Migration is the movement of population across geographic space, temporarily or permanently, which since the beginning of humanity has contributed to the survival of human beings. The man who migrates does so for some reason and often the survival of a particular social group depends on his displacement through space, as, for example, during prehistory, when the first human beings migrated in search of food.
Reasons for migration
Among the main reasons for the migration are the origin:
economic, when the migrant leaves in search of better quality of life, jobs, wages, very common in underdeveloped countries or regions.
Cultural and religious, in the case of social groups that migrate to the place they identify with, such as Muslims who migrate to Mecca in order to facilitate the practice of their religion.
Policies, it occurs quite often during political crises, wars, dictatorships, in which various political contingents migrate, freely or forcefully, to avoid their country's problems. An example of this, currently, are the Syrian refugees who leave their country to escape a civil war that has lasted for almost 3 years and accounts for more than 130,000 dead.
Naturals, very common in places with the occurrence of environmental disasters, droughts, intense cold, excessive heat etc.
Thousands of migrants, many from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, make the crossing of the Aegean Sea, from Turkey, to reach the Greek islands – the gateway to Europe *
Throughout human history, the great international migratory flows, that is, the main migration directions, occurred mainly for economic reasons, but not always sense. To get an idea, between the 16th century and the first decades of the 20th century, the main international migratory movement occurred in the Europe to other regions of the globe, as European countries were largely responsible for the colonization of America, Africa and Asia. During the 20th century, the migratory flow became much greater in the opposite direction, leaving the underdeveloped countries for the developed countries of Europe and, mainly, to the United States and Canada, which have received many migrants from various parts of the world, even from Europe, or else from poorer countries to neighboring countries that have more stable economies, in this case migrants take advantage of the fact that entry into these countries is facilitated by having fewer bureaucratic barriers and migrate in search of better conditions. of life.
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This change, in the migratory flow, was initially well received by developed countries, as with the great economic and industrial development they needed labor cheap to perform heavier tasks, but over time there was an intense mechanization in the production process, reducing the need for workers disqualified. With that, many immigrants lost their jobs and started to contribute to the increase of social problems (unemployment, poverty, violence etc). To try to control the entry of migrants, and the problems caused by the large reserve of unskilled workers, several countries around the world (Western European countries, United States, Canada and others) tightened their migration-related policies, but these measures did not prove to be effective, as the number of migrants who enter these countries illegally and, because they do not have a visa, cannot work formal. Other challenges caused by migration that developed countries need to deal with is the prejudice and intolerance that part of their population has towards migrants, since they are blamed for social problems and still have different habits and cultural manifestations, they are often the target of attitudes of prejudice or intolerance.
According to a UN report*, in the first 15 years of the 21st century there was a 41% increase in the number of migrants in the world, which reached approximately 244 million, of these, about a third (76 million) live in Europe, 75 million in Asia, the continent that received the most migrants in the last 15 years, and 54 million in North America. Considering only the country with the highest number of migrants, the United States leads with 47 million migrants, followed by Germany and Russia, which have 12 million each; Saudi Arabia with 10 million; United Kingdom with almost 9 million and UAE with 8 million. Thus, demonstrating that, at least in these first decades of the 21st century, migratory flows to developed countries or underdeveloped countries with more dynamic economies were maintained.
GRADES
* Number of migrants in the world grew 41% between 2000 and 2015, according to UN.
By Thamires Olimpia
Graduated in Geography
