Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century

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Migration

Migration

What is Migration?
Migration is the movement of organisms from one place to another.
Migration can mean the seasonal movement of animals. For example, some
species of birds migrate to warmer areas during winter and return home in
spring. Migration can also mean the permanent or semi-permanent
movement of people across political boundaries.
Immigration
Immigration is the movement of people from their home country to another
country with the goal of becoming permanent residents. For the purpose of
this module, we will use the term migration to indicate non-permanent
relocation and immigration as a permanent one.
Citizenship
Citizenship is the status of a person as a legal member of a sovereign state.
Nationality is another term for citizenship. A citizen has several
responsibilities including obeying laws, paying taxes, and serving his or her
country in times of need. As a citizen, a person also has the right to be
protected by his or her country and its laws.
A person can be a citizen of a country by birth or by naturalization.
Naturalization is the legal process that a foreigner has to go through in order
to be a citizen of a country.
A person can also be a citizen of more than one country. This is called
multiple citizenship. The most common form is dual citizenship where person
is a citizen of two countries but it is also possible for a person to be a citizen
of three or more countries. However, not all countries allow multiple
citizenships. Some countries completely prohibit it while some countries
impose limitations. For example, Spain allows dual citizenship with certain
countries only, including some countries that it formerly colonized like the
Philippines.
Why people migrate
People migrate for different reasons. These reasons are grouped into two,
namely push factors and pull factors. For the purpose of this module, we will
categorize both of them into four, namely economic, cultural, political and
environmental.
Push Factors
Push factors are the negative conditions that drive people to leave a
particular area.

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a. Economic
Poverty and the low employment and livelihood opportunities is one of the
most common reasons why people leave their home countries. For example,
today, it’s common for Filipinos to seek employment abroad.
b. Cultural
In some cases, ethnic and religious conflict can cause people to leave their
countries. For example, from 1960’s up until the 1990’s, hundreds of
thousands of people from Rwanda belonging to the Tutsi ethnic group were
forced to flee their country to escape persecution.
c. Political
Throughout history, the rule of oppressive political regimes has caused
countless people to leave their countries. A modern example is North Korea
where many citizens risk their lives to escape its long-standing military
dictatorship.
d. Environmental
Devastating natural events such as earthquakes and disease that threaten
people’s lives can cause a sizeable portion of the population to migrate. A
historical example is when a plant disease known as potato blight devastated
Europe’s agriculture in the 1840’s. This caused a famine in Ireland, where
potato was the staple food. What came to be known as the Great Famine or
the Irish Potato Famine forced a lot of Irish people to immigrate to different
countries particularly in England, Australia and the United States. In the
United States alone, about half a million Irish immigrants arrived in the
1840’s.
Pull Factors
Pull factors are the opposite of push factors. They are the positive conditions
that attract people to a particular location.
a. Economics
As opposed to its push counterpart, economic pull factors are opportunities
for employment and livelihood that draw people to a certain area. Today, a
lot of people from underdeveloped countries go to more developed countries
either to work temporarily or to stay permanently as naturalized citizens.
Some opportunities are so great that they cause an unprecedented influx in
migration. One such opportunity is the discovery of gold in California in
1848. The news of this discovery inspired a lot of people from overseas and
other areas of the United States to migrate to California in what came to be
known as the California Gold Rush. The number of migrants was so great that
in San Francisco alone, population grew from 1000 to 20,000 in just two
years.
b. Cultural
People who flee their countries because of ethnic or religious reasons would
consequently want to migrate to a place where people are tolerant of their
culture. For example, the state of Israel encourages Jews from all over the
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Migration

world to relocate in Israel, which they believe is the historical homeland of

the Jewish people.
c. Political
Countries with more liberal and favourable political systems and beliefs
attract a lot of immigrants especially those who are being oppressed in their
home countries.
Throughout the Cold War, (late 1940’s to early 90’s) many citizens from
communist countries tried to escape to Western countries. For example,
thousands of citizens from communist-occupied East Germany attempted to
escape to West Germany by jumping above, or tunnelling under the Berlin
Wall which divided the capital city.
d. Environmental
Places with attractive climates and safer conditions attract migrants. Many
people from places with harsh climates choose to migrate to places with
better climate conditions. Also, people tend to migrate to places that are not
usually affected by natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, and
earthquakes.
Refugees: Forced Migration
Sometimes, people leave their homes because of immediate danger. These
people are called refugees. A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave
his or her country because of human conflict, natural disasters, or political
persecution. The main difference between a refugee and an immigrant is that
an immigrant is someone who chose to leave his or her country while a
refugee did not have a choice. In most cases, it is dangerous for refugees to
return home.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis
The Syrian Civil War, which started in 2011, forced about 11 million Syrians
to leave their homes. About half of them have fled the country while others
remained within Syria but are still displaced and need of humanitarian aid
and protection. Most of the refugees who left Syria sought asylum in
neighbouring including Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. About 1 million have
requested asylum in European countries.

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Migration of Filipinos

Source: www.migrationpolicy.org/
There are currently 98.39 million Filipinos. Out of it, 10.45 million either
permanently or semi-permanently reside overseas. That is more than 10% of
the country’s population, making Filipinos the world’s second biggest
population of migrants.
Filipino Labor Migration
Based on statistics collected by the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration or POEA, 2.34 million contracts were given to Overseas
Filipino Workers or OFW’s in 2015.
Out of this total number of Overseas Filipino Workers 1.82 million belong to
land-based jobs while more than half a million, 519 thousand to be exact,
belong to sea-based jobs. Of those with land-based jobs, 1.20 million are new
hires while 614 thousand are rehires.
The top destinations for OFW’s are Middle Eastern countries. Other top
destinations are neighboring Asian countries.
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Migration

Top 10 destinations for OFW’s:

1. Saudi Arabia
2. United Arab Emirates
3. Singapore
4. Qatar
5. Kuwait
6. Hong Kong
7. Taiwan
8. Malaysia
9. Oman
10. Bahrain
OFW Remittance
Overseas Filipino Workers are a valuable asset to the Philippine economy
because they send home money from other countries, contributing to the
growth of the local economy.
According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, (Central Bank o f the Philippines)
Overseas Filipino Workers or OFW’s received a total of 26.88 million dollars
in payment during the period of January to November 2016. That is about 1.3
trillion pesos. Out of that total amount, 24.34 billion dollars, or 1.2 trillion
pesos were sent home to the Philippines through banks. The Philippines is
the third country in the world in terms of remittance received. The first is
India, and second is China.

References:

Advantages & Disadvantages Of Dual Citizenship

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-
finance/031315/advantages-disadvantages-dual-citizenship.asp

Migration Push/Pull Factors

http://lewishistoricalsociety.com/wiki2011/tiki-
read_article.php?articleId=28

Rwanda - Migration
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Rwanda-MIGRATION.html

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California Gold Rush (1848–1858)
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/goldrush.html

Migration trends
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/migration/migratio
n_trends_rev2.shtml

Sources in the National Archives for researching the Great Famine

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/famine/famine.html

Syrian Refugees: A snapshot of the crisis – in the Middle East and Europe
http://syrianrefugees.eu/

The UN Migration Agency

http://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/flash/top-10-destination-of-
Overseas-filipino.html

Overseas Filipinos' (OF) Remittances

http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/keystat/ofw.htm

PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION, OVERSEAS

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS, DEPLOYED OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS
2014-2015
http://www.poea.gov.ph/ofwstat/compendium/2015.pdf