Migration

• Globalisation has led to an increase in both internal and international migration.
• As of 2014, 230 million people lived in a country that wasn’t their place of birth, which is approximately 3-4% of the global population.
• The increase in migration is due to the advancement of transport networks and a rise in global trading.
• Most international migration is regionalised, with Mexicans migrating to America and Poles migrating to Germany.
• Uneven economic growth may be linked originally to a natural advantage over other countries, such as a coastline or raw materials.
• Initial imbalances have been exaggerated over time due to the outflow of migrants, resources and investment.
• High inequality is often a characteristic of failed states.
• Poor education is a feature of many failed states.
• Widespread poverty is often a feature of failed states.
• Failed states can be created from war and conflict, which damages any remaining infrastructure and services, resulting in dire living conditions and drastic outward migration.
• Poor healthcare system is a common characteristic of failed states.
• Low life expectancy is often a characteristic of failed states.
• Social unrest is common in failed states.
• The number of people migrating internationally has risen rapidly from 1950 to 2015, with the global population growing from 2.5 billion to 7.3 billion during the same period.
• In the 1990s, international migration occurred mainly to world destinations like New York and Paris, but many cities in developing countries like Mumbai and Lagos have become major hubs for migration.
• Different countries have different rates of change and different population structures as a result of migration.
• Japan’s population is declining, with 27% aged 65 and over and its working age population expected to drop to 44 million by 2037, half of what it was in 2007.
• In most advanced economies around 5% of people are usually immigrants but this is only 1.7% for Japan.
• The UN thinks Japan requires 17 million migrants by 2050 to make sure population levels don’t drop below 2007 levels.
• Australia’s immigration policy has been based on skills and employment, with 70% of immigrants accepted into Australia coming to work in areas with skills shortages.
• Australia has an ageing population but as migrants are usually young, the ageing population is balanced.
• In 2013, only 190,000 economic migrants were allowed to enter Australia.
• Singapore’s population consists of a very high percentage of foreign workers, with a great ethnic diversity.
• Singapore is the world’s 4th largest financial centre and many TNCs have their Asia-Pacific HQs in Singapore.
• Many international schools have also set up in Singapore to cater education to migrants, whose first language may not be Malay (the national language).
• Globalisation has led to extensive movements of capital, goods and people which has impacted migrations rates and traditional definitions of sovereignty.
• There can be a variety of reasons for migrants to move, either internally or internationally.
• International migration changes the ethnic composition of populations which, although creating diversity, changes attitudes to national identity.
• International migration can result from voluntary economic migration, refugees, asylum seekers, environmental refugees, international students, and others.
• Globalisation has changed economic systems at a global scale as demand for labour has changed.
• Migration is seen as an efficient way of ensuring that economic output of a country/place is optimised.
• Globalisation has encouraged rural to urban migration, such as in China, and international migration between countries, such as from the UK to Australia.
• Workers are integral to a growing economy, migration is a way of growing a country or place’s workforce.
• In China, the Hukou system means that many rural migrants cannot benefit from globalisation, with more than 300 million rural migrants, many of whom suffer from poverty, famine and illness from living close to polluting factories.
• Foreign owned companies don’t need to pay taxes here, so the UK government loses out.
• In 1980, 8% of the City of London was owned by migrants; this value rose and exceeded 50% in 2011.
• Globalisation has created many winners and losers, with emerging nations having great inequality between the wealthy elites and extremely poor.
• Foreign ownership of land has caused a lot of anger amongst locals due to a lack of housing and a surge in prices has made buying a first home very difficult.
• In 2014, a referendum was held in Scotland in which 45% of voters voted for independence, causing great division between the population, especially regarding politics.
• Many Catalonians want independence from Spain.