Root Causes of Migration free essay sample

These and other types of events displace millions of people across the globe every day. Since the mid-twentieth century, however, the nature of migration has also become largely influenced by globalization. Advances in communication and transportation technology have driven globalization forward, allowing us to live in a world where distances between countries and travel time are no longer as significant an obstacle. * In this age of migration and globalization, the worlds economies have become more integrated. As a result, it is now common for migrants to send remittances to their home country and, not surprisingly, many developing nations depend on these funds. Overall remittances sent in 2004 totaled 226 billion dollars and remittances accounted for approximately 20 percent of GDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Jordan, Lesotho, the Republic of Moldova, and Tonga. [1] * Additionally, disparities between developing and developed nations have accelerated with globalization. In 1900, the ratio of the average income of the five richest countries in the world to the 5-10 poorest countries   was about . We will write a custom essay sample on Root Causes of Migration or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Today that ratio is 100:1. 2] These disparities among countries combined with limited opportunities for employment that provides high enough wages to care for ones family has stimulated increased migration from developing to developed nations. * During 2000-2005, the more developed regions of the world gained an estimated 2. 6 million migrants annually from the less developed regions. As a result, undocumented immigration from Mexico has risen from 332,000 since 1993 to 530,000 in 2000a 60 percent increase since the passage of NAFTA. [5] * Big corporations in the United States have also gladly taken advantage of cheap labor, sending labor recruiters into economically depressed areas of Mexico, Central America, and elsewhere. This pattern of behavior has existed since this countrys formation. War and Governmental Oppression Map: Major Countries of Origin of Refugees (End-2008) Source: UNHCR 2008 Global Trends The end of the cold war saw a shift from inter-state conflicts to a dramatic number of intra-state conflicts. * From 1990-1995 over 70 states were involved in 93 wars that left 5. 5 million people dead. [6] Nearly all of 60 refugee flows studied in the 1990s can be attributed to internal conflicts. * The persistence of genocide throughout the 1990s has contributed substantially to the number of refugees and internally displaced persons. The involvement of developed countries through weapons trade have prolonged conflicts and made them deadlier. Government oppression and brutality in countries like China, Iran, El Salvador, Cambodia, Somalia, and other countries that have tortured, detained, and killed its citizens have also contributed to refugee flows. [8] * Most recently, the U. S. war on Iraq has created well over two million refugees who have no home. [9] * In 2008, there were 15. 2 million refugees and 827,000 asylum-seekers (pending cases). There are a number of pull factors that draw people towards countries like the United States to seek a better life. * Aging populations and low fertility rates in industrialized countries have resulted in a decline in replacement workers entering the workforce, while also creating greater demand for service-sector jobs and low-skill employment. * Developed countries like the U. S. have come to rely on immigrant labor to fulfill their labor needs and will need to so even more in the future as the country faces a mass retirement of baby boomers. Also, consider that the average per capita income in Haiti is less than $400 per year-in the United States, an undocumented day laborer could potentially earn that much in just one week. [12] * In the absence of a livable wage, access to credit, insurance, or social welfare benefits, the value of migration is greater than its hardship or potential for exploitation. In other words, for most people in desperate situation-as the factors above have illustrated-migration is worth the risk.