5.3 International migration

Question 1

What is international migration?

Answer 1

the movement of people across national borders or from country to country for more than one year

Question 2

Why is international migration increasing?

Answer 2

• globalisation of economic activity
• improved transport systems
• refugee movements
• more information available e.g from internet

Question 3

What is voluntary migration?

Answer 3

• where it is the personal choice of a migrant to move, making their own decision as a result of push/pull factors

Question 4

What are refugee flows and examples?

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

What is an example of voluntary migration?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What are the causes of forced international migration?

Answer 6

1. Refugees: fear of persecution
2. Internally displaced persons
3. Asylum seekers

Question 7

What is a case study of refugee movements into the EU?

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

What are the impacts of international migration on source areas?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What are the impacts on destination country from international migration?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What are the barriers faced by migrants?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Compare characteristics of voluntary and forced migration

Answer 11

• 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)

Question 12

Using examples, explain the pattern of international refugee flows (8)

Answer 12

• 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