Has anyone else noticed how much migration has been in the news recently? I certainly have; not to mention that my entire introduction to geography A-level was on the subject – the word ‘crisis’ often accompanying it. As a young adult myself, these kind of news stories always spark questions in my mind. It’s left me wondering whether migration is actually a crisis and why has it only become so in recent years?
If you really think about it, migration has been around for years, dating back to even the time of Jesus who was a refugee in Egypt as a child. It would be very difficult to argue that migration has only become a human occurrence in recent years when there’s historic evidence that suggests otherwise. However, I agree it’s impossible not to notice that in the last 100 years, the levels of international migration have increased at ridiculous rates. In the last decade alone, the number of international migrants has increased by nearly 60 million more people.
Now I’m left wondering why. What has happened in the last 100 years that could’ve caused this spike? Globalisation. What does this mean? It means the interconnectedness of different regions in the world. Simply put: our world is one metaphorical community. While being a nice concept, I believe globalisation is largely responsible for our so-called migration ‘crisis’.
I’m a legal immigrant. I lived in Ethiopia for 8 years as a third-culture kid. My family helped the people over there; however, we are all ethnically English. Now I wouldn’t really call this type of migration a ‘crisis’. However, upon our return to England, we had many of our Ethiopian friends repeatedly asking us to declare them refugees in hope they can gain citizenship in our country. There’s actually a term for these types of people – economic refugees, migrant workers who falsely claim reasons for migration is due to persecution and not personal ambition. I find it quite sickening: the thought that people will pose as victims to try to gain access to better countries, an event I doubt would come about without the effects of globalisation.
Honestly, this is a topic I struggle with. I imagine a battle between morals and law about migration. I fully believe that people from poorer countries deserve a better life, that refugees deserve safety, and that people should be allowed to want the best for their families. However, I also understand that the UK is a small island and cannot physically hold all the migrants that try to cross the English Channel as well as the fact that there are specific legal ways to migrate to other countries. It’s estimated that at least 45,728 people are believed to have crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats in 2022, an increase of more than 17,000 on the 28,526 who arrived in 2021. I guess this is where it becomes a ’crisis’ and I can see it getting worse in the future.
