Migration

The National Geographic on its Human Migration Guide defines Human Migration as "the movement of people from one place in the world to another for the purpose of taking up permanent or semipermanent residence, usually across a political boundary". And despite the lately news we hear about forced migrations caused mostly by violence, the term has a very wide meaning. This means that people can rather migrate voluntarily or involuntarily.

Why do people migrate?

People find their current home place as unsatisfactory or threatening and they can find basically four reasons to leave to another place, that can either be inside their own country (internal migration) or in another different one (external migration).

* Environmental reasons: Climate change has been giving this factor a lot of importance lately given the proliferation of natural disasters caused by it. But environmental migration has pre-historical records due to weather seasons.

* Political reasons: Are mostly seen in countries going through wars where people run away from the violence or because they are being persecuted because of political beliefs.

* Cultural reasons: Seeking for a place where people can have religious freedom or education.

* Economic reasons: When people feel the need to migrate to another country for economic benefits (work and money). And it is not necessarily confined just to poor countries: inhabitants of rich countries also migrate for economic reasons. This is, by the way, the most common reason for people to migrate, even though most of the times they have to compromise their dignity by employing themselves in 3D kind of jobs: "Dirty-Dangerous-Degrading"

Labour migration has been said to be a direct consequence of globalization given that that traveling to other countries is no longer seen as such an impossible thing to do. Plus, when it comes to qualified labour, companies tend send them abroad.

When people migrate they tend to take some time to adapt to their new home and this always brings implications into the host country:

* Diffusion: The process through which certain characteristics (e.g., cultural traits, ideas,

disease) spread over space and through time.

* Relocation Diffusion: Ideas, cultural traits, etc. that move with people from one place to

another and do not remain in the point of origin.

* Expansion Diffusion: Ideas, cultural traits, etc., that move with people from one place to

another but are not lost at the point of origin, such as language.

* Cultural markers: Structures or artifacts (e.g., buildings, spiritual places, architectural

styles, signs, etc.) that reflect the cultures and histories of those who constructed or occupy

them.

References:

- The human migration guide (6-8) by The National Geographic. 2005. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions. Accessed: September 1st 2009

- Environmental Migration. http://knol.google.com/k/francois-gemenne/environmental-migration. Accessed: September 1st 2009