What is the difference between a migrant and an emigrant? Well, a not-so-helpful start would be to state that there is no internationally accepted legal definition of ‘migrant’. That said, a migrant is generally described as a person who has moved from one place to another.

There are two categories of migration: internal, which is within the borders of a country, and international, which is across the borders of a country. It’s estimated there are over 281-million international migrants in the world currently.

As for ‘emigrant’, its main difference from ‘migrant’ is that an emigrant usually moves from one country to another permanently. Emigration is a legal process, whereas migration is not.

Another question: what’s the difference between a migrant and a refugee. Simplistically, a migrant is a person who chooses to move, whereas a refugee is forced from his or her home country. There are many ways in which a person can be ‘motivated’ to make a choice. As my mother used to say, “sometimes you have options, but no choice”. This most aptly explains emigration to me.

An article published in the Daily Maverick on September 16 states that South Africa may lose 53% of its graduates to emigration, citing a Social Research Foundation (SRF) survey. This is due to “citizens losing faith in the country’s future”. If the anticipated emigration does happen, it will compound South Africa’s dire economic conditions. The loss of skilled people, the so-called brain drain, will contribute to the shrinking tax base, besides other impacts. The challenge facing South Africa is how to counter the brain drain with a ‘brain gain’. There might be those who believe emigration is beneficial for the ‘sending country’, as it decreases the labour pool, alleviating unemployment and increasing the incomes of the remaining workers. Further, the émigrés often send money to family members back home, improving the family members’ living standards, thereby contributing to both the sending country’s economy and its trade balance.

Both push and factors drive the process of emigration. As the name suggests, push factors are the negative factors that prompt people to leave and include political corruption, a lack of job opportunities, gender inequality, a lack of access to competent healthcare and education. Pull factors are the positive factors that attract people and include better work opportunities, greater security, and access to adequate healthcare and education.

The SRF survey found that “55% of coloured people, 55% of Indian people, 38% of whites, and 16% of black people are considering emigrating” and that “53% of respondents with university qualifications and 33% of matric certificate holders were considering emigrating, while 100% of those with no formal education were not leaving”. Let’s look at these statistics differently – South Africa has 26-million registered voters, according to the Electoral Commission, and 23.4% of the surveyed registered voters are considering emigration.

For more information about South Africa’s emigration, you can visit a website – www.wheredidwego.com – that was created to “visualise where, when and how many South Africans have left the country over the years and what skills have been lost as a result”. It states that “South Africa’s facing an unprecedented exodus of skilled workers to all over the world, yet very little is known about the multitude that is leaving”.

I take my leave with a 1939 Gracie Fields song, the name of which is in the first line of the song: “Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye; Cheerio, here I go, on my way; Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye; Not a tear, but a cheer, make it gay; Give me a smile I can keep all the while; In my heart while I'm away; ʻTill we meet once again, you and I; Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye . . .”