Emigration and Immigration
Webpages concerning "Emigration and Immigration"
|
The contents has been generating using technology developed by scientec.
Wikipedia-Article "Emigration"
Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving one's native country to settle abroad. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of state boundaries or within one state, is termed migration. There are many reasons why people might choose to emigrate. Some for political or economic reasons. Some might have found a spouse while visiting another country and emigrate to be with them. Many older people living in rich nations with cold climates will choose to move to warmer climates when they retire.
Many political or economic emigrants move together with their families toward new regions or new countries where they hope to find peace or job opportunities not available to them in their original location. Throughout history a large number of emigrants return to their homelands, often after they have earned sufficient money in the other country. Sometimes these emigrants move to countries with big cultural differences and will always feel as guests in their destinations, and preserve their original culture, traditions and language, sometimes transmitting them to their children. The conflict between the native and the newer culture may easily create social contrasts, generally resulting in an uncomfortable situation for the "foreigners", who have to understand legal and social systems sometimes new and strange to them. Often, communities of emigrants grow up in the destination areas, collecting immigrants of common provenance, also to help for integration.
Emigration had a profound influence on the world in the 19th and the 20th century, when hundreds of thousands of poor families left Western Europe for the United States, Canada, South America and Australia.
Even though definitions may be vague and vary somewhat, emigration/immigration should not be confused with the phenomenon of involuntary migration, such as instances of population transfer or ethnic cleansing.
Motives to migrate can be either incentives attracting you away, known as pull factors, or circumstances encouraging a person to leave, known as push factors, for example:
Push factors
- War or other armed conflict
- Famine or drought
- Disease
- Political reasons
- Religious intolerance
- Natural disasters
These factors generally do not affect people in developed countries; even a natural disaster is unlikely to cause out-migration.
Pull factors
- Adventure,
- Higher incomes,
- Better medical facilities,
- Better education facilities,
- Family reasons,
- Political stability,
- Religious tolerance,
- Often these are based on perceptions rather than realistic information,
If the migration is dominated by pull factors, it is voluntary migration. If it is based on push factors it is forced migration.
See also
Wikipedia-Article "Immigration"
Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. An immigrant is someone who intends to reside permanently, and not a casual visitor or traveler. Immigration means "in-migration" into a country, and is the reverse of emigration, or "out-migration." The long term and/or permanent movement of human population in general, whether into, out of, or within countries (or before the existence of recognised countries) is regarded as migration.
Contents |
Why do people immigrate?
People immigrate for the following reasons:
- economic
- professional,
- political,
- persecution and oppression, including genocide and ethnic cleansing
- retirement (e.g., better weather; lower living costs).
- sentimental (e.g., the desire to settle in a country due to personal preference; family reunification).
- personal (e.g., opinion-based; love of another country))
The great majority of immigration occurs for economic reasons of one sort or another. Wage rates and living expenses vary greatly between different countries; poor individuals of third world countries can have far higher standards of living in developed countries than in their originating countries, as not very well off but financially independent people from highly developed countries can live better in a less developed country where living standards are lower. A good example of the former is all the immigrants from Mexico and Central American counties who live in the United States, while a good example of the latter is the many retired British ex-pats who choose to make their life in Spain. For the poor in undeveloped countries the economic pressure to migrate are so high that when legal means are restricted, people immigrate illegally. In general, people are considered as an immigrant if they keep staying in the new country for more than one year.
Differing perspectives on immigration
Some free-market libertarians believe that a free global labor market with no restrictions on immigration would, in the long run, boost global prosperity. Major corporate interests have been among the strongest advocates of liberalization of immigration laws since movement of personnel is essential to creation of true multinational corporations. Among those on the opposite side of the issue are nationalists who propose militarizing borders; protectionists who prefer closed labor markets or who see liberal immigration practices as a form of corporate welfare where corporate interests use inexpensive or free government immigration benefits, rather than corporate resources, to compensate employees; and xenophobes who fear the presence of foreigners, though these views are not shared by all or even most immigration reductionists. Still others feel that the focus should be taken off of immigration control and placed on the importance of equal rights for immigrants to avoid what they believe to be corporate exploitation of immigrant poverty. Immigration is often forced on an unwilling population by politicians who wish to gain politcal advantage.
In practice, no country operates without basic immigration controls. Some countries, such as Japan, allow for little immigration. In countries that do allow immigration there is disagreement over the numbers, policies, and implementation. Those who support more restricted immigration believe that the current levels of immigration serve to depress wages and circumvent unionisation, and contribute to unsustainable levels of population growth. Others disagree, believing that overly restrictive immigration policies and practices would not address the economic demand for work emanating from wealthier countries, would not harm the security or cohesiveness of the country, and would endanger the lives of legitimate refugees from political or racial oppression.
Immigration has become an increasingly controversial topic among environmental activists in recent years, especially within the Sierra Club in the United States. Some environmentalists concerned with overpopulation favor limiting immigration as a means of isolating the effects of human population growth, while others argue that overpopulation and environmental degredation are global problems that should be addressed by other methods.
Events, such as the November 2005 riots in France, have led some to conclude that, although immigration is unwelcome in most societies, large numbers can cause immigrants to form closed ethnic ghettos that lead to social confrontation and seclusion. Others, such as The Economist, have noted that more important than the level of immigration are the policies of the recipient country aimed at integrating immigrants into the political, social, and especially economic environment - something that might explain the relative success of immigration in some countries, such as Canada.
See also
General immigration topics
- Anti-immigration
- Asylum
- Benefit tourism
- Brain drain
- Diaspora
- Émigré
- Exile
- Foot voting
- Foreign Worker Visa
- Human Migration
- Illegal immigration
- Immigration policy
- International Organization for Migration
- Multiculturalism
- Nationalism
- Nativism
- Overpopulation
- People smuggling
- Pluralism
- Political migration
- Population transfer
- Refugee
- Rural Migration
- Settlement
- Trafficking in human beings
- Xenophobia
Australian immigration
Canadian immigration
- Immigration to Canada
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
- Chinese Immigration Act of 1923
- Department of Citizenship and Immigration (Canada)
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
- List of Canadian Ministers of Citizenship and Immigration
- Official Multiculturalism Act
United Kingdom immigration
- Immigration to the United Kingdom
- Ireland Act 1949
- British nationality law
- Asylum and Immigration Tribunal
- Becoming a UK citizen
United States immigration
- Immigration to the United States of America Main Article
- List of United States Immigration Acts
- Naturalization
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service INS)
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico
- Immigration reductionism
- Demographics of the United States
French immigration
Legal instruments
External links
- See individual "Immigration to..." articles for country-specific links.
- Stalker's Guide to International Migration - Comprehensive interactive website on migration
- Eurasylum Many relevant documents on immigration, asylum and refugee policy, and human trafficking/smuggling internationally
- Forced Migration Review
- International Organisation for Migration
- UNESCO Programme on International Migration and Multicultural Policies
- BBC News Factfile: Global migration
- Not Giving Up, Just Seeking New Tactics - Commentary on how some immigration is beneficial to society, while other immigration is not; looks to provide a fairly equal view of things.
- Stalker's Guide to International Migration - Comprehensive interactive website on migration