SECONDE : INTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONS

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONS

Introduction 

Globalization is a process of economic integration on a global scale, creating increasingly close connections between people and firms located in different places. Manifested in terms of increased flows of goods, services, money, information and people across national and continental borders.

KQ :  What is globalization and what role do networks play in globalization?

At what scale do networks operate in the globalized world? 

I Global migrations

A°) An expansion of the global migrations.

Map : The main global migrations of the last 25 years.

QUESTIONS : 

1. What are the most important host countries in the world today?

2. Where do most immigrants come from ? Why do they emigrate?

If we study the global map of recent  international migrations, it is possible to detect two types of areas: 

• Areas of convergence : North America, Europe, Australia.

The USA appears to be drawing large volumes of immigrants from Caribbean countries.

Europe attracts people from Africa.

Australia has a wider catchment.

• Areas of divergence are LEDCs

➪ This proves the existence of global disparities.

Those emigrants were 45 millions in 1965. There were 300 millions in 2008. We need to keep in mind that migrations are controlled  thanks to visas and quotas. That's why there are illegal migrations : 30 to 50 millions per year.

There are also temporary migrations :  mass tourism is part of that global economy : In 2008 there were 810 million of tourists; compare to 25 million in 1950.

Once again the whole world is not evenly involved. Only 12% of the world population participate to those migrations and they come from MEDCs.

B°) Immigration policy in the European Union

Source 2

BBC Video : Escape to Europe : The Migrants’ story. BBC Newsnight - 16:24

Source 3

Why is a common immigration policy so difficult to implement?

« For several years EU leaders have been promoting a common policy for both illegal immigration and asylum seekers (…)

But while EU leaders love harmonisation in theory, in practice progresse has been very sticky.

Britain, for instance, lets asylum-seekers look for work six months after they have lodged their application ; Germany makes them wait 12 months and France 18. Trying to find a common approach to family reunification has also proved fraught. Germany wants to prevent children older then 12 joining their parents ; others see this as too tough (…)

I any case, some officials reckon that even if a fully harmonized set of EU rules is eventually achieved, it would be unlikely to ensure that all EU countries share a proportionately equal burden of asylum-seekers. That is because the laxness or otherwise of national regimes is only one factor determining where asylum-seekers make their claims : family and cultural ties, work opportunities and language are just as important ».

The Economist, June 15, 2012

Source 4 : Annual asylum requests in the EU

QUESTIONS : 

1. Why is it difficult to implement a common immigration policy in the EU?

2. Analyse how asylum requests have evolved in the EU ?

3. Do immigrants only choose a country according to its immigration policy?

C°) Immigration in the UK

Source 5 : Immigration in the UK. BBC How immigration has changed Britain ?

06:41

Source 6 : Ethnic minorities in the UK

Source 7 : Net immigration into Britain is higher than it has ever been

« For twenty years, until the early 1990s, net immigration to Britain hovered around the zero mark, plus or minus 50,000. Then numbers started rising. The end of the Cold War led to civil conflicts that drove people out of their homelands. Growing prosperity gave more and more people access to air travel. The trains through the Channel Tunnel, which started running in 1993, offered them another route in to Britain.

And there were good reasons to come to Britain. Its economy has done better, over the past ten years, than those of the other bug Europeans countries. (…)

Getting in became easier, too. The government has encouraged immigration by issuing more work permits especially in areas where skills are in short supply - nurses, doctors, IT professionals, for instance. In the mid-1990s, around 30,000 world permits a year were being issued. In 2002, 137,500 were. More people have been given asylum. » 

The Economist, August 7, 2003

QUESTIONS : 

1. What are the most important minorities in GB? Why?

2. How do you account for the rise of migration to GB over the last 20 years?

3. Why has the British government encouraged immigration? How?

4. Update : What is the situation now?

II) Mass Tourism

II) Mass Tourism

There are also temporary migrations :  mass tourism is part of that global economy : In 2008 there were 810 million of tourists; compare to 25 million in 1950.

Once again the whole world is not evenly involved. Only 12% of the world population participate to those migrations and they come from MEDCs.

A°) Mass tourism : a global phenomenon 

QUESTIONS : 

1. What were the trends of international tourism before 1980s’?

Why?

2. What were the trends of international tourist migrations after 2004? Why?

B°) The impacts of mass tourism

 Source 1 : economic impacts

 Source 2 : Environmental impacts

QUESTIONS : 

1. According to those two sources, what are the assets and the drawbacks of mass tourism?

C°)  « Fair Tourism » 

Questions :

1. Why is it important to promote Ecotourism?

Conclusion :

Migration means the movement of people. All types of migration can be explained by referring to push and pull factor. However there are many problems associated with every type of migrations : economic, social, environmental.