Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy 01 Feb. 2015
·
Worldwide, there is an estimated 191 million
immigrants;
· The last 50 years has seen an almost doubling of immigration;
· 115 million immigrants live in developed countries;
· 20% (approximately 38 million) live in the US alone, making up 13% of its population;
· 33% of all immigrants live in Europe;
· 75% live in just 28 countries;
· Women constitute approximately half of all migrants at around 95 million;
· Between 1990 and 2005
· There were 36 million migrations (an average of approximately 2.4 million per year);
· 33 million wound up in industrialized countries;
· 75% of the increases occurred in just 17 countries;
· Immigration decreased in 72 countries in the same period;
· The last 50 years has seen an almost doubling of immigration;
· 115 million immigrants live in developed countries;
· 20% (approximately 38 million) live in the US alone, making up 13% of its population;
· 33% of all immigrants live in Europe;
· 75% live in just 28 countries;
· Women constitute approximately half of all migrants at around 95 million;
· Between 1990 and 2005
· There were 36 million migrations (an average of approximately 2.4 million per year);
· 33 million wound up in industrialized countries;
· 75% of the increases occurred in just 17 countries;
· Immigration decreased in 72 countries in the same period;
Why Do
People Emigrate?
People emigrate from one country to another for a variety of
complex reasons. Some are forced to move, due to conflict or to escape
persecution and prejudices, while others may voluntarily emigrate. Although
such a move may be necessary, it can be quite traumatic on top of the
challenges experienced so far.
From another perspective, immigration can also represent an
act of courage. For example,
Moving to a different country with different culture and
norms can be quite daunting;
The potential loneliness to be suffered is not always easy to
overcome;
There may be the additional pressure to earn enough to live
(in a more expensive-to-live-in country) and send back meager
savings.
An economic migrant, a person searching for work, or better
opportunities, will be stepping into the unknown—an exciting prospect if the
person is already well-to-do, or daunting at least, if out of desperation.
As Inter Press Service (IPS) reported, the European
Union has recently acknowledged a concern about immigration that has not
received much media attention. That is, a large number of people are attempting to leave the devastation of their
own country caused by the current form of globalization and
other political and economic policies, which, as well as creating winners, is
creating a large number of losers, and increasing inequality. Tackling poverty
and addressing issues of development and opportunity are important aspects of
tackling this type of immigration.
Effects Of Immigration
Immigration can have positive and
negative impacts on both the host (recipient) country, and the original
country.
The recipient country is usually an
industrialized country in Western Europe, or the United States. For these
countries, immigrants offer various benefits such as the following:
Immigrants will often do jobs that
people in the host country will not, or cannot do;
Migrant workers often work longer
hours and for lower salaries, and while that is controversial, sometimes
exploitive, it benefits the host country;
Immigrants, when made to feel welcome
in the host society, can contribute to the diversity of that society, which can
help with tolerance and understanding;
For the host country’s economy,
immigrants offer an increased talent pool, if they have been well educated in
their original country.
But there are also numerous
drawbacks:
Immigrants can be exploited for their
cheap labor;
Developing countries may suffer “brain drain” as the
limited resources they spend in educating their students amount to very little
if that talent is enticed to another country. (The UK for example is often
accused of actively hiring medical staff from developing countries. The
previous link details this issue further.)
Immigration can also attract criminal
elements, from trafficking in drugs and people to other forms of crime and
corruption;
Immigration can become a
social/political issue, where racism can be used to exploit feelings or as an
excuse for current woes of local population;
Where there is a perception that
immigrants and refugees appear to get more benefits than local poor people,
tensions and hostilities can also rise;
Concerns about illegal immigration
can spill over to ill-feelings towards the majority of immigrants who are
law-abiding and contributing to the economy;
Many die trying to flee their
predicament, and this can often make sensational headlines giving the
appearance that immigration is largely illegal and “out of control.”
Despite what appears to be large population movements, Gary
Younge, from theGuardian noted some time ago that people still are not able to move as freely as commodities.
In some places around the world, there are additional restrictions being put up
on people’s movements.
Opinions
Reflect Hype — Especially During Election Time
Almost a year and a half since the above was written, the
hype has remained. And as the British 2005 elections have drawn closer, the
issue of immigration and asylum has been one of the issues discussed (out of an
extremely small number of issues, it has to be added).
In a poll on immigration conducted for ITV News in
the UK (April 2005), some interesting observations were made:
73% of people thought too many immigrants were allowed into
the UK – and just 3% believed that not enough were allowed;
75% believe immigrants put a strain on public services;
39% of people believed immigrants bring disease to the UK;
25% felt migrants make Britain a thriving multicultural
society;
In testing some of these views, ITV noted the following:
In the 2002/3 tax year, 272,000 people came to the UK from
across the world and were given a national insurance number. Just 8% went on to
claim benefits;
Between May and December 2004, 133,000 from the new EU
countries registered to work in the UK. Just 21 of them were allowed to claim
benefits (0.016%!)
On HIV, the Health Protection Agency does estimate that 75%
of new heterosexual infections in 2003 were probably acquired in Africa. On
Tuberculosis (TB), public health figures said 67% of TB infections were born
abroad in 2002. But targeted screening at Heathrow airport found just 100 cases
in 175,000 tests in 2004 (0.057%!). The British Medical Association said it has
seen no evidence of a health tourism phenomenon.
For a long time, but increasingly during election times,
spear-headed by right-wing parties such as the Conservatives and tabloid media,
scares of immigration being “out of control” are returning.
For sure, there have been isolated incidents that cause much
concern, such as the recent case
of a failed asylum seeker killing a police officer and conspiring to create
the deadly poison ricin (though it seems police foiled
that in time).
However, using terrorism to add to the asylum and immigration
hysteria just creates more fear and animosity. In effect, it also suggests that
almost all (especially brown-skinned) asylum seekers and immigrants are
potential terrorists.
(It has even got to the point where I know some fellow Asians
in UK who also say that immigration is out of control, though they talk not of
people from their own ethnicities and backgrounds of course, but of “others”.)
Furthermore, the impact on public services, like health, of
obesity, excessive sugar/beef-based diets, tobacco and other unhealthy items
far outweighs the impacts immigrants have on such services. (For more details
on these impacts, see this site's section onbehind consumption and consumerism, and on causes of hunger.)
These other problems not only affect British people, but also have a
significant impact on other parts of the world. Notably, there has almost been nothing discussed
on these other issues during the same election campaign, in either a national
or international context. Instead, immigration has been publicized as a more
important issue.
United
Europe
The European Union has had policies to control immigration
from non-member countries. Spain for example seems to be facing a larger number
of immigrants from Morocco and other North African countries where people want
to escape their politically conflict-torn countries and seek a better standard
of living in Europe. However, many people are dying trying
to achieve this.
The
preceding paragraph was written some 8 years ago, in 1998. In September 2006,
similar issues still exist. Inter Press Service reports on many issues continuing today. For example, Spain recently
“threatened to deport illegal immigrants residing within its borders.” In
addition, “The British government says it is considering restricting access to
nationals of Bulgaria and Romania—if and when the two countries gain admission
to the EU.”
As
the European Union has grown, it is common to hear concerns in UK for example,
at the rising number of people from East Europe. The fear is the threat to job
security and downward pressure on wages, which are understandable concerns. The
underlying context of what makes this possible—the corporate drive for a more
open, free market system within the EU, that will see winners and losers, and
that also tends towards the lowest common denominators—is hardly discussed.
Interestingly, IPS also
adds that “Since 2004, when most Eastern Europe countries joined the EU, over
427,000 East Europeans, about two-thirds from Poland, have registered for
employment in Britain. At the same time, Western Europe is now more inclined to
hire Eastern Europeans both for skilled and unskilled jobs than Asians and
Africans.”
Some human rights activists
say that the European restrictions need to be modified or African nations need
to overcome their under-development in order to alleviate some of these
problems.
However, the current form
of globalization doesn’t look like it will immediately help the
developing nations.
