International migration narratives: Systemic global politics, irregular and return migrations

International migration is one of the most discussed and controversial subjects in policies, programs, and practices. The discussions and controversies commonly revolve around issues of gains and/or otherwise of international migrations: to the world, to the sending and receiving countries, and to the migrants, for example. The objective ramifications of these issues, however, remain unclear in accounts, processes, and outcomes thereby leading to tangled and intellectually complicated narratives and deployments with different effects on international migration policies and practices. What is unclear includes how international migrations should be governed and narrated, how migrations affect development, and how migrants survive at destinations. International migration narratives fall broadly within pro- and anti-migration sentiments with different camps developing narratives to drive their own perspectives. Underlying these tangled perspectives are national, continental, and global orientations. This review essay examines the trajectories of common narratives of international migrations from the perspectives of key international organizations, renegotiations of survival strategies by irregular migrants, and the development experiences of return migrants, all of which will enhance our understanding of the contours and ramifications of international migration.