Mangement of Migration (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

Managing Migration in a Developed Country

• Monitoring and managing the rate of population change in a country is a key issue for any government

• Voluntary migrants bring positive and negative benefits to a country:

  • Positive - boost falling populations and declining economic growth

  • Negative - illegal immigration and fear of migrants taking jobs and housing in the host country

• Many governments try to manage migration to meet the country's changing demographic and economic needs

• Governments can either encourage or discourage natural growth and immigration depending on circumstances

• When economies are struggling, immigration rules become harder; whilst an economic upturn will see rules being softened

• Successful management of migration needs to:

  • Maximise the positive benefits of migration to both the host country and country of origin

  • Prevent illegal migration through border controls

  • Promote legal migration channels

UK's Management of Immigration Since 1950

• After the end of the Second World War there was a serious shortage of labour to help rebuild the country 

• The UK encouraged immigration from Commonwealth countries particularly British colonies such as the Caribbean, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

• By 1971 over a million people had migrated from Commonwealth countries and the UK implemented controls to reduce the number of future migrant arrivals

• By the 1990s the UK found itself short of labour once again

• With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, there was an influx of people looking for work and a decent wage

• When the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, many people from these countries made their way to the UK

• Initially, very few of these migrants intended to remain in the UK, they intended to return home after they had made enough money

• The majority of these migrants were young (aged between 18-34 years) and half came from Poland 

• During the 2009 recession, job opportunities began drying up and many Eastern Europeans returned home

• Free movement within the EU meant that the UK had no control over their borders

• Many UK nationals began blaming these economic migrants for taking their jobs and abusing the UK's benefits system

• With net immigration running at 300,000 a year, the control of immigration was one of the key issues in the UK's Referendum to leave the EU in 2016

• However, critics ignore the fact that:

  • Migrants contribute to the economy through paid taxes and do the jobs others don't want

  • Many migrants are employed in low-paid, menial jobs such as factories, hotels, farming and care homes

  • Migrants may have a strong work ethic which benefits employers, although some employers exploit this

  • Less than 5% of economic migrants receive any form of state benefit

• Today the UK operates a points-based system

• People are awarded points depending on their skills, previous income and age

• This system gives some people visas to allow them entry into the UK for work or study

Managing Migration in an Emerging Country

• Usually immigration into a developing or emerging country is easier than into a developed one

• Due in part to the skills that most migrants will bring to the economy along with some foreign investment

• Sometimes the arrangement can be reciprocal if a country relaxes its immigration policy in favour of a particular country 

• Despite the agreement on free trade between Mexico, the USA and Canada the immigration policies are not equal and the dispute along the US and Mexican border is ongoing

Immigration into Mexico

• Since the early 16th century when the Spanish arrived in Mexico, the country has received immigrants from Europe, Africa, the Americas (particularly the United States and Central America), and Asia

• In 1823 permanent residency was restricted to Catholics but was revoked in 1860 with the establishment of the freedom of religion

• In 1909 the first comprehensive immigration law came into force, which rejected racial discrimination. This has been ignored by subsequent governments and racial discrimination continued with complete exclusion or restrictions

• By 1974 racial discrimination had been abolished 

• In the 20th century, Mexico became a country of refuge during WWII, the Spanish Civil War and the Guatemalan Civil War

• Today, millions of the migrant's descendants still live in Mexico 

• The Mexican constitution states that:

• However, the Mexican government does control migration flows and attracts foreign investment to contribute to economic development

• Mexico simplified its entrance and residency requirements by replacing immigrant and non-immigrants with temporary and permanent resident

• This differentiates immigrants into those who are allowed to work and those who are not, whilst granting permanent residency to those on a point-based system 

• Despite the debate between the USA and Mexico on border issues, the largest number of migrants into Mexico are Americans 

• Most who come from the USA are students, retirees, teachers, religious workers, Mexican-Americans and spouses of Mexican citizens

• Many live in Mexico during the autumn and winter, returning to the US for spring and summer

• There are a significant number of corporate employees and executives living along the border towns of Mexico due to NAFTA and the maquiladoras (factories) found there, although many will live in the US and commute into Mexico daily