Migration and Refugees Issues

Categories: Cultural Globalization Immigration Migration Policy Refugees Social Issues

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Migration refers to the movement of people from one place to another due to reasons such as poverty, war, or natural disasters. On the other hand, refugee is a term used to describe a person who has fled war, violence, persecution, or a natural disaster in their primary country of residence to find safety and peace in another. Thus, a refugee is a person who is either incapable or unwilling to return to their own country due to genuine fear of persecution or death.

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One of the greatest humanitarian crises facing our world today is the unprecedented movement of people from their native countries to foreign ones due to the outbreak of war and conflict in their own countries.

In the last few decades, global migration has grown to historic proportions, nearing the one witnessed the First and Second World Wars. This paper explores the global and regional impact of migration and refugee issues as well as their causes. As the world continues to face challenges emanating from natural disasters, war due to terrorism, and political persecution in some countries, the issues of migration and refugees are going to persist or even increase.

One of the reasons why the issues of refugees and migration have continued to have a global and regional impact is the scale of the displacement of people. According to figures from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), over six million people have been forcefully displaced from their areas of residence. These people are divided into two classes, namely, refugees and asylum seekers.

Almost every country and region is affected by migration and refugees, whether as a producer, a receiver, or a transit for refugees. Once in the destination country, refugees contribute to immense negative social and economic impacts. For instance, governments of the hosting countries are many times forced to allocate extra-budgetary provisions in order to ameliorate the strains caused by refugees on their economies. They develop emergency assistance programs, essential social and infrastructural structures to cater for the needs of refugees. In addition, terrorists have disguised themselves as refugees, infiltrated into countries and perpetrated acts of terror in the host countries.

There are many causes of refugees and migration. The most common ones include war, persecution and violation of human rights, natural disasters and poverty. The former three causes result in forced migration as opposed to poverty which causes voluntary migration. Hurricanes, floods, drought, earthquakes, and tsunamis are all examples of natural disasters that cause forced migration. In Haiti, Hurricane Matthew led to the migration of more than 60, 000 Haitians into the United States. The conflicts that are going on in countries such as Syria and Yemen have been some of the greatest causes of the global refugees and immigration crisis that is facing the world today. Scores of refugees have lost their lives at sea as they flee violence and seek safe havens in foreign countries. In addition, earthquakes such as the ones that often happen in Indonesia as well as epidemics such as Ebola outbreaks in Africa also make people flee their countries. However, out of the three causes of forced migration, the most prevalent in our world today is violence that is precipitated by war.

The solution to the mass movement of people in the world today is tied to the resolution of political conflicts in their countries. For instance, Yemen's civil war is driven by sectarian rivalry between the Sunnis and Houtis. To prevent the outflow of people, the warring parties need to come to a compromise that is agreeable for both sides. In Syria, the defeat of ISIS, a terrorist organization, has had a significant impact on the outflow of refugees in the last year. However, a lasting solution lies with the establishment of a democratic state which respects human rights. Migration instigated by natural disasters can be alleviated by tackling climate change since it is the leading cause of extreme weather patterns. The main advantage of refugees is that some of them have skills that could be of benefit to the host country. However, refugees cause a humanitarian crisis and strain a country's resources. In addition, refugee camps are characterized by high rates of crime and disease outbreaks which may spread to other parts of the host country.