Definitions
Migration is defined as the movement of people from one administrative unit to another. It can be internal, involving a permanent relocation crossing an internal county or state boundary or international, crossing an international border with associated restrictions. Migration can be voluntary i.e. for economic or family reasons, or involuntary, such as due to natural disasters. Other involuntary migrants are refugees who flee due to political, religious or ethnic oppression. The correct definition for migrants who arrive in their host country and apply for political asylum as refugees requesting protection from a return to dangerous conditions is asylum seeker. The Irish Refugee Council has more information on this process on their website. Migration usually has the greatest impact on population change in small geographic areas and where there is little natural increase in population (Population Bulletin, 2007, pp12).
Seattle, home to my emigrant family (see right). (Source: circlingeurope.com, 2018)
Too Many Theories...
There are many theories as to why people migrate; Ravenstein proposed 11 in 1885, Lee produced 4 more in 1966; there’s the Neoclassical Approach, then the New Household Economics, Dual Market, World Systems and Institutional theories. My favourites however are the Network Theory and Cumulative Causation, which I can apply to my own family. One of my sisters moved to Seattle, USA, in 1989 with her husband and three children (they had two more there, a family of five being a source of amazement to locals). My brother-in-law was employed here but his uncle and two brothers and some cousins all worked in a family business that his uncle set up some years earlier when he emigrated. They availed of 'Donnelly visas', mentioned in this article in the Irish Independent, introduced in the 1980s to legalise many who had fled Ireland to the US during the economic recession, but which were open to all countries.
The Network theory focuses on the linking of migrants with family and friends between the origin and destination countries. This promotes further emigration by the sending of information back to the ‘home country’ with news of employment opportunities, accommodation and the facilities they might find when they arrive. These linkages decrease the effects of the upheaval of migration and increase its potential success (Newbold, 2017, pp160-161). The Cumulative Causation theory also applies to their situation as it argues that each act of migration makes further international migrations more likely. This is the scenario played out by my sister, her husband and his family but could equally be applied to many Irish people and their families who have emigrated over the years.
Syria
The Syrian refugee crisis has been ongoing since 2011 following the outbreak of civil war, which has produced 5.5 million refugees from a 2013 population of almost 22 million, with another 6.3 million internally displaced. Syria, along with Afghanistan at 2.5 million and South Sudan at 1.4 million, together make up over half the world’s refugees. It has been termed the greatest displacement crisis since World War II. According to the December 2018 figures from UNHCR, Lebanon houses 950 thousand Syrian refugees, a country which has a total population of 4.5 million people, slightly less than Ireland. Turkey has taken 13.6million (64%) and Jordan 671 thousand refugees.
One of the largest refugee camps is at Al Zaatari in Jordan (featured in this Reflection's 'skin') which in January 2018, according to UNHCR, housed 78,485 people. I had spotted this on Google maps some time ago while searching for a location mentioned in the news regarding the civil war and was astounded at its size. This article from aljazeera.com gives an insight in pictures into the lives led by the men, women and children inside the camp, many of whom have lived there for up to six years.
The implications of the refugee crisis on Europe has been felt in Southern countries as many try to enter by sea, from Syria as well as other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. This sea crossing has had devastating results for many as in 2016 alone, 5022 people died or went missing whilst trying to enter Europe. The influx of migrants has put pressure on countries’ public finances and resources, with the EU introducing a quota system to relocate asylum seekers. A positive implication of their arrival would be a boost in the younger demographic of an ageing population, however many countries would cite challenges with integrating large numbers into their communities. This article from RTE News states that up to a quarter of a million refugees may return home to Syria next year with the winding down of the devastating conflict.
Life in the camp
Nisreen, left, and Najat are best friends who met at the Zaatari refugee camp. Both are 16 years old and have lived there for almost 6 years (Source: aljazeera.com)
A reminder of home...
(Source: Hayes, 2017)
Indian immigrants in Dubai
While holidaying in Dubai in 2017, I noticed groups of Indian men playing cricket in a disused carpark near a building site not far from our hotel in the evenings. Each day as we travelled on the Metro I noticed that the passengers were mostly male and Indian (after a few days I discovered the women-only section at the front of the train). It was some months later before I realised the extent of the Indian immigration to the United Arab Emirates and the conditions under which they had to live and work, as described in this MailOnline article. Temperatures were about 36deg celsius when I visited in April but can reach 50deg in summer; as we struggled to walk out-of-doors, these men were working in searing heat, unthinkable even more so in summer, as they saved and sent money home to their families in the hope of a better life back in their own country.
The shiny Dubai created in the desert, mainly by immigrant workers (Source: arabianbusiness.com, 2018)