Intro
What
is
migration? Is it
permanent relocation or
transient passing? What
are the forces
inherent to any migratory situation?
And
how does migration differ in the dynamically different
regions around
the
world? The following
articles will
attempt to provide some insight into such questions. Ranging from such Asian
cornerstones as Japan
and Hong Kong to such European
colonial
powers as Spain,
migration is a complex relationship of past, present,
and future. Past colonial
legacy can have heavy influence
in the networks of today, and pose certain
implications to future
generations
of migrants. The push and
pull of
competing economic, political, and commercial factors
have reshaped the
world
as we know it, functioning outside the control of many
governments.
So
in
a world
where domestic workers labor for a pittance of their
worth, rural women
are
sold into sex slavery by relatives, and governments
scatter entire
villages
without compensation, what is the responsibility of
the rest of the
world in
the future of migratory causes? At
what
expense is capitalism bringing cheap goods to our
American doorsteps? What
action should the international
community take in investigating the reality of many
migratory patterns
that
challenge the world today? Migration
has
been a constant throughout human history, sending our
ancestors across
the
continents to establish the foundations of our present
civilization. But
pressures have certainly changed in this
era of globalization, forcing the human race to
analyze and interpret
the
motivations for migration in an effort to understand
the complicated
nature of
our own society. Through
the
understanding of migration, one gains the power to
study a vast range
of
disciplines from a more comprehensive scope.
Analysis
Family
ties can alter the projection of an entire family. Although some of these
instances occur by
chance, many more are the product of some sort of
linkage between the
home
country and the host country. Colonial
legacy
plays a key role in world wide migration. Relationships
that have been present for
hundreds of years, even if volatile, create a series
of tendencies and
opportunities within a relative zone of comfort. Settling
into a certain niche, many
foreigners rotate in shifts from their homes to their
country of
occupation, as seen in India
and Japan.
Whether
dictated by visa
limitations or by seasonal business, the six month
cycle of a wide
range of
migrants has implications in what is truly considered
home. The meaning of the
word home changes from
place of origin to where ones livelihood exists. So
if a migrant is following family or
colonial linkages to one place for half the year and
then reverting
back to
their home country for the remaining half, isn’t it
fair to say that
the
country receiving the migrant could easily qualify as
home? This debate brushes
over a vast range of
factors, but the overall point of the argument is to
illustrate how the
issue
of self identification can become rather ambiguous as
migration flows.
Politics
can shape migration in many ways, ranging from direct
resettlement to
disruptive
policy formulation see in Myanmar. The manner in which
governments combat the issue of globalization and the
migratory trends
that
follow will shape the future of the society as a
whole. If a government is
able to assimilate
migrants into an effective sector of society then
everyone will ideally
benefit. But when a
government takes a
phobic stance against the swarms of parasites
attacking their very
sovereignty,
they defy the very forces that brought their country
into being. Today’s
political landscape is the end result
of thousands of years of migration and to deny the
contributions of
such
migratory people is to deny the very thing that
allegedly needs
protecting. The EU faces
an array of
challenges - explored in the article EU
Integration - as it redefines it borders and
boundaries. Phillipe
Fargues explores the problems for governments in his
article "Migration
and Mobility in the Euro-Mediterranean Area."
Desired guest
workers have transitioned to permanent settlers and
the opportunities
guarenteed to migrants have been few and far
between. Such issues
fuel the animosity and negative opinion of immigration
within the EU.
But borders have
been
constantly shifting since time was time.
Ideally
those with the power to influence the future of
migration will
possess a complete grasp of the nature of the concept,
not as a
destructive
force to be quelled but rather a compounding notion
that creates
exponential
potential to combine the best qualities of all people. People in power need to
understand that
migration is not caused by one thing or another. Migration
doesn’t exist in a vacuum and thus
shouldn’t be treated as a linear issue capable of
being examined
objectively. The series
of relationships
and pressure that motivate people to uproot could
provide valuable
insight into
the failures of those in charge.
Conclusion
The framework of this study will hopefully only
inspire continued investigation
into the dynamic relationship between migration and
related mitigating
factors.
As indicated in Douglas Massey's article "Five Myths
About
Migration," people don’t simply decide one day to
move thousands of
miles
away to lands filled with strange languages.
Massey's US
border
analysis finds application in many areas of the
world as it refutes an
array of
myths: Migration is caused by lack of economic
development in the home
country,
is caused by rapid population growth, migrants move
in response to
wages
differences, migrants are attracted by public
benefits, and immigrants
intend
to settle permanently. Massey's discourse
dispells these myths,
citing
that international migrants do not live in the
world's poorest
countries, the
highest fertility rates are in non immigrant sending
nations, public
spending
challenges in the home country cause migration,
migrants generally do
not
utilize public services, and most migrants desire
circular migration
but policy
formulation creates situations where migrants are
forced to stay.
Families aren’t ripped apart over trivial
decisions. The goal of
such
personal reflections is undoubtedly to allow the
unaware a chance to
search
deeper into the causes and effects of
migration. The reshaping of
terminology is demosntrated in Nina Schiller's
article
"Transnationalism:
A New Analytic Framework for Understanding
Migration." This
article
focuses on an array of points centered around the
effects of migration
outside
political boundaries and the inherent challenges of
the interational
community
in regulation. Citing transnationalism as a
product of world
capitalism,
as a cultural flow, and the complex identities of
migrants,
transnationalism is
forcing both migrants and politicians to rethink the
meaning of class,
nationalism, ethnicity, and race. Whether in
the position to
shape future
migratory policy or simply relate the complexities
to a friend or
family
member, the enlightened few who venture through the
clicks of this
simple web
site will hopefully approach the issue of migration
in a different
light.