5.3 International migration Flashcards
(12 cards)
What is international migration?
the movement of people across national borders or from country to country for more than one year
Why is international migration increasing?
- globalisation of economic activity
- improved transport systems
- refugee movements
- more information available e.g from internet
What is voluntary migration?
- where it is the personal choice of a migrant to move, making their own decision as a result of push/pull factors
What are refugee flows and examples?
- where people are moving away from war zones or areas of racial/religious tension (forced migration)
- civil war in Syria, more than 7.6 million Syrians have been displaced within the country by the conflict, fleeing to safer areas
- by 2015, UNHCR reported many Syrians had fled the country and the number of Syrian refugees had reached over 4,000,000 people, mostly going Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq
- 2015, turkey biggest hosting refugee country with 2.1 million Syrian refugees
What is an example of voluntary migration?
Mexico and the USA:
- over one million mexicans migrate to USA every year to work for the large farming and food processing industries in places such as California
- 30% of legal immigrants in USA are mexican
- can earn 10 times the wages they could earn in Mexico
- estimated for every $1 sent home to Mexico by migrant workers, $3 are generated in form of buying construction materials, food or in people getting contract work
What are the causes of forced international migration?
- Refugees: fear of persecution
- Internally displaced persons
- Asylum seekers
What is a case study of refugee movements into the EU?
- refugees from africa often migrate illegally (smuggled)
- usually settle in Southern European countries, e.g Spain and italy because of the location of North Africa - many migrants will take the shortest possible route crossing into Europe
- many refugees of war: 2 million forced out of Somalia in 2007 because of civil war
What are the impacts of international migration on source areas?
Pros:
SOCIAL:
- relaxed pressure on services, meaning people have better quality of life - better access to healthcare/lower house prices
ENVIRONMENTAL:
- reduces waste, fuel usage, emissions etc as less people
ECONOMIC:
- workers send remittances back to home country helping it to grow
POLITICAL:
- relaxed pressure on services/resources can decrease political conflicts
Cons:
SOCIAL:
- underpopulation could cause more pressure on services as less people working
ENVIRONMENTAL:
- smaller workforce for environmental protection and conservation
- more derelict businesses and houses, less people employed for waste removal
ECONOMIC:
- skilled workers leave meaning unskilled people left
- home country may be dependant on remittances, so change in circumstance detrimental on economy
POLITICAL:
- population policies/laws may be put in place to get workforce to grow, e.g encouraging more migration
- population control may be seen as a restriction of freedom
What are the impacts on destination country from international migration?
Pros:
SOCIAL:
- enriching culture - food/music
- migrants can contribute to society e.g services such as healthcare
ENVIRONMENTAL:
- larger workforce for environmental protection
ECONOMIC:
- being able to fill unwanted jobs
- pay taxes
- gaining an increased output from “young” labour force
POLITICAL:
- countries that accept large quantities of migrants often have strong ties with home country decreasing likelihood of conflict
Cons:
SOCIAL:
- overpopulation=pressure on services
- conflicts between nationals and migrants due to negative effects of migration
ENVIRONMENTAL:
- higher demand for environmentally UNSUSTAINABLE RESOURCES e.g fuel
- increased traffic pollution and waste
ECONOMIC:
- may become dependant on migrant workers, causing issues e.g if migrants stop coming
- lack of jobs for nationals
- remittances do not benefit host country’s economy
POLITICAL:
- possible political disagreements due to overpopulation, causing international disputes e.g UK leaving EU
- law/policies may be introduced to limit population
What are the barriers faced by migrants?
- lack of qualifications/skills/education/experience
- no knowledge of language
- a lack of skills restricting them to low paid unskilled jobs
- inability to obtain employment; higher living costs may mean they are unable to buy homes and end up living in poor, overcrowded conditions
- discrimination
- illegal immigrants fear arrest, so cannot access service for fear of being caught/deported
- exploitation by business and factory owners
- cultural differences
Evaluation:
- effect of differences of cultures may be weakened over time - in second and third generations - as a result of education, by marriage and upward mobility in society so that integration occurs
Compare characteristics of voluntary and forced migration
- forced is no choice, voluntary is choice
Profile of migrant:
Forced migrants:
- refugee (escaping war or persecution)
- internally displaced person (no internationally migrated)
- asylum seeker (hoping to be recognised as refugee)
Journey:
Voluntary:
- often better planned out with safer modes of transport (flights)
Forced:
- unexpected using unsafe transport ( dinghy crossing across english channel)
Push/Pull factors:
Voluntary:
- lack of opportunity
- low wages (Poland)
- low employment (Mexico)
- better standard of living/more jobs
Forced:
- escape persecution
- safe/stable environment
Both seek higher standard of living
Age:
forced:
- tend to be younger in age
Voluntary:
- often older people moving for retirement (british coastline)
Using examples, explain the pattern of international refugee flows (8)
- insecure areas due to civil unrest, war, famine, ethnic cleansing
- location of natural disasters, e.g drought, low-lying flood prone areas
- pushes vs pulls
- availability of transport
- social and cultural factors
- refugees from africa often migrate illegally (smuggled)
- usually settle in Southern European countries, e.g Spain and italy because of the location of North Africa - many migrants will take the shortest possible route crossing into Europe
- many refugees of war: 2 million forced out of Somalia in 2007 because of civil war
- civil war in Syria, more than 7.6 million Syrians have been displaced within the country by the conflict, fleeing to safer areas
- by 2015, UNHCR reported many Syrians had fled the country and the number of Syrian refugees had reached over 4,000,000 people, mostly going Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq
- 2015, turkey biggest hosting refugee country with 2.1 million Syrian refugees b
