SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF MIGRATION IN THE WORLD AND IN MEXICO

If changing residence is by free choice, it is a VOLUNTARY MIGRATION; but if there’s a compelling reason for people to leave the place where they live, it is an INVOLUNTARY OR FORCED MIGRATION

Geographically, these causes or reasons related to the places of origin or exit are called PUSH FACTORS and the places of arrival or destination are known as PULL FACTORS. It should be noted that the importance of those places of transit where sometimes migrants stay for a while on their way to their final destination gradually configure “flyways” through which men and women tend to move; this is also reflected in the geographic space, in the creation of institutions offering housing and food to migrants.

 

MAIN CAUSES OR REASONS FORMIGRATION

Wars and conflicts

Job opportunities

Family ties

Disasters caused by humans (explosions, fires, etc…)

Freedom of expression

Slave trade

Famine

Promise of protection for refugees and political asylum

Higher income

Religious tolerance

Lack of employment

Natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc)

 

 

Mexico is a country of origin, transit and destination of internal and international migration, and while immigration from abroad has been relatively low (less than 0.5% compared to the national total), our nation has offered protection and shelter to tens of thousands of people who for various reasons have had to leave their places of origin. As shown in chart 3.8, the current foreign population in Mexico comes from different countries, with the largest group being of US origin. On the International Organization for Migration website available at http://www.iom.in/world-migration available (Retrieved on: October 1,2015) there is an interactive map of the origin and destination of some of the migratory flows.

One of the most relevant aspects of migration are remittances; that is, monetary resources sent by migrants to their places of origin. These are used for education, health, or to start a business such as pharmacies, grocery stores, workshops, tortilla shops, cafes and restaurants that the family that stayed manages. According to the World Association of Mexicans Abroad, of every 10 Mexicans living in the United States, more than 8 send money somewhere in the country, which puts remittances, along with the sale of oil and tourism, among the top three sources of foreign income in our country (foreign currency).

In chart 3.9, you will notice that between 2003 and 2007 there was a steady increase in family remittances sent by the Mexican working population in the USA to our country, and although 2008 and 2010 saw a decrease due to the global economic crisis, some experts in the field believe that there will be a recovery.

 

 

ACTIVITY

Read the following causes and consequences, analyze them and try to give an example of each one. Then, write a proposal to help solve the situations described.

  • Giving up customs and traditions that are part of the cultural identity.
  • Obtaining higher incomes that allows a better quality of life
  • Discrimination and abuse by certain groups that see migrants as a threat.
  • Death life while trying to cross the border through increasingly dangerous places.
  • Protection for refugees of wars and conflicts.
  • Political conflicts between countries due to the violation of the human rights of migrants.
  • Freedom of speech and religious worship.