Title: Migration
1Migration Immigration and Refugees
2Migration is defined as a permanent or
semi-permanent change of residence and involves
the crossing of national or international
borders. Migration refers to the movement and
Immigration refers to the end product once the
destination has been reached. A great deal of
migration is due to Fast-Tracking (trying to
keep up with the process of economic and social
development). In other cases migration is due to
simply trying to stay alive! Overpopulation has a
lot to do with this.
3In a typical year 1.5 million people move from
one country to another. In todays world 150
million people are migrates according to the IOM
(International Organization for Migration)
4The IOM helps migrants with information, medical
aid, language training and assistance with
documentation like passports and visas. Canada is
one of the world leaders in receiving migrants.
About 16 of all Canadians are foreign born.
5- Causes of migration are divided into push factors
and pull factors - push factors are things like starvation,
political and religious persecution, and war - pull factors attract people to new destinations
economic opportunity, political and/or religious
freedoms - physical geography can also be a pull or push
factor, at least peoples perceptions of physical
geography warmer, colder etc.
6- Four types of migration
- 1. Primitive migration associated with
preindustrial societies and usually caused by
some sort of environmental necessity, e.g.,
following game, loss of soil fertility,
overcrowding due to population growth. - 2. Forced migration is when people have no choice
but to move, usually but not always as a result
of political circumstances. Examples slavery,
contract labour, Jews forced from Germany in
1930s.
7- 3. Free migration is when people decide to move
based on the desirability of a place. Mainly
from Europe, and largely in the 19th century due
to demographic and technological changes. Brief
period that have huge impacts as millions moved
out of Europe. Basically in search of jobs!
8- 4. Illegal Migration occurs when a country
prohibits out-migration or when people enter a
country without going through normal or proper
procedures. Examples include Mexicans into the
US and Chinese boatloads into Canada. It is a
growing problem. Also called undocumented,
irregular or illegal immigrants.
9- How does Migration take place
- movements of people follow flows of trade, goods
or the most convenient transport routes away from
a situation - some follow information from migrants who
preceded them, often family members - this creates what is called migration chains
between the source and the final destination. A
good example are the Italians in Toronto and
their extended families. - Most of this migration is Economic, from poor to
rich.
10- For example 1 American goes to Mexico for every
6 Mexicans that go to the U.S. - Sojourners are migrants who only stay long
enough to save enough capital to return home to a
better standard of living. This is a strong force
since they do the same job in the U.S. and get
10X more than they would in lets say Mexico.
Sometimes they are called Temporary (Migrate)
workers. Germany depends a lot on migrate
workers. - The ILO (International Labour Organization) sets
human and labour standards to protect these
workers conditions.
11- Technology has made migration easier,
transportation, email etc. - in some cases, migrants have harmed the
traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples
migrants bring in different culture,
traditions, lifestyle etc. - the UN estimates that there are some 300 million
of these people in some 70 countries who were
subjugated by another people coming after them
12- Not all migration is voluntary, eg., slavery or
refugees - The 1951 Geneva Convention states that a refugee
is someone with a well-founded fear of being
persecuted in his or her country of origin for
reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a group or political opinion. - external refugees seek refuge in another country
internal refugees in the same country - Environmental refugees are forced to move due to
environmental deterioration.
13- Many claim to be political refugees but its hard
to separate them from the economic refugees
seeking a higher material standard of living. - Some countries have broadened this definition to
include women from places where customs place
them in a vulnerable position to men. Canada
is one of these.
14- International and civil wars have boosted the
number of refugees, especially in the 1990s. - Wars tend to blur the picture of refugee flows
because wars cause massive economic disruption,
so that refugees tend to be poverty-stricken as
well as in flight for political reasons.
15- The impact of international migration is great.
- Immigrants are often greeted with apprehension
and immigration has become a politically hot
issue in many countries receiving countries. - There are some misconceptions that have been
statistically proven false. - Take the jobs of existing citizens
- Many of them are criminals
- Go directly on welfare
- They are a burden on social services.
16- There are three reasons for this, apart from
outright racism. - 1. Official statistics underrepresented the
numbers, as illegal immigration is rising
everywhere. - 2. Migrants are in peak years of fertility and
therefore are adding to total population growth. - 3. Migrant settlements are concentrated and this
adds to visibility and increases the perception
of cultural differences.
17- Immigrants are tolerated in larger numbers during
economic good times, when they are not seen as
competitors for scarce jobs. - No country in the world has completely free
immigration and most severely restrict refugees. - Canada has a point system and a quota system and
is presently tightening its policy as well
18- The Future?
- It used to be that migrants moved from a
developed country to a country that was actually
developing. For example from Europe to North
America. This type was actually economically
sound. Today the movement is from a poor
developing country to a developed country. The
developed country is finding it difficult to
absorb these immigrants. - Today there is more migration within a country.
People are more mobile.
19- The push and pull factors will get stronger,
creating more migration. - More rapid population growth in developing world
coupled with excess labour supply, rising social
and political turbulence, and widening gap
between rich and the poor will create increased
migration. - Also, global media spreading images of the good
life in the West/North/developed world serves as
a magnet.
20- Urbanization is increasing creating mega-cities.
- There is now actually a two-step migration
process 1. Rural to Urban and then 2. Move to
another country. - People from Latin America, South America and
East Asia are moving to North America. - People from Africa and the Middle East are
moving to Europe.
21- Some countries will be glad to get rid of excess
labour, especially if it is disruptive and/or if
it sends back remittance wages. - This is money sent back from family members
working abroad. - Eg., Mexicans working in the US send 4B annually
back to the country, the 4th largest source of
income for that country.
22- Finally, there is the issue of the brain drain,
wherein skilled and well-educated people leave a
country for better life. - Many head to the US, but also Canada, Europe,
Australia. - Undermines the ability of a country to develop. A
country educates and trains people, just to have
them leave. - Advanced countries (like the US and Canada) are
reluctant to expel bad immigrants since they
would just go to another country anyway.
23The End!