Emigration can be defined as the act of leaving one’s country of origin and settling somewhere else, preferably in another country. There are many international factors for migration flows. The most powerful factors are economic pressures, social networks and connections between migrants sending and receiving countries, immigrant admissions and immigration control policies, cultural perceptions of people in developing countries about immigration and First World immigrant receiving countries.
However, economic pressures and cultural perceptions of people in developing countries about immigration and First world immigrant receiving countries are more powerful factors than the others.
Economic pressure has led to the highest number of immigrants, especially from the developing countries to developed countries. This is because third world countries are way behind in economic development compared to the developed countries. This wide disparity between the two worlds has made many people from developing countries migrate to the developed countries.
There is a wide unemployment rate in the developing countries. With the high rate of industrialization in developed countries like the United States, most people in developing countries yearn to migrate there. These countries also offer higher pay, better job conditions and employees welfare.
This is in contrast to most African countries where there is underemployment and employee welfare is not guaranteed. Entrepreneurship opportunities are also vast in developed countries. The fast rate of economic growth in these countries presents a better market, wider opportunities for investment and also easier ways of obtaining capital.
There are also oppressive investment policies in developing countries, for example Zimbabwe, which has monopolized trade with its citizens. This makes it difficult to invest and even do business in such a country. The economy is also failing, a situation evident in many developing countries. Therefore, most of their people opt to migrate and to invest in foreign nations where there is guaranteed economic development and returns.
Another powerful factor is the perception of the people from developing countries on developed countries. Acculturation has resulted from televised better lifestyles from the west. Third world populations have therefore aped these cultures and believe that the westerners have better lifestyles, for example houses, cars, education systems, dressing, eating habits and others.
Western cultures have pulled Africans and Asians to Europe and America. For instance, most wealthy Kenyans have sent their children to schools in developed countries and believe that it is of better quality. Others have fully migrated to these nations in order to become part of these western cultures. Others believe that they will be wealthier if they migrate to these countries since there is instant wealth there, for example during the gold rush of California.
There is a great infringement of cultural and political freedom in developed countries, for example, persecutions on sex and sex orientation where some countries like Zimbabwe and Arab countries kill homosexual and lesbians.
Islamic countries have also forced their people to migrate due to intolerance to other religions. Other developed countries have communities that believe in occasional cultural warfare as a system of ethnic cleansing hence their people opt to migrate, for example the Merire people of Ethiopia. This has made the elites from these nations to migrate in search of safer places to settle.
In conclusion, economic pressure and cultural perceptions of developing countries on developed countries are the most powerful factors for emigration. Most people migrate to acquire employment, better pay, better investment policies and better entrepreneurial environment as others run away from unstable economies.
Others have a perception that there is a better lifestyle in developed countries. They believe that the westerners have better living standards, better dressing codes, better eating habits, better family life and better technology. This has made many people migrate to the western nations. Children are also made to believe in this perception and most of them target at immigrating to these nations one day.