MENA Migration Case Study Flashcards
(19 cards)
Push Factors - conflict
Yemen: 72% of 41,450 displaced people between Jan and March 2023 because of war
Syria: over half their population has been displaced and 16.7 million require aid
Iraq: in Q1 2023, there were 1.16 million IDPs
Push Factors - economic hardships
Tunisia: 37.5% unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds with overall unemployment at 16.2% (highest in MENA)
Lebanon: inflation at 222% in 2023 due to total losses of $72 billion as a result of ongoing 2023 financial crisis
Push Factors - environmental issues
Egypt: water scarcity, desertification, droughts and flash floods
Arid climate with harsh weather conditions has caused 2.7 million Egyptians to now live abroad
Intervening Obstacles - geographical barriers
Mediterranean Sea: 1600 casualties in Oct 2024, 3100 deaths in 2023
Intervening Obstacles - economic costs
Expensive for migrants from MENA to live in HICs in Europe so smuggling in Mediterranean Sea in 2023 was $370 million
Intervening Obstacles - language
English is most common language in Europe and Russian has most native speakers - two hard languages to learn for Middle Eastern people who speak Arabic, Hebrew or Kurdish
Pull Factors - economic opportunity
Gulf Cooperation Council: comprises of migrants from MENA (mainly Egypt + Sudan) moving to countries like UAE, Bahrain + Saudi Arabia for well paid jobs, especially construction
EU offers more economic stability with more jobs and more well-paid jobs
Pull Factors - political stability
Canada: attract many MENA migrants due to stable governance + non-strict immigration policies
2% of Canadians claimed Arab ancestry in 2021, showing reliance
Impact of MENA migration on source area - social
12 million displaced due to Syrian Civil War - population pyramid has wide middle + narrow base due to dropping birth rates
Ageing population due to middle aged people leaving for work
50% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon (Syrian refugees = 25% of population) are children so Lebanon has wide base of population pyramid
Fertility rates of Syrian refugees in Turkey is 5.3, compared to national average of 1.88
Death rates of 5.9 in Yemen
Impact of MENA migration on source area - economic
Egypt made $6.4 billion through remittances in Q1 2023
Morocco + Egypt’s GDP is 8% remittances
Expensive for countries to keep migrants - Jordan spends $2.5 billion yearly
Brain Drain causes skilled workers to leave so more unemployment so less growth so less GDP - 20,000 Syrian doctors have left since start of civil war
Syria has paid to educate doctors who now work abroad, so they have lost valuable assets
Impact of MENA migration on source area - political
Strain on governments like Lebanon with huge influxes of migrants
Political clashes over immigration laws, causing unrest and protests
Libya is now a hotspot for smuggling North African migrants to Europe, giving profits to dangerous people
Migration is a bargaining chip - Morocco uses it as they are a transit country for migrants to pass into Spain
Tunisia saw anti-migrant protests in 2023, weakening relationship with MENA countries, with hundreds deported, arrested and attacked
Impact on initial receiving points - Greece or italy
Over 1.3 million migrants in Greece in 2020
Economic strain caused as same number of resources to be allocated among millions more
Refugee camps set up due to lack of housing, and become overcrowded leading to poor sanitation and disease
EU has given Greece £340 million since 2021 to help with migration costs
Italy has similar problems with overcrowded camps causing disease, strain of resources and huge population increase - over 105,000 migrants arrived by sea to Italy in 2022
Impact on transit points - Hungary
Hungary started building 4 m high 175 km long wall along border with Serbia to keep migrants out
It cost 800 million euros so placed country under economic strain
Viktor Orban, Hungarian PM, rejected asylum seekers to restore Hungarian sovereignty
Xenophobia spread over Hungary as people adopted anti-immigrant sentiment so prejudice against MENA migrants is huge
Impact on final destination countries - Germany, France - social
Germany: migration mitigating ageing population and natural decrease as many working age people added and overall population increases
Cultural diversity is high, Middle Eastern food is popular
However, 35% of Syrian migrants in Germany are unemployed due to language barriers + lack of skills, making social integration hard
France: North African population is over 5 million with migrants settling in suburbs with unemployment, crime + poverty
56% of French not happy with migration
Impact on final destination countries - Germany, France - economic
Germany: welcome migrants as they fill holes in labour force so MENA migrants step into well paid roles in construction / healthcare
Government spent 20 billion euros to accommodate and provide for migrants
France: over 10% of construction workers are North African
Migrants contribute to services in Paris, working in retail or food
Over 50,000 migrants applied to France in 2021, meaning high cost
MENA migration conforms to Zipf’s Inverse Distance Law
Middle Eastern migrants leave in a hurry due to conflict so stay in neighbouring countries
3.2 million Syrian migrants in Turkey, 1 million in Lebanon, 660,000 in Jordan, 300,000 in Iraq
Italy see many North African migrants with 32,400 arriving in Sicily from Libya in 2021 and 100,000 Tunisians legally resided in Italy in 2021
Step migration used by MENA migrants to earn money before arriving in Europe
MENA migration doesn’t conform to Zipf’s Inverse Distance Law
Northern European countries still see much migration from MENA despite distance - Germany received 1.1 million asylum applications in 2015
Migrants willing to travel further due to good quality of life + job opportunities
Many migrants travel as far away as they can to escape conflict in their own and neighbouring countries - Iraq, Iran, Syria
MENA migration conforms to the Gravity model
Germany received 1.1 million asylum applications in 2015 as they have largest economy in Europe
Small moves between close countries like Italy and Libya as pull of Italy is large due to proximity and size
Stepped migration conforms as distance affects how migrants move
MENA migration doesn’t conform to the Gravity model
Conflict makes migrants try and flee as far as they can to safer countries in North Europe like Sweden with good political stability
Bypassing neighbouring Middle Eastern countries is necessary for many due to hostility
Mediterranean is a large barrier as it is so perilous to cross
France and Britain had many colonies in North Africa like Algeria or Morocco, meaning that people from these countries target France and Britain due to history or family, making migrants ignore distance
