Causes and Effects of Moving to a Different Country - Essay Example

Causes and effects of moving to another country Name: ID. No: Name of Instructor: Date of Submission: Human migration refers to moving from one place to another with an intention to reside permanently or semi permanently. Movement of human from one country to another has been in existence for a very long time. At the moment, the number of people living outside their country of birth has increased as opposed to the past. According to Espisova & Ray, more than 16 percent of the world population would like to move to another country if they had a chance. Most of the immigrants consider USA as their best destination. People move to other countries for various reasons. The movements also have several effects on both individuals and countries. Causes of movement are economic difficulties, jobs, freedom, environment, war and globalization. Effects of these movements include low cost of labor, source of foreign income, crime, lowering wages and brain drain among others. This essay will look at the causes and effects of moving to another country. To begin with, one main cause of movement search for employment and escape poverty. Most of people move to other countries to search for better paying jobs and economic opportunities. One of the best examples is the Mexico to US movement. The fact that United States offered better employment opportunities led to massive movement of the Mexicans to US. Reports have shown that undocumented immigrants to US from Mexico are close to 11 million. Economic factors are main push factors for the movement to other countries (The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute). For example, half of the number of the current migrants has moved from their countries for better paying jobs and good lifestyle. Another cause of movement to another country is civil war and religious persecution. People are forced to leave their home countries due to war and religious persecution at home. The countries that receive this population consider it as refugees. According to the Geneva Convention, the refugees cannot be returned to the countries where they face persecution. At 2011, the refugees and asylum seekers were estimated to be 35.4 million. For example, the recent Syrian war which started in 2011, a lot of citizens moved to other countries to escape torture. It was estimated that more than 1.5 million people had moved out of Syria (Abedine, Sterling & Smith-Spark) Refugees are protected internationally hence finds it easier to cope with new countries. In addition refuges have been accorded privileges as compared to other immigrants in most countries. As a result of environmental problems, people may decide to move to another country. When an environmental issue is experienced in a country, there is loss of jobs, money and property. For example, when there is drought, the population may experience starvation and loss of lives. A good example is the Irish famine. In the 19th century, a great famine led to starvation and loss of lives in Ireland. The country was unable to produce its staple food and there was no response plan. Millions of people were forced to flee the famine leading to the country losing a lot of population. Environmental refugees have increased over the past years (Zelman). This is due to climate change that has threatened a lot of people. For example, regions such as North Africa are experiencing desertification which threatens the inhabitants. Most of the inhabitants have moved to Western Europe to seek refuge. This makes it important to note that environmental displacement constitute a large number of people moving out of their countries. This has made people to live their homes to look for better opportunities in other countries. Moreover, natural disasters and lack of medical care can lead to people moving from their country (Espisova & Ray). Moving to another country has several effects. One of the effects is felt on the economy. In most cases, the countries involved may experience gains and losses but after a while both countries gain. The country where people move to is able to gain labor and address areas where there is shortage in personnel. This is experienced if the migrants have high skills which are applicable to country they are moving to. The countries where the migrants come from are able to benefit from remittances (IMF). Most of those who move from their countries send money back home to support their families. The money sent help in addressing economic shocks and also improves the economy of the sending country by making it credit worth. Moving from the developing countries leads to brain drain. This is experienced in instances where the population moving out is experienced and well trained (Hanson 29). This trend has been seen in most of the African countries where there has been movement of scientists and engineers to developed world (Davies). Immigration has a great impact on the culture. This experienced in most of the European countries due to cultural divisions. These nations have a common language, ethnic and heritage. For immigrants into these countries, there is problem as the immigrants tries to adapt to the culture. This has created distrust on the immigrants due to culture and national identity. Some of the countries in Europe have created anti-migration parties. People moving to these countries have been accused of leading to crime, unemployment and other social ills. Bodies like the European Union have made regulations that restrict non-members from migrating to their countries (Carrera, Guild, & Groenendijk, 47). From this, it’s evident that moving to other countries has led to creation of rules and regulations based on the political views and effects of migration. To sum up, there are different causes and effects of moving to other countries. The main causes are better jobs, poverty, civil war, religious persecution and environmental problem. This movement has led to a number of effects which includes economy such as brain drain, provision of labor, cultural effects and changes and distrust to immigrants. Most of the developing nations have lost valuable skills due to brainwash. There has also been resentment towards immigrants as they are associated with social ills in some countries as well as contributing to job loss. This has been witnessed especially in the Europe where EU has made rules cornering migrations. As movement of people globally increases, there is need to address the causes and effects of it by all countries involved. References Abedine, Saad., Sterling, Joe. & Smith-Spark, Laura. U.N.: More than 1.5 million fled Syria, 4 million more displaced within nation. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/world/meast/syria- civil-war. 17 May 2014. Carrera, Sergio, Guild, Elspeth. & Groenendijk, Kees. Illiberal Liberal States: Immigration, Citizenship and Integration in the EU. Surrey: Ashgate Limited, 2009. The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. Collapse and Convalescence: The Great Recession and Mexican Migration Flows. Migration Monitor, Oct. 2012.http://www.migrationmonitor.com/2-article. 20 June 2014. Davies, Anthony. The Impact of Immigration on Jobs and Income. Learn liberty, 29 April. 2011. http://www.learnliberty.org/content/impact-immigration-jobs-and- income. 20 June 2014. Espisova, Neli & Ray, Julie 700 Million Worldwide Desire to Migrate Permanently. Gallup World. 2 Nov 2009. http://www.gallup.com/poll/124028/700-Million-Worldwide- Desire- Migrate-Permanently.aspx. 20 June 2014 Hanson, Gordon. “Immigration and Economic Growth.” Cato Journal, 32(2012). 1-32: http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj32n1/cj32n1-3.pdf. 20 June 2014. International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Macroeconomics of Remittances: The Case of Tajikistan.Alexei Kireyev. Working Paper. 2006. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2006/wp0602.pdf. 20 June 2014. Zelman, J. “50 Million Environmental Refugees By 2020, Experts Predict.” The Huffington Post, 2 Feb 2002. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/environmentalrefugees50_n_8264 88.htm. 20 June 2014. Read More