Global Migration

The Political , Economical , Cultural and Social Factors underlying the

global movements of the people
Economic Factors
• Economic factors relate to the labour standards of a country, its
unemployment situation and the overall health of its economy.
• If economic conditions are not favourable and appear to be at risk
of declining further, a greater number of individuals will probably
emigrate to one with a better economy.
• Often this will result in people moving from rural to urban areas
while remaining within the confines of their state borders. As the
low- and middle-income countries of today continue to develop and
the high-income countries experience slower economic growth,
migration from the former could decline.
• Economic migrants are drawn towards international migration
because of the prospect of higher wages, better employment
opportunities and, often, a desire to escape the domestic social and
political situation of their home country.
• Salaries and wages, however, are likely to remain relatively low
compared to those of individuals with a similar educational
background in other, higher-income countries. This disparity has the
potential to lead to some highly-skilled individuals from developing
countries migrating to more developed countries. This form of
migration is known as south-north migration and has historically been
the main form of economic migration.
• In south-north migration, individuals from developing countries
moved to more developed countries for work and sent remittances
back to their country of origin.
• Over the past decade, however, south-south migration has become
increasingly common Migrants from the south are generally less
skilled and lower-educated than their counterparts from the north,
making it difficult for them to migrate to more developed countries.
• Problems of exploitation still remain, suggesting that efforts need to
be made to ensure that standardised regulations are adopted to
protect the rights of circular migrants.
Political Factors
• According to the Organization for International Migration there are
approximately 192 million people who live outside their place of
birth.
• A majority of these people are migrant workers and they make up 3
percent of the world’s population.
• Human beings have always migrated from one place to another in
search of better economic opportunities. But apart from economic
factors, there are political factors that cause people to move from
their home country to another country.
State Persecution
• State persecution involves the harassment, discrimination and torture
of people who disagree with their government, have minority
religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds. Because conditions in their
country are unsafe, these people are forced to migrate to safer
countries.
Lack of Political Liberties
• The lack of political liberties and rights, and endemic corruption act as
push factors for migrants seeking greater freedoms. Even though they
are not persecuted in their places of birth, concerns that limit
people’s freedoms causes them to leave. If the political environment
is hostile, then the economic situation is likely to be poor.
War
• According to the National Geographics’ Earth Pulse there are
approximately 42 million people worldwide who have been forced to
migrate due to war. War and armed conflict have diverse causes but all
these factors are influenced by political issues.
• Asylum Seeker: A person who applied for refuge in a foreign country due
to a fear of religious or political persecution in his or her country of origin.
• Although it is an internationally recognized legal rights. Asylum seekers are
treated like criminal people by the authorities of the country of
destination.
• Some people enter to European countries to seek better life but do not get
political protection. That’s why EU countries strengthen their policies and
accepting procedures against illegal entrances.
Social factors
• Social factors can be other factors that influence the migration. Social
and political factors like marital status, political violence, facilities, and
relatives are dealt here.

1. Marital status: Due to marriage, women migrate to husband's home

place. Similarly, young unmarried Women also migrate for the sake of
job as they are energetic.
2. Better facilities: People migrate to those places where they have
better facilities of health services, educational services, transportation
and communication and the life is easier.
How Migration Affects Culture
• Sometimes cultures want to have their own land separated from the
country they are currently in. They want to have their own identity.
• When cultures meet or collide different things can happen. They
could learn from each other, they could not agree on certain beliefs or
traditions and end up fighting, or one of the cultures could think they
are superior and try to force their culture onto the other culture.
• People use language to take power and gain control. A language can
tell a lot about a culture such as their values; and you can
communicate with lots of different kinds of people with languages.
• When people move to counties they feel safer in counties that are
similar to their own. Some people look for similar language, religion,
music or history. When you move to a place completely different you
can feel out of place and out of your comfort zone.
• What happens most of the time is immigrants feel the need to change
their religion, beliefs, lifestyle and culture to be able to fit in their new
environment.