The Movements to People and Implications of United Kingdom - Essay Example

The Movements to People 1. Introduction The migration or forced migration arises from the insecure situation whether it is due to conflicts or due to lack of livelihood. Though the above mentioned two are the main reasons, there may be many reasons regarding conflicts and livelihood. They people may migrate due to political conflicts and for better livelihood also. The nature of migration or forced migration will affect the different societies in different manners according to the nature of migration and the nature of the society that accepts the refugees. Normally the forced migration occurs due to armed rebellion or a civil war. When the valuable possessions like faith and hope are lost along with safety and helping hands the people of a particular area or region migrate and seek refuge or asylum in the country having better living conditions. The migration has been accepted in United Kingdom and many refugees and asylum seekers can be observed waiting for Government’s approval. The Government thinks about the possible effects or implications of the migrants and refugees on the British Society before accepting them into society. (Flashpoints. info, 2007)1 2. Migration After discussing the migration, forced migration and refugees in the introduction the effect of migration on United Kingdom’s population is considered. According to 2004 census of UK Government’s ONS there is 3.3 percent of increase in population from 1994 to 2004. From 2001 to 2004 there is an increase of 1.1 percent of population due to migration. UK has recorded higher levels of inward and outward migration in recent years. The increase is observed both in in-migration and out-migration but the in-migration has been recorded far more than the out-migration. This can be clear with the following graph obtained from ONS site of UK government. The above figure is adopted from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1305 The effects of migration on UK society are perceived in different ways by various people. (Office for National Statistics, 2005)2 2.1 Foreign Born People: According to the records of the Office of National Statistics, 1 in 12 of UK population has born overseas. They are 4.9 million and constitute 8.3 percent of the UK population. It was 2.1 million and 4.2 percent in 1951. Both numbers and percent increased showing that the migration into UK is far more than out migration from UK. After 2001 1.1 million people migrated into UK and this increased the number of foreign born nationals in UK. Out of these foreign born people 67 percent are born outside Europe and only 33 percent of the foreign born nationals migrated after 2001 are born in Europe. This means the migration into UK has increased from the countries outside Europe. When the period of stay of foreign born immigrants is considered, the migrants from OECD countries stayed for lesser period than the migrants from non OECD countries. The following figure gives an idea about the ethnic migrants in UK. Foreign-born population: by ethnic group, April 2001, UK The above figure is adopted from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1312 It can be observed that the migrants in UK are a greater mix of ethnic groups and this increases the diversity of the population in UK. (ONS, 2007)3 3. Social Responsibility 3.1 Types of Social Responsibility: The social responsibility of government regarding migrants will be of two types; responsibility and care. The responsibility is about the migrants entering into UK for better livelihood and others who seek asylum due to political conflicts and lack of livelihood. The presence of disabled people increases the responsibility of government in social care sector. As there is no data available in ONS records about the disabled people in asylum seekers the JRF identified that there are 5,312 disabled refugees in the 44 refugee community groups. To take care of these people the service providers are necessary for the government. The JRF identified the need for cooperation between assistant organizations and local authority social services departments with National Asylum Support Service. The entitlement of the asylum seekers to welfare benefits resulted in confusion regarding the rights of people. This demands the assessment of local authority social services. The needs of the asylum seekers are exacerbated by lack of housing and adaptations of them by charity organizations. The social implication of these asylum seekers on UK was that it resulted in increase of disability living allowance allocations for government and rise of charity organizations in the country. One more happening observed is that the difficulties encountered by National Asylum Support Service with local authority social services. (JRF, 2002)4 3.2: The social effect of the asylum seekers and migrants depend on the area they live in UK. The interaction between different communities resulted in building blocs vital for resources within the communities trusted by each other. The migrants and refugees show a strong desire to maintain their traditional values and follow their own culture despite living in UK. This resulted in building the relationships between the different communities. The effects of racism, feelings of dependency and lack of control over their lives are observed to be the factors that avoid cohesion between refugees or migrants and natives. (JRF, 2005) 5 4. Possible Increase of In-Migration Another possible factor that plays an important role in increasing in-migration to UK is the climatic change all over the world. According to Charity Christian Aid the new conflicts in the areas of scarce resources can generate more migrations to Western Countries. United Kingdom can be considered as one of the countries affected by these types of migrations till 2050. These migrations are also due to forced migrations in the developing world. The people from developing countries are willing to migrate to European and rich countries and UK tops among their list. The main problem due to forced migration is that it creates the people internally displaced and with no rights under international law. This keeps their lives in danger and a responsibility on the host countries like UK. (Mile Wooldridge, 2007)6 5. Forced Migration 5.1 Aspects of Forced Migration: According to a report by Swansea University the dynamics of displacement are inter- connected and complex. The forced migrations may be due to political unrest, human rights abuses and armed conflicts. The poverty, lack of development initiatives and natural disasters also will add to owes of the forced migrants. Some forced migrants may be able to find themselves to rebuild their lives but it is not the case in all of them. The financial resources and social connections in the host country will decide their future. United Kingdom needs the research about the causes of forced migration before accepting them into the country. This is possible with inter-disciplinary, international and multi-sectored agencies and local perspectives should be taken into consideration. The causes of forced migration and the role of gender in shaping the refugee experience can be considered as the aspects of research regarding accepting the forced migrants. The ability fleeing gender related persecution will decide the gain of access to international protection. These decide the process that determines the acceptance of applications in Wales and UK and treatment of children and young people who seek asylum due to forced migration. These include Women also. (Swansea University, 2007)7 5.2 People Affected by Forced Migration: The responsibility of the host country regarding forced migrants is about protecting them. There are many young people who are displaced by war and climatic disturbances. The host country has to take into account the physical, social and economic issues contributing the young people’s vulnerability in their countries. This considerations of the needs of the forced migrations can be a constraint in accepting them if they possess HIV/AIDS like viruses. These are the health regarding constraints in accepting the forced migrants and this can be considered as common thing that needs to be considered between ordinary and forced migrants. The implications to United Kingdom when these forced migrants seek asylum is that the government has to address the concerns and the needs of the young people as their life has been battered in the countries like Palestine and Sierra Leone. In this manner dealing with forced migrants is difficult to any government as well as UK. (Jesse Newman, 2004)8 5.3 Need of Accepting Migration: In the present era of economic reforms the economic migrants are also present. This type of migration is a compulsion under the international economic policy that develops trade relations. The labor markets and economic migrants are accepted at the expense of principles of Asylum and Human Rights. According to the policy and the needs of the government and country the administrations segregate the migrants as good and bad the migrants allowed will be a part of the country for a long time or yet times permanently depending on the need of the country and migrants. (Crawley, Heaven , 2006)9 Another point of view of the observers in ‘The Refugee Project is that the policies and investments of UK are creating refugees in conflict ridden countries and developing countries. The overseas investments of the MNCs in developed countries and the foreign policies of UK and the like minded countries are making people in conflict ridden and developing countries to leave their homes. They come as migrants, forced migrants, refugees or Asylum Seekers in the countries like UK as these countries have good living conditions. The people in ‘The Refugee Project’ believe that the freedom of movement of people is a fundamental human right and this argument makes the acceptance of the migrants as a duty of the countries like UK. 10 References 1. Crawley, Heaven , 2006, Forced Migration and Politics of Asylum, Blackwell, Vol. 8, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.icar.org.uk/?lid=8672 2. Flashpoints.info, 2007, Forced Migration & Refugees, Flashpoints World Conflicts, Volume information not available, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October 2007 from http://www.flashpoints.info/issue_briefings/Forced_Migration-Refugees-web/Forced_Migration-Refugees.html 3. Jesse Newman, 2004, Voices Out of Conflict: Young People Affected by Forced Migration and Political Crisis, Refugee Study Centre, Volume information not available, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/Voices%20Out%20of%20Conflict%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf 4. JRF, 2002, Disabled people in refugee and asylum-seeking communities in Britain, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Vol. 99 Ref 962, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialcare/962.asp 5. JRF, 2005, Developing communities containing dispersed refugee people seeking asylum, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Vol.99, Ref.0085, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0085.asp 6. Mile Wooldridge, 2007, Charity Warns of Migration Crisis, bbc.co.uk, Vol. 11, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6652573.stm 7. Office for National Statistics, 2005, Population, statistics.gov.uk, Vol information not available, Electronic source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/focuson/migration/ 8. ONS, 2007, Foreign Born, Office of National Statistics, Volume information not available, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1312 9. Swansea University, 2007, Forced Migrations and Asylum, Swansea University, Vol. 1, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th of October from http://www.swan.ac.uk/cmpr/Research/ForcedMigrationandAsylum/ 10. The refugee project, 2006, UK Foreign Policies and Investments Create Refugees and Asylum Seekers, therefugeeproject.org, Volume information not available, Electronic Source Retrieved on 5th October from http://www.therefugeeproject.org/statement.pdf Read More