Top 10 causes and consequences of migration

People displaced to other countries pose a challenge to host countries.

Throughout history, there have been many occasions when large migratory movements have taken place.

Migrants may leave their homes for a variety of reasons, with the intention of finding a new place to live.Migrants may leave their homes for a variety of reasons, with the intention of finding a better place to survive and secure a good future.

Causes of migration

Those who leave their country behind do not do so on a whim. Wars, natural disasters, political and ethnic persecution and lack of opportunities are some of the causes behind migratory movements, and they can affect people in a wide variety of ways.

Political asylum

Sometimes, the political situation of a state can lead to a certain degree of repression of political dissidence. In this case, a dissident individual may decide to leave the country for fear of reprisals (such as imprisonment, torture, etc.). This is known as political asylum..

2. Humanitarian (or economic) asylum

When the individual decides to migrate from his or her country of origin for reasons related to poverty, this is often referred to as humanitarian or economic asylum..

Cultural migration

Sometimes the migrant decides to leave his or her country of origin in search of a better education or better opportunities.

4. Family migration

If the migrant decides to leave his or her country in order to be reunited with family members in another country, this is usually referred to as family migration.

5. War-related migration

When a country or region is in the midst of a war, the population may decide to leave their homes to escape the danger of war, not only in its purely violent aspect, but also because of the scarcity of resources it causes.

6. Migration due to humanitarian catastrophe

If a region or a country has been devastated by a natural catastrophe, such as a tsunami or an earthquake, people from that place may migrate seeking to rebuild their lives in a more stable territory.

• Recommended article: "Return migration and reverse culture shock".

Types of consequences of migration

Given the varied causes behind it, human migration is a complex phenomenon and has very diverse repercussions on both the sending and receiving societies.

Let us look at the consequences of migrationWe will look at the consequences of migration, both from the point of view of the migrant and from a more social and cultural approach.

1. Psychological

Moving away from the place where you grew up and leaving all of your loved ones behind can be very shocking.. This becomes especially traumatic when fleeing one's country of origin, either for political reasons or because of a natural disaster, where fleeing is a life or death situation.

Normally, people who are forced to emigrate are young people with partners who leave them in their country, which is a hard blow to the stability of the relationship.

As much as new technologies help to shorten distances, a hug, a kiss or a caress are not things that can be sent. The lack of family warmth can generate feelings of loneliness and hopelessness, leading to situations of deep sadness.

In addition, both those who stay and those who leave feel that distance makes it impossible for them to share everything that happens to them. Without all the information, situations occur in which both parties fear the worst.

Symptoms

Common symptoms in migrants are sadness, crying, stress, feelings of insecurity and rejection by the native population.

The migration process affects all ages emotionally, but children are especially vulnerable..

If they have migrated alone, children are completely unprotected, which may encourage them to develop criminal behavior in order to survive. On the other hand, if they travel with their families, maturational development is abnormal, with children who are too mature for their age or adolescents with childish behaviors.

If the reason for leaving the country of origin is a war or a natural catastrophe, it is not uncommon to find immigrants suffering from PTSD, having flashbacks of the moments when their lives were in danger and remembering them over and over again, which is a great interference in their daily lives.

Many immigrants suffer from the Ulysses syndrome, in which there is a set of mourning that occurs when the migration project does not develop as planned.

2. Economic

Migratory movements can have several repercussions, not only in the country where they end up, but also in the country of origin. In many cases, people migrate in large numbers, which considerably reduces the population of their country.

This leads to a reduction in unemployment, since many migrants decide to leave their country when they are unable to find work, and those who stay benefit from the reduced labor competition. Migrants send money to their families, helping them in the family economy and enabling them to subsist.

As for the receiving country, the arrival of young people makes it possible to fill jobs that the native population is not willing to do because they are low-skilled and unskilled.The arrival of young people allows them to take jobs that the native population is unwilling to do, because they are low-skilled and poorly paid.

However, there are also negative repercussions. If the country of origin was already poor in itself, losing economically active people is an added obstacle. Also, when the population is lost, consumption possibilities are lost and, although money is sent to families, it comes in very small amounts, which does not allow them to escape poverty.

In the receiving country, the arrival of a low-skilled and desperate population is detrimental to the less educated native population. Employers opt for foreigners, who are willing to do anything to earn a miserable income.

As the population increases, governments are forced to lower the wages of the natives.

3. Sociocultural

Migrants have their own traditions, language, religion and ways of behaving, which may be very different from those of the natives.These may be very different from those of the receiving society. This can lead to two phenomena, depending on how the interaction between outsiders and natives is.

The arrival of people from other cultures can enrich the host society, making it more open and pluralistic as different ethnic groups coexist in it.

On the other hand, xenophobic ideas may arise in the national population, who consider that the arrival of foreigners distorts society, seeing them as dangerous people who contaminate their own culture or directly cause it to disappear.

The society of origin, having lost a significant number of young people, is aging, while the opposite process is occurring in the receiving society. This is due to the fact that the majority of migrants are between 25 and 35 years of age, who can reproduce in the new country, increasing the birth rate and fertility.

4. Policies

The arrival of immigrants can motivate the development of xenophobic-inspired lawsThe arrival of immigrants can lead to xenophobic laws, such as those that prohibit the wearing of traditional clothing from other countries or that deny the right to assistance to people in an irregular situation.

Laws may also be put in place for the purpose of selecting the most useful immigrants depending on the needs of the country.

For example, if more research is needed, visas may be granted to foreigners who are scientific, technical or specialized in various disciplines. Immigrants may also be let in to serve as cheap labor to build infrastructure more quickly and cheaply.

Between nationals and foreigners there may be tensions that cause native people to opt for increasingly extremist ideologies, voting for parties whose only aspiration is to expel those who are not from the country, leaving aside much more necessary social policies that would significantly benefit the receiving society.

Bibliographical references:

• Aruj, R. (2008). Causes, consequences, effects and impact of migration in Latin America. Papeles de población, 14(55), 95-116.
• van Oorschot, W. (2010). Public perceptions of the economic, moral, social and migration consequences of the welfare state: an empirical analysis of welfare state legitimacy. Journal of European Social Policy, 20(1), 19-31.