The Migrant Journey
In the context of reducing UK net migration whilst still welcoming the brightest and the best who can benefit British economy, the United Kingdom has published the 2nd report of the research entitled The Migrant Journey.
The results of the report are as follows:
· - main routes of entry into the UK: work and family (as dependants)
· - nationalities vary according to the routes of entry. Migrants from India and the Philippines are more prone to enter the country through the work route, whereas most immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan tend to favour the family route. Nigerian immigrants tended to be part of a cohort who was granted settlement on arrival. These 5 nationalities are the top countries in the world leading to settlement route
· - family route grants entry clearance to a third country national on the basis of their relationship to a British citizen or a settled migrant. The top 7 nationalities leading to settlement through the family route are Pakistani, Indian, Australian, American, South African, New Zealander and Bangladeshi.
· the work route leading to settlement is favoured by the citizens of the following countries: India, America, Philippines, Ukraine and South Africa.
· - the study route is preferred by the following citizens: Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Russian, American, Taiwanese, Japanese and Nigerian. 5 years after their entry into the UK, the majority of these students have left the immigration system.
rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/horr43c.pdf
Comments: The student route has been reshaped by the UKBA, in an aim to reduce the numbers of students entering the country. Private colleges (mainly) have been the target of tight rules such as the closing down of the dependants route or the right to work during the academic year. However, as seen in this report, the students represent only a minor part of the immigrants likely to settle in the country.
Moldova: The children left behind
Emigration is a debated phenomenon. It triggers both positive and negative consequences. Remittances to Moldova averaged in 2008 more than $ 1,500m , which has had a good impact on economy. On the other side, the emigrants, whilst injecting money into the sending country, neglected their families from back home. Children sometimes see their parents only a couple of times a year in the best case scenario. They tend to leave with their grandparents who do not necessarily have either the energy or the authority to take care of them in the way the parents would.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-14488086
Comments: Probably the only solution to this is purely financial. Emigrants should have the choice to stay in their country and earn a decent wage which would prevent them from leaving their country of origin in a desire for a better life. But this is unlikely to be resolved in the recent future. Maybe a more appropriate solution would be the creation of centres which would 'educate' the carers of the the children left behind in order to be better substitutes for the absent parents. Also, therapy for children in order to know what direction they should go on could be of some help.
Skilled Asian migrants choose Asia over the West
According to the study Change of Migration Patterns in Asia: Towards Regional Economic Integration, Hong Kong had the highest number of migrants of migrants in East Asia with 2.74m, followed by Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. Also, more Chinese workers are returning to their home country with support from the Chinese government. This is due to the rapid economic development in East Asia, but also to smoother immigration laws which allow more flexibility in the labour market within Asian countries.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10739122
Comments: The article does not say anything about the tightening of migration rules in the West and the rise of right-wing parties. These are two important reasons of the flows of emigration. Even in settlers' countries such as New Zealand, the Right Wing Resistance is handing out flyers claiming that an Asian invasion is taking place (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10724994).
Dutch town enacts own migration rules
Vaals, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in the Netherlands is introducing rules banning the right of residence of foreigners including EU nationals who cannot support themselves financially. The argument is that the council pays already too many benefits to unemployed migrant workers.
Comments: The free movement is one of the pillars of the European Union. Without it, the European Union would lose its slogan which refers to unity (Unity in Diversity) between the countries part of it. However, Spain looked in the same direction when it decided to lift the right to work to Romanian citizens, on the basis that many Romanian workers are unemployed and Spain finds it hard to support them, given the current economic crisis.
http://www.euractiv.com/en/justice/dutch-town-enacts-migrant-rules-news-506861?utm_source=EurActiv+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4be4f2c45a-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email
Some thoughts.... [African viewpoint: Home truths]
I was reading this article the other day. It has nothing academic (nor political) in it, so you might wonder What is she doing? . Well, I have been talking quite a lot lately with various friends about cultural clash and I was looking for a non-academic paper which would be able to refer to it. I found this article very easy to understand, cute and worm. It is explained in baby words, almost. It is about a 6 year old American-born Ghanaian who is going back to Ghana to spend some time with her aunt and get an insight of African culture. There are many things she does not understand such as:
· the fact that she is obliged to wear earrings, whereas the boys are not
· there are many people on the streets and walk in the middle of the street
· lack of punctuality etc.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14530871
Comments: I think it has happened to all of you to simply not being able to understand the culture of the host country. Why that? Is it because we are born in one country and brought up in a culture that we end up having a certain mindset specific to only that culture? Does that mean that we are narrow minded or just that we have a strong national identity? A culturally flexible person finds it easy to adjust because they do not have a personality of their own or just because they are open minded?
Are we different from the beginning or we become different as we 'mature'? Or is it a mix of nurture and nature?
I found the other day this interesting website on culture http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/article_base_54 . You may want to give it a read. You will not be disappointed! It will teach you more about how different we all are and maybe you will understand why it is harder to interact with some people than with other.
Author: Claudia Paraschivescu claudia.paraschivescu@gmail.com
