Migration Case Studies

As I worked through the population module yesterday afternoon, I soon realised that I didn't have any notes on any of the migration case studies and so I have spent this morning reading up about each of them and I thought, due to the fact that I know I am not the only one lacking notes on this, that I would type them up on here instead of writing them all out by hand.

Bosnia Herzegovinia

Origin of the Area

After years of unstable governments, economic problems and conflict; the central European country of Yugoslavia spilt up into various countries. The process started in 1991, when the country spilt into four, and has continued for years up until the present day. Bosnia Herzegovina, one of the largest countries to come out of the division and it gained its independence in 1992. The areas population structure of Serbs, Albanians and Croats has historicaly been a place of ethinic conflict, which was ultimatly the cause of the spilt.

After the formation of the country, war broke out and years of fighting between the ethinic groups followed. Ownership of land was disputed, resulting in ongoing conflict that led to economic and  political instability across much of former Yugoslavia. Thousands of people were killed until the area settled down in 1995, but even today it is far from stable.

Migration inside Bosnia Herzegovinia is forced, meaning people are moving because of fear. Forced migration within the country is due to the ongoing conflicts, and is displacing thousands of people from their homes. Many moved to cities or towns and stopped at the nearest safe place they could find. Others emmigrated to other countries. It is estimated that 40% of those who emmigrated went to either  Serbia, Montengro or Crotia whilst some went to the USA, Canada and Australia but the majority emmigrated to Germany and Austria.

As a result of the ethnic cleansing that took place it is thought that around 102 000 people were killed and just under 2 million people were displaced.

Push Factors

Þ  Heavy conflict meant that the threat of losing your life was forever present

Þ  Lack of tolerance for religious and cultral diversity

Þ  Frequent violations of basic human rights

Þ  Poor public services and other facilites

Þ  Lack of employment and economic stability – conflict destroyed crops and farm land

Þ  Destruction of property and infastructure                                                                             

Pull Factors

Þ  Religious freedom –people fled to where their ethnicity was a majority not a minority to try and avoid the ethnic cleansing

Þ  Safety in numbers – more people lived in the cities and towns and the death threat was not as prominent

Þ  Stable economy – adults needed jobs and a realiable income to sustain a family

Þ  Better infastructure that had not been devasted by the conflict

Þ  Better and more widely avaiable facilites and public services

Migration Obstacles

These are problems people face in the area that could prevent them from migrating. In the current situation, most people will face problems but because they are migrating through fear, will find ways to overcome them. If the situation is forcing people to migrate, most will go to any extent to find a safe place to live. Despite this, people could face problems such as lack of money or transport and confusion as to where a safe place to go actually is. Most will end up going to urban areas, resulting in general rural to urban migration in Bosnia Herzegovinia.

Positives about the orgin

Bosnia is predominantly a mountainous country with only a few regions of flat grass land used for farming. This is where most of the ethnic cleansing took place and so this caused problems with food supplies as farmers and their families migrated away from the unsafe countryside to the cities. Flat land was fiercely fought over as it was the most suitable land to farm. 

Negatives about the destination

The areas where people migrated to quickly became overcrowded and refugee camps started to appear like the one near Kosovo. It was reported that over 4000 people were fleeing into camp near Kosovo every hour. This stretched public services and also provoked higher crime rates as people became desperate. The land nearer the cities and towns was harder or impossible to farm and so food shortages were an issue.

Neutral factors of the origin and destination  

The situation in the destination, compared to the origin, is likely to be very different. It will probably be more crowded, but would not be under the pressures of conflict the origin had. Some things could remain the same however, such as general living conditions. Overall, you would probably expect life to much better in the new destination, as life would be reasonably similar to before, only without conflict.  

Effects of migration

Rural to urban migration has lead to an uneven distrubtion of skills. This has also meant that food production has been reduced as farmers left the countryside for safety. This has meant that their was no one left to farm the land. Ethnic cleansing has increased the seperation between the different ethnic groups that reside in \Bosnia Herzegovina and the violation of human rights has been reported to still occur; especially amognst the refugees that are still returning home. Although the European Union Peacekeeping Troops are still present in Bosnia Herzegovina to try and maintain the peace and stability; things are starting to improve. It is estimated that 579 000 people have returned to their original homes with many more locally intergrated.

Africa to Western Europe

Origin of the Area

Many of the countries in Africa face political instability or are under dictatorial rulers that seem to care little about the quality of life and social welfare of those in the country. Health care is poor, or non- existant, and with HIV and malaria being rife in many of the countries that make up this contient life expectancy is extremely low (the average in Africa is 47 years). The accessibilty to education is also a big problem across much of Africa and job oppurtunites are hard to find. Access to clean water, food, electricity and many of the things people in the developed world take for granted, are also extremely hard to come by.

Push Factors

Þ  Lack of health care

Þ  Lack of education

Þ  Conflict and political instability

Þ  Poor public services and other facilites

Þ  Lack of employment and economic stability

Þ  Lack of infrastucture

Þ  Lack of religious freedom                                                                              

Pull Factors

Þ  Free health care and education

Þ  More polictically and economically stable

Þ  More job oppurtunites with a minimum wage enforced

Þ  Better and more widely avaiable facilites and public services

Þ  Laws enforced in a fair and humane way means safety

Migration Obstacles

Travelling on old fishing boats from Africa to Europe is very dangerous and many do not survive the route (in June this year, 24 Africans drowned after a dinghy capsized south of Malta)which, due to people smugglers, can cost up to 2000 Euros. I Also once you get to a country like Spain, which is popular due to the fact that it is one of the closest European countries, many often get expelled from the country or repatriated. The language barrier can also present problems when it comes to communication and with living costs being so much higher in European countries, most cannot afford to find somewhere to live. The cultral barrier is another obstacle that needs to be overcome but perhaps the biggest is gaining the right to permanent residence in that country.

Positives about the orgin

The culture, language and climate are the same and all very different to those found in European countries. The skills that many of these immigrants have are most applicable to the conditions found in their origins.  

Negatives about the destination

The cost of living is very high and separation between immigrants and the people already living in the destination can create tension and, in some extreme cases, result in violence. High taxes also have to be paid.

Effects of migration

-          In 2006, about  22,016 people reached Italy by boat from Africa

-          The majority of African migrants live in Europe with an estimated 4.6 million doing so compared to only 890,000 in the USA

-          About two-thirds of Africans in Europe are from North Africa

Having migrated, many of the migrants send home money to family members they have left behind. Billions of dollars each year is sent back to Africa from migrants scattered around the world and, in some cases, this makes up sizeable chunks of the origin country’s GDP. However, it leaves many families seperated and again leads to a lack of skilled people in the origin. The impacts on the destination are, perhaps, mainly negative as huge amounts of money has to be invested in combacting illegal migration. The legal migrants though, do help to bolster a country’s workforce which, in countries like the UK who have an ageing population, is crucial if they are to  maintain a certain degree of economic stability.

Brain Drain from UK to USA

Push Factors

Þ  High taxes which, in the near future, are only expected to get higher

Þ  High house prices and day to day living costs

Þ  Poor climate

Þ  Career stagnation is making it harder and harder for newly qualified graduates to get a job

Þ  Lower salaries

Þ Industrial unrest

                                                                             

Pull Factors

Þ  Higher initial salaries are offered in the USA compared to the UK

Þ  American universites and research companies have made the effort to attract graduates over to the USA

Þ  Many feel that they have a better chance of getting a job in America

Þ  Many just want to take the oppurtunity to work abroad and see it as part of their personal development

Þ  No language barreir

Migration Obstacles

The cost of moving to America is without a doubt the biggest obstacle that needs to be overcome. The costs involved with moving to America would be huge but the fact that so many people chose to move to America suggests that the rewards must be very high. Distance is another obstacle as moving to America means that you are a long way away from family members and friends. Getting a green card/visa is also another obstacle that needs to be overcome by people wishing to move to America.

Positives about the orgin

Free health care and education system are the biggest positives about the origin. Being part of the EU means that travelling amongst other countries in Europe is easy.

Negatives about the destination

Health care system is run slightly differently and so you end up paying a lot more for it then you, indirectly, do in the UK. Higher crime rates, especially gun crime rates due to different laws.  America experiences hurricanes and wildfires and earthquakes, amongst other things, that do not occur in the UK due to the climate and location.

Neutral factors of the origin and destination 

There are similarities between the origin and destination like the fact that the same languages are spoken and, in terms of development, they are on very similar levels. This means that the facilities found, and the quality of them, will be very similar. Compared to other countries they are both quite politically stable with similar military activities in other countries.

Effects of migration

This migration has led to an uneven distribution of skills. This has rapidly changed British society as large numbers of highly skilled graduates are moving abroad and this is not match by those migrating to the UK. However, this brain drain has attracted more than a million skilled immigrants to the UK which has helped to reduce the impacts of this trend. It is believed that if the UK stopped attracting graduates from abroad the full force of the impacts of this trend would be felt. This emmigration trend is costing the country a lot of money as, for example, it costs £250,000 to train a junior doctor who, like many, is choosing to practice abroad (it is estimated that 37.7% of those emmigrating have health or education qualifications). This is greatly benefitting the USA who don’t have to pay for the training of professionals but are benefitting from their education, which was funded by the UK.

 

Poland to the UK

Origin of the Area

Poland was admitted to the EU on 1^st April 2004 and with this came the right for any citizen of Poland to move freely around all the other EU countries. On the accession to the EU, it was anticipated that  levels of migration from Poland and the other A8 countries (all former communist bloc countries in central and eastern Europe) to the UK would drastically increase and this is excatly what happened. Living conditions in Poland are poor and unemployment is a huge problem and so many people have been attracted to the UK. This is only one of the three major waves of Polish immigration to the UK though. The first wave was as a result of wartime displacement and deportation with the Nazi occupation of Polish territory. The second wave occurred during the cold war when, despite the heavy restrictions on movement imposed by communist authorites, several thousand Poles joined existing groups in the UK.

Push Factors

Þ  High levels of unemployment – in 2005, 18.5% of those at working age were unemployed in Poland

Þ  Poor living conditions

Þ  Low salaries

Þ  Poor public services and other facilites

                                                                             

Pull Factors

Þ  The UK was one of only three countries (the other two being Ireland and Sweden) who didn’t put a limit on the number of migrants from A8 countries who could enter the country

Þ  English is spoken as the second language in Poland and so there was no language barrier, as such, to overcome

Þ    Migration was easy to the UK due to cheap flights and coach services

Þ    Plenty of avaliable jobs in the UK due to a skills shortage (think about the Brain Drain to the USA)

Þ    An average Polish worker could earn five times the amount he could in the UK compared to what they could earn in Poland

Migration Obstacles

Compared to the other case studies there are not many obstacles that had to be overcome. Language was not an issue, entry to the country was not an issue and budget airlines were able to offer relatively cheap transport to the UK.

Who are the migrants?

-          Around 80% are aged 18 to 34

-          Only one in ten have brought dependents with them

-          Only 3% have brought dependents with them who are under 17

-          The average age is 28

-          Most of them are single

-          The ratio of males to females is 58:42

-          Most of them are skilled/semi-skilled industrial workers and tradesmen

-          No real demographic concentrations as they choose to reside in both rural and urban areas up and down the country

-          97% of the immigrants work full time

Neutral factors of the origin and destination  

In terms of development, the origin and destination, as they are noth memebers of the EU, should be very similar. The language barrier is not present, so to speak, as English is taught as a second language in Poland. Cultural differences are not going to be wildly different either.

Effects of migration

It has been estimated that Eastern European immigrants have contributed £2.5billion to the UK’s economy and roughly 1% of the UK’s growth in 2006 was attributed to the same workers. British businesses have been able to cash in on the new market created by the presense of the young, single Poles who seem keen to join the consumer culture common in the UK. Polish shops and businesses have helped to start and rejuvenate the seriously declining shopping streets of the UK and also swell the size of church congregations. The migrants, 80% of which are aged between 18 and 34, have helped the UK cope with the problems being provoked by the ageing population by filling the gaps in the UK’s labour market and have also helped to fill the skills gap created by the brain drain. However, additional stress has been placed on the education and health care systems and demand for housing has further driven renting/buying prices higher. Also much of the money earnt is not staying in the UK as it is being sent back to Poland. In Poland, itself, this migration of young workers to the UK has helped to reduce the unemployment problems but has been blamed for increased divorce rates.

India to Dubai

-          In the UAE, 90% of the workforce (10 million people) are migrants, most of which originate from  the rural areas of  India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

-          Dubai has a population of 1.5 million and 1 million of these people are migrants.

-          As Dubai’s oil reserves are declining the ruling family, Maktoums, wanted to invest their wealth to make Dubai the best city and so they created lots of long term building projects. Many migrants have seen this as an opportunity to earn some money whilst enjoying the glamorous city life that Dubai claims to offer.

-          The average wage of a migrant in Dubai is $4 a day and most of this is sent back home to their families.

-          Migrants who get work on one of the long term building projects have to pay for their travel to Dubai and on arrival their passports are confiscated  while they are on a contract with a firm. Exit visas can’t be obtained without approval of a sponsor or an employer. These workers live in the workers’ camps which are remote and cramped and  constructed in the desert. This thereby adds extra time, for journeying to and from the construction site, to an already long enough 12 hour shift. There are also many accusations of discrimination and violence from employers, police and security forces including sexual assaults of women.

Push Factors

Þ  Poor infrastructure and lack of housing and santitation

Þ  Areas very densely populated

Þ  Lack of job oppurtunities

Þ  Monsoon rains hampering economic progress

Þ  Lack of natural resources

Þ  Poor standard of living

Þ  Low salaries                                                                           

Pull Factors

Þ  In 2007, it was named the world’s fastest growing city

Þ  More job oppurtunites – all of which are better paid

Þ  More stable economy

Þ  Better infastructure anf facilities

Þ  Believed to offer a better quality of life

Migration Obstacles

Again the costs involved with moving are high and once you are there you are not guaranteed a job. The is also the language barrier and the cultral differences that migrants have to overcome.

Positives about the orgin

Depends greatly on where in India the people are emigrating from. A few regions, like Kerala, have good education and health care services and equality for all.  

Negatives about the destination

Many of the negatives have been mentioned at the start of this case study but to reinforce the idea……..the working conditions and the living conditions provided are very poor and violence appears to be common. Wages are not great as there is no minimum wage and spending 12 hours in the heat, building skyscrapers is not ideal. The employers also fail to pay for many things that they should including health care costs and visa fees. The corruption of the employers who, illegally, hold on to workers passports means that once in Dubai it is very, very hard to leave.

Neutral factors of the origin and destination  

Living conditions do not seem to be that different and corruption among officals is something that is common to both countries.

Effects of migration

It has eased the unemployment problems in India but has left a shortage of men to work the land and produce food for the country, as they are the ones who have been migrating to Dubai for the manual labour. The migrants offer cheap labour for Dubai and are prepared to work long hours doing the manual labour required to develop the infrastructure that is required to attract people from the developed world to this region. Despite a tight control on the media, local newspapers etc have reported on and opened the worlds eyes to the dreadful conditions and abuse experienced by the migrant workers in Dubai which has started to give it, and rightfully so, a bit of a bad reputation.  Many migrants want to move back to India, but cannot at present afford to or travel as their employers hold on to their passports. When they do manage to move back to though, Dubai is going to be left with a huge gap in its society which will affect its development, whilst the unemployment problems still present in India will be furthered.

Rwanda to DR Congo

Origin of the Area

Rwanda is in central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo where the separation between the Hutu and Tusi has caused huge problems and forced many to migrate to the DR Congo. The tension between these two groups was first created when the Belgian colonists treated the Tutsi as the superior group despite the fact the Hutu were the majority.  On 6^th April 1994 genocide was sparked when the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane was shot from the air above Kigali airport. With less than hours after the attack, a campaign of violence spread from the capital throughout the country, and did not subside until three months later. In Kigali, the presidential guard immediately initiated an operation of retribution. Leaders of the political opposition were murdered, and almost instantly, the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began. This conflict later became known as the Rwandan Genocide and lasted 100 days and claimed the lives of close to 1 million people (the majority of which were Tutsis).  In July, of that year, the Tutsi’s managed to gain control of the capital Kigali and declare a ceasefire. The Hutu, fearing retribution attacks, fled to Zaire (which is now the DR Congo). It is estimated that around 2 million refugees fled from Rwanda.

Push Factors

Þ  Heavy conflict meant that the threat of losing your life was forever present

Þ  Lack of tolerance for religious and cultral diversity

Þ  Frequent violations of basic human rights

Þ  Lack of employment and economic stability – conflict destroyed crops and farm land (think about the Bikes to Rwanda case study we did in the energy module and how the genocide effected the once thriving coffee industry which, at present, is still struggling to recover)

Þ  Destruction of property and infastructure due to the conflict                                                                                   

Pull Factors

Þ  DR Congo was more stable than Rwanda

Þ  Safety

Þ  Not to far away (think about distance decay)

Þ  Better infastructure that had not been devasted by the conflict

Migration Obstacles

Surviving the journey to the DR Congo was the biggest obstacle as many feared for their lives. The migrants had also lost everything and so life, if they managed to get into the DR Congo, would be extremely hard.

Positives about the orgin

The Hutu’s were in a majority in Rwanda and safety often comes in numbers. Coffee plantations offered the most employment and many men had skills in these areas which were harder to apply in the DR Congo.

Negatives about the destination

Many of the tribes in DR Congo (then Zaire) had links to the Tutsi’s and so the Hutu’s were not always received very well. The country also had its own problems including civil unrest, unemployment and lack of food and access to clean water in many areas.

Neutral factors of the origin and destination  

Both countries had been under Beligium colonail rule and, after they claimed independence, both countries became unstable in terms of the econonic, political and social aspects of life.

Effects of migration

This migration ultimately led to many wars in Zaire as some of the tribes had Tutsi links and it was as if the conflict in Rwanda just spilled over into the DR Congo.  There have also been reports of Rwanda supplying arms and soliders to the Tutsi rebels in DR Congo. Refugee camps had to be set up to accommodate this sudden migration and thousands of the migrants died in epidemics of diseases common to the squalor of refugee camps, such as cholera and dysentery.

These are only a few rough notes that I made quickly this morning to try and fill the gaps in my knowledge. There are other things that you can add under each heading as I didn’t bother with all of the really obvious push and pull factors, for example, or bother writing about some of the origins as I think most of you will know enough of the basics about some of the countries. If you get the chance, I would suggest reading the book Blood River by Tim Butcher as it mentions the Rwandan Genocide and the effects that both Belgium colonial rule and the migration have had on the DR Congo – I started reading it the other day and it is extremely good so far (review probably won’t appear until after my exams though) and I have been struggling to put it down! Anyway back to the revision, I hope this is useful and I think I covered all the basics – let me know if there is anything I crucial I have missed out!