia. And the United Arab Emirates, where the construction boom has died down, will see its population drop as many migrant workers leave. 

Some experts predict the development will continue even when the global economy recovers. Better jobs are being created in developing countries, and job prospects in developed countries are increasingly dim as they favor their own nationals. In a recent poll by Harvard University, 72 percent of Chinese and 56 percent of Indians who returned to their native countries said they have better job opportunities at home. Some 100,000 Chinese and Indians have returned to home in the past 20 years, but Harvard predicted 200,000 Chinese and Indians will go home in the next 10 years.