Migration has been happening across the world for hundreds, if not thousands of years. People move from one place to another for various reasons (war, persecution, seeking better opportunities, unemployment, etc.). This migration of people can result in consequences for both the place they left behind and their new place of residence. These consequences can be economic, social, political and demographic. Let's take a look.
Causes of migration
There are many different reasons why migration occurs. Let's take a look at the 'push and pull factor' idea, a helpful way of understanding the movement of migrants.
Push factors are the things going on in their place of residence that make people want to leave. Pull factors are those which attract people to a place.
Push factors for migration include:
- Extreme weather (droughts, which can affect things like agriculture).
- Lack of economic or social opportunities (work, school).
- Lack of safety - (war, the threat to life, persecution).
Fig. 1 - Farina in South Australia was abandoned after years of drought and dust storms. Droughts can be a push factor for migration.
Pull factors for migration include:
- Improved job or economic opportunities (income, skills).
- Better healthcare
- Equality (gender)
- Better political conditions (stability).
Migration can have positive and negative impacts on the social, economic and political factors of both host nations and origin locations. Let's take a look at some of the effects and consequences of migration.
Social effects of migration
Let's take a look at the many social effects of migration:
Culture and diversity
Culture is the shared beliefs, values and traditions of a demographic. This also extends to food, music, religion, art, dress and language. There are many different cultures across the world, and through migration, most prominently, international migration, these cultures can be shared and brought to new places.
Migration can increase the cultural diversity of a host country, as an introduction of a new culture can bring a whole new market of products and services that were not available in the host country prior to the arrival of migrants. Migration in this sense, can have very positive impacts on the host nation. However there can be negative impacts for the migrants themselves, for example, there can be a significant loss of cultural norms, as they may be entering a host country that has a completely different way of societal living than their origin country.
Let's talk about curry. Chicken tikka masala has been ranked as one of Britain's national dishes. Although not an official Indian curry, it comes from traditional Indian curry recipes. The British love for curry is visible in places around the UK too, such as the curry mile in Manchester. This is just one clear example of cultural diversity, and the impacts and influences of migration on daily culture.
Assimilation
Assimilation is the integration of migrants into their host country. This occurs naturally, at different rates, and over a long period of time. Assimilation rates are affected by many different factors, such as the level of similarity between migrants and local people or perhaps the existence of tensions between migrants and local groups.
Don't confuse assimilation with cultural erasure, where cultural characteristics start to fade out completely.
Fig. 2 - St. Patrick's Day is an excellent example of the cultural assimilation of Irish migrants into American culture. Here, the Chicago River in the US is coloured green for St. Patrick's Day.
Social consequences of migration
Let's take a look at some of the social consequences of migration:
Cultural clash
Migrants may have entirely different cultural values or characteristics to those of a host nation. When there are differences between the host and the origin country, tensions may build up between them. This is often called a cultural clash or cultural conflict.
Discrimination
International migration may create spaces for discrimination. Migrants may have a different ethnicity, religious practice, or cultural characteristics from their host nation, or there may be language barriers, which can sometimes cause migrants to be discriminated against in every aspect of their everyday lives, either directly or indirectly.
Furthering your knowledge by taking a look at the meanings of 'direct' and 'indirect' discrimination and examples of these can help to bulk out your exam answers!
Segregation
Segregation divides people up due to their differences.
Let's take a look at ethnicity and race. Unlike race, ethnicity is not necessarily connected to biological traits and more often refers to cultural background. For example, Latin Americans are an ethnic group, as they share a common cultural background, but within Latin America, there are people from different races (White, Black, East Asian, Indigenous and Mixed). When international migration occurs, migrants may face racial or ethnic segregation, which may occur in different forms. In large urban areas, there often exists designated neighbourhoods for different ethnicities. This can happen due to migrants being treated differently, affecting their access to certain types of housing, or if local populations make active choices to live away from migrant groups1. Segregation may also happen because it is attractive for migrants to live in spaces with people who have similar cultural characteristics.
Negative attitudes toward migrants, fueled by racism and discriminatory beliefs, can also have a negative impact on policies in the host nation. Brexit, for example. Negative attitudes towards migrants influenced many people to vote for leave, to reduce the number of migrants entering the UK.
Smuggling and human trafficking
The process of international migration is often complicated, and immigration laws can be very strict. This can lead potential migrants to hire the services of illegal immigration officers, commonly known as smugglers or coyotes. Due to the illegality of their services, there is no guarantee the migration process is safe.
Human trafficking is something different to smuggling. Human trafficking occurs when people (migrants, but human trafficking also happens domestically) are forced into undertaking unpaid forced labour, or sex work, for example. Human trafficking may also occur as a result of smuggling if they are held captive or are forced to work to pay off the often expensive smuggling fees2, but this isn't always the case.
Try to remember to define a term first, explain your point, and add in an example for a detailed exam answer.
Political consequences of migration
There are multiple political consequences that result from migration, but first let's get a better understanding of some commonly misused words:
An asylum seeker is a person who has fled a country due to a threat to their security, but has yet to be granted confirmation of refugee status. Being granted refugee status isn't always guaranteed.
A refugee is a person who has left their home country due to a threat to their security.
International borders and asylum seekers
International borders are not always well-defined. Some territories share border control authorities from different countries, and this can cause conflict. Regarding migration, it becomes unclear who is responsible for the migrant movement.
Let's take a look at Calais, the home of the France-UK border.
The Calais Jungle (located in Calais, France) offers an example of a migrant camp. Migrants who were in this camp were trying to enter the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel or to apply for asylum in France. As migrant numbers increased, both the French and British governments didn't know how best to allocate these people. After the settlement dismantlement in 2016, there have been political tensions regarding the placement of these asylum seekers and refugees. It is important to note, however, that although the Calais Jungle has been dismantled, many migrants are still there (in 2021, 2000 people were thought to be living there). The aftermath of this event changed French policies to avoid the formation of overpopulated migrant camps again. Now, refugees are pushed out of surrounding areas by law enforcement.
Fig. 3 - Calais Jungle in 2016.
Refugees and European Union policy
Within the European Union, protecting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers is important. There are laws and processes that come with this; however, these procedures and laws have not always been upheld.During the 2015 migrant crisis, migrants coming across Hungary's border had to enter what was named a 'Transit Zone'. These 'zones' were essentially detention camps, where asylum seekers had to wait in during the asylum process - these people were then trapped, for long periods of time, and often without actually being processed through the system. Other countries, such as Greece have even been reported to reject the entrance of refugees and force them to return in dangerous ships. Both of these occurrences are supposed to be illegal.
The Common European Asylum System, created in 1999, highlights the EU's responsibilities towards refugees and asylum seekers.
Disadvantages of migration
Though necessary for some people, there are disadvantages of migration, for both the host country and country of origin.
Human Capital Flight and economic development
With international migration, origin countries often lose large proportions of the highly skilled workforce. Developing countries, such as India, suffer from the loss of this highly trained workforce, due to migration. This is called Human Capital Flight or Brain drain, which negatively impacts economic growth.
After a migrant has entered their host country, they may send part of their income back to their origin country. This is called remittance. India, for example, receives around 80 billion US dollars per year from remittances (2.7% of their total Gross Domestic Product (GDP)). Despite the fact that most of these workers will still send remittances back to their origin country, these remittances aren't enough to deal with the economic impact of this human capital flight, which can impact the development levels of the origin country.
Population and demographic changes
International migration can affect the population and demographics of both host and origin countries. Through migration, the population in the host country increases. This can increase pressure on public services, as more people are using or needing them3.
With Human Capital Flight and Brain Drain, it tends to be the younger population leaving to seek better opportunities elsewhere. This leaves behind an increasingly elderly population in the origin country, and with a growing younger population in the host country.
Consequences of Migration - Key takeaways
- Migration can have positive and negative impacts on both host and origin countries.
- Migration can lead to increased cultural diversity in a host country.
- Migrants may experience forms of segregation, discrimination or cultural clashes.
- Assimilation occurs over time, as migrants settle in their host country.
- The migration of highly skilled workers can cause a brain drain in the origin country. Even with remittance payments, economic growth is reduced.
- Migrants may hire the services of illegal immigration officers, where incidences of human trafficking may occur.
- International borders can be zones of disputes between countries when processing refugees and asylum seekers.
- The EU has favourable policies to provide asylum to refugees, but some countries within the EU have controversial policies toward these migrants.
References
- John Iceland, Why does segregation occur? Residential Segregation, A Transatlantic Analysis, 2014, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/TCM_Cities_Residential-SegregationFINALWEB.pdf
- UNHCR, Trafficking in persons, https://www.unhcr.org/uk/human-trafficking.html
- Jamie McIvor, How does immigration affect public services? 2015, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31822307
- Fig. 1: Farina in South Australia was abandoned after years of drought and dust storms. Droughts can be a push factor for migration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ruins_at_Farina.JPG) by Peterdownunder (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Peterdownunder) Licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
- Fig. 3: Calais Jungle in 2016 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Overview_of_Calais_Jungle.jpg) by malachybrowne (https://www.flickr.com/photos/67570481@N04/) Licensed by CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)
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