MIGRATION: 2 VIEWPOINTS Flashcards
A MIGRANT?
- NO UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED DEFINITIONS
- COUNTRIES AND AGENCIES USE THEIR OWN CRITERI, BASED ON THEIR OWN LEGISLATIONS AND POLICIES
- DEFINITIONS ARE NOT CONSISTENTLY USED
- THERE ARE SOME ‘POPULAR’ TERMS/DEFINITIONS
Migrants are individuals who leave their legal place of origin and cross international boundaries
Migration is commonly represented as a slow and unidirectional process resulting in permanent resettlement
Migrants are diverse groups (e.g. economic migrants, students, refugees, asylum seekers) and there the relationship between and health and migration is complex
HOW MANY MIGRANTS ARE THERE GLOBALLY?
1 BILLION MIGRANTS GRLOBALLY
- INCLUDING 281 MILLION INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS AND 82.4 MILLION FORCIBLY DIPLACED
A REFUGEE?
Refugees are people fleeing armed conflicts or persecution. There were 19,5 million of them worldwide at the end of 2014 according to UNHCR. Their situation is so perilous that they cross national borders to seek safety in nearby countries and become recognised as refugees with access to assistance from states and aid organisations.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES?
Migrants choose to move not because of a direct threat or persecution but mainly to improve their lives:
Finding work
Seeking better education
Reuniting with family
Unlike refugees who cannot safely return home, migrants can return home if they wish.
This distinction is important for governments, since countries handle migrants under their own immigration laws and processes.
TYPES OF MIGRATIONS?
Economic migration- to find work or follow a particular career path.
Social migration- for a better quality of life or to be closer to family or friends.
Political migration- to escape political persecution or war.
Environmental- to escape natural disasters such as flooding.
(LAST TWO CN BE CLASSIFIED AS REFUGEES, FIRST TO AS MIGRANTS)
2 CLASSES OF FACTORS FOR MIGRATION?
Push Factorsare negative things that make people want to move to a new area e.g war
Pull Factorsare positive aspects that attract people to move to a place e.g good employment opportunites
EXAMPLES OF PUSH AND PULL FACTOR?
PUSH FACTORS:
- LACK OF SERVICES
- LOW EMPLOYMENT
- LACK OF SAFETY
- HIGH CRIME
- CROP FAILURE
- DROUGHT
- FLOODING
- POVERTY
- WAR
PULL FACTORS (ALL OPPOSITES, E.G. GOOD CLIMATE, LOWER RISK OF NATURAL HAZARDS, MORE WELTH, POLITICAL STABILITY, FERTILE LAND…)
FACTORS AFFECTING HEALTH OF MIGRANTS?
- MIGRANT’S GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN
- CONDITIONS OF REFUGEE CAMPS OR URBAN SETTINGS WHERE THEY LIVED
- WOKING CONDITIONS
- SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY FACTORS (DISCRIMINATION, STIGMA, SOCIAL INCLUSION)
- PERSONAL, PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, EITHER PRE-EXISTING OR ACQUIRED WHILE TRAVELLING
- GOVERNANCE, POLICY, SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS
MIGRATORY PHASES
Pre-departure Travel Interception Designation Return
FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH OF IMMIGRANTS BY MIGRATORY PHASE - PRE-DEPARTURE
- BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
- LOCAL PATTERNS OF CHRONIC CONDITIONS (COMMUNICABLE AND NON-COMMUNICABLE)
- PATHOGENS DISTRIBUTIONS
- ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
- POLITICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES
- DEPLETION OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS
FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH OF IMMIGRANTS BY MIGRATORY PHASE - TRAVEL
- TRANSPORTS AND TRAVEL CONDITIONS
- EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSIT AREAS
- SEXUAL VIOLENCE
- HUMAN TRAFFICKING
FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH OF IMMIGRANTS BY MIGRATORY PHASE - INTERCEPTION
- POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
- HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
- INADEQUATE MEDICAL CARE
FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH OF IMMIGRANTS BY MIGRATORY PHASE - DESTINATION
- SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION
- ACCESS TO CARE
- LEGAL STATUS
- OCCUPATIONAL RISK
- EXPOSURE TO RISK BEHAVIOURS (ALCOHOL, DRUGS, CRIME ETC)
FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH OF IMMIGRANTS BY MIGRATORY PHASE - RETURN
- PRE-TRAVEL ADVICE?
- POOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
- REDUCED IMMUNITY AGAINST LOCAL PATHOGENS
MIGRANT OR REFUGEE HEALTH
Is the field of study on the health effects experienced by people who have moved into another country or even to another part of the world, either by choice or as a result of unsafe circumstances such as war or persecution
EFFECTS OF MIGRANT HEALTH BEYONG THE MIGRANTS THEMSELVES:
Health issues and risks related to migrant populations, AND the way in which migration affects:
Countries of origin, transit and destination, and
Second and later migrant generations
WAYS IN WHICH DISPLACED POPULATION’S HEALTH IN MAINLY AFFECTED:
Infectious disease: Respiratory infections, especially Tuberculosis Skin infections Gastrointestinal illnesses Food- and water-borne diseases HIV, hepatitis Endemic disease in host country
Mental health
Chronic diseases (that are uncommon in the country in which they eventually settle), POORER OUTCOMES
Cardiovascular disease, hypertension and Type 2 diabetes
Psychosocial disorders
Reproductive health problems, included STD
Drug abuse, alcoholism
Exposure to violence
Pregnancy and delivery related complications
IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT SOMETIMES MIGRATION CAN BE POSITIVE FOR HEALTH AND IMPROVE ONE’S HEALTH CAPITAL, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE MIGRATING TO A COUNTRY WITH BETTER SERVICES AND LOWER RISKS (healthy migrant paradox)
% OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS REPORTING FREATER LEVEL OF DEPRESSION, WORRY, ANXIETY AND LONELINESS DURING THE COVID 9 PANDEMIC?
50%
IMPACT OF WEATHER ON HEALTH CONDITIONS OF MIGRANTS?
COLD;
Hypothermia, body temperature below 35.0 oC
Frost-bite – especially in the fingers, toes, nose and ears.
Increased risk of fracture
Severe bacterial and viral infections
WARM;
Dehydration and exhaustion
Life-threatening heat-stroke
Worsen existing conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
‘HEALTHY MIGRANT PARADOX’
The healthy immigrant paradox describes a phenomenon observed in many countries where immigrants who have just moved to a host country have better health outcomes than the native populations of the host country
- lower mortality rates, higher life expectancy, lower incidence and mortality due to cancer, lower prevalence of CVD…
GENETIC DRIFT?
Genetic drift, also termed as allelic drift or the Sewall Wright effect, is the alteration of the frequency of a specific allele because of the organisms’ random sampling.
This process is popularly illustrated through the marbles in a jar analogy.
GENE FLOW?
Gene flow is also termed as gene migration or allele flow.
It is the migration of genetic variation from a certain population to another.
This process is significant in actualizing diversity in a genetic pool. For instance, people in village A have very similar genetic makeup and this becomes varied when people from village B and C have children with those from village A.
EXAMPLES OF GENE FLOW?
Europeans inhabit North America and mate with Native Americans (you can tell that the population of people living in America looks very different than it did in the 1400s)
Domesticated reindeer in western Alaska escape and mate with migrating caribou, adding the alleles for short legs and tame behavior
A blonde-haired, blue-eyed family from Sweden moves to India where the children grow up, marry Indians and produce offspring who now have the blonde-haired, blue-eyed alleles
Farmed salmon escape and mate with wild salmon
Bees carry pollen from one population of flowers to another population
GENETIC DRIFT IS ALSO KNOWN AS:
Sewall Wright effect
