5.3. International Migration Flashcards
Voluntary Migration
when the individual or household has a free choice about whether to move or not.
Forced Migration
when the individual or household has little or no choice but to move.
Refugee
a person who has been forced to leave home and
country because of ‘a well-founded fear of persecution’ on account of race, religion, social group or political opinion.
Remittances
are money sent back to their families in their home
communities by migrants.
Multiplier Effect
where an increase in the money supply in a region sets off an upward spiral of development as this money circulates in the economy.
Forced International Migration: Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh
- Rohingya have been fleeing Myanmar, also know
as Burma, in the tens of thousands, in the wake of
an outbreak of communal violence in 2012 and
2017 and what’s been described as the ethnic
cleansing of the minority - The violence resulted in estimated thousands of
deaths, the forced displacement of over 100,000
people, and the burning and destruction of homes
and property throughout Rakhine State - Rohingya left stateless since 1982
The Effect on the country of origin (Myanmar)
- In rural areas when a farming family migrate there is less help for the farm. More young males migrate and this causes problems (old people left behind).
- With no pensions in Burma, so the young (economically active) working population support the old people; when the young move away this can leave elderly family members with little support.
- When male family members migrate this can leave the rest vulnerable to further harm. With no males to protect the family – women have been raped or used for forced labour.
The Effect on recipient Countries: Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Singapore
- Countries to which Rohingya have fled over the years as refugees have been quick to condemn the recent spates of violence and persecution but have not been so quick to recognise the rights of stateless Rohingya refugees within their own territories.
- Bangladesh, for example, has ‘pushed back’ (sent them back to Myanmar) thousands of recently arrived Rohingya and has blocked humanitarian assistance to the approximately 1 million unrecognised Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh.
- Discussion of ‘regional solutions’ has so far focused only on overcoming the problem of returning the Rohingya to Burma.