Introduction
Migration has always been a part of human culture and since prehistoric times, people have relocated from one geographical region to the other. This movement is often encouraged by the desire to seek better opportunities or to escape from undesirable conditions in one’s native region.
Migration has gained significant importance in the 21st century where globalization has increased the movement of people across nations. It has become one of the key issues in recent times with the number of migrants all over the world increasing significantly each year.
While the international community acknowledges the right of individuals to move, countries have adopted migration policies that are meant to limit movement.
This raises the question whether every person can enjoy the freedom of movement enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that people should be free to move between nations.
This paper will seek to show that the right to migrate is not a realistic part of everyone’s basic Human Rights due to the significant adverse effects of unregulated migration.
Migration in the 21st Century
A major characteristic of the modern world is the high level of integration and interaction among individuals of varying nationalities and cultures.
This phenomenal increase in global interaction has been catalyzed by the globalization phenomenon that has led to major integration of culture and economies.
The great transportation and communication advances made in the last century have increased made migration a major feature of globalization. According to Duvell, almost one billion people move across borders or boundaries due to some social-political-economical reason (24).
The United Nations has acknowledged the individual right of movement with Article 13-2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating, “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country” (Pécoud and Guchteneire 69).
However, in spite of this declaration which promotes free movement, individual countries have restrictive immigration policies that are aimed at dissuading people from moving into the country.
In addition to this, some nations have shown a bias towards certain migrant groups based on race or labor skills. This restrictive nature of migration has been prompted by a number of legitimate issues that make the right to free migration for all an unrealistic ambition.
Why the Right to Free Migration is Unrealistic
Migration has led to unnecessary tensions between immigrants and the local populations. When migrants move to a host country in large numbers, they set up micro-communities that are different from the dominant communities. This might disrupt the social cohesion enjoyed by most nations.
In France, the native French society has refused to accept the large Muslim North African community that already makes up 8% of the country’s population (Esman 1).
The same situation happens in other European countries where the Natives refuse to accept some migrant groups as fellow countrymen. Many countries are keen to maintain the cultural and ethnic integrity of their populations.
This need to maintain cultural and ethnic integrity has been the cause of major strives including incidents of xenophobia in some countries where the local population feels threatened by the increasing migrant population.
International migration often involves movement across cultures, religions, and language boundaries. Ewing states that the migrant population is collectively identified as “ethnic minorities” in the host country (118).
This identification marks them off as different from members of the dominant culture and official policies encourage this differentiation. These tensions can be avoided altogether is migration is reduced or stopped entirely.
With this realization, many nations have tried to ensure that the migrant population remains significantly low and therefore does not lead to tensions with the native population.
Unregulated migration can have a negative effect on the economic and social welfare of the host country. Duvell expresses concerns that migration might result in a strain on the available public funds (25).
When people migrate to a new country, they expect to receive some social services such as health care and education from the host country. Since these services are subsidized by the government, the migrants will cause an additional financial burden to the country.
In the cases where the migrants are unable to obtain gainful employment, the government will have to offer welfare services.
Due to the negative economic impacts of migration, developed countries are keen to ensure that migration happens in a way that produces the maximum benefit for the host country.
This means coming up with migration policies that allow for the movement of people who will bring some economic value to the receiving nation and restrict the movement of individuals who will not benefit the host nation
The financial burden of migration also arises from the significant resources that nations have to dedicate to preventing illegal immigration.
European countries such as Italy and Spain have been forced to deploy naval vessels to stop the boatloads of illegal immigrants coming from North Africa (Duvell 24). Australia has also been forced to deploy ships to stop migrants from Asian countries from making their way to the country.
The US has had to increase surveillance along its border with Mexico. Many armed guards have been posted on this border to prevent illegal immigrants from making their way into the US. This project has cost billions of dollars and significant human resources.
Migration does not occur uniformly and developed countries receive the largest percentage of international immigrants.
Anthony elaborates that migration to developed nations is encouraged by the negative (push) stresses in the home region of the individuals from the developing nations and the positive (pull) attractions in the form of economic opportunities and political stability in the developed nations (900).
According to Duvell the number of people living in a country other than that of their birth will have increased to 230 million by the year 2030 (25). Most of these migrants will have moved to the developed nations, which are the favorite destinations for most international migrants.
There is a relationship between migration and increased crime in the host country. While migrants are of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, there has been an increase in the number of unskilled individuals migrating to Western countries.
Research indicates that in some counties, there is an overrepresentation of migrants in the criminal justice system (De Genova 422). In some cases, this has led to migrants being targeted by the local population and blamed for insecurity and crime.
The relationship between migrants and increased crime has led to the perception that unregulated migration is a major threat to international security.
The negative impacts of migration on developed nations have led to contemporary migration being referred to as a “problem” by many nations. Pécoud and Guchteneire state that for most nations, migration is a threat that they need to protect themselves against (70).
Migration for all as a Realistic Ambition
The right to migrate in the contemporary world can be made a basic Human Right since the world is moving towards freedom from all forms of discrimination. Discrimination has been the main hindrance to migration rights for most individuals.
Canada officially maintained a “White Canada” policy up until 1962 when this policy was abandoned (Bashi 598). The policy was abandoned since it was deemed discriminatory and unjust. This shift enabled non-white individuals to immigrate to the country and gain citizenship.
Presently, immigration is not enjoyed by all individuals due to the bias by most developed countries. Bashi acknowledges that there is a racism element in the immigration policies of Western nations (598).
The Western countries show a preference for white immigrants while non-white immigrants are discriminated against. It can be expected that as discriminatory practices become less prevalent, the right to migrate will be guaranteed for all individuals.
The globalization phenomenon has led to greater economic and cultural integration among people. Mass media has contributed to an overall cultural homogenization with many cultures borrowing aspects of each other.
Kearney documents that the media has helped replace the previously strong sense of “the other” with a weak sense of “the others” (p. 555). As the interaction between people of different cultures increases, cultural diffusion will occur.
The differences that lead to tension between migrants and the native population will reduce thereby making migration for all realizable. However, it should be noted that the cultural diversity still exists even when migrants embrace the majority culture.
While globalization has led to increase in cultural homogenization, most migrants still make the effort to preserve their local identities. Esman notes that many migrant communities attempt to maintain their local culture and traditions in the host country (5).
Discussion
While the rate of migration is expected to increase significantly over the coming decade, it is unrealistic to expect that it will one day be a part of everyone’s basic human rights. Governments cannot allow everybody to migrate freely due to the many negative impacts of migrations.
The right to free migration might be ideal but it is an unrealistic goal so long as there are major socioeconomic differences among nations all over the world. Free migration will lead to a heavy influx of migrants into the wealthy nations.
This movement will be unsustainable and it will lead to significant tensions and economic difficulties for the host nation. The restrictive nature of contemporary migration policies is necessary to avoid the many adverse effects of mass migration by people from developing countries.
Conclusion
This paper set out to show that the right to migrate is not a realistic part of everyone’s basic Human Rights. It began by acknowledging that migration has become one of the most important issues facing the world today.
It has demonstrated that migration does not occur uniformly and developed nations receive the largest share of migrants. This migrants cause a number of significant negative effects on the host country including cultural tensions, economic burdens, and increased crimes.
The paper has shown that while the United Nations guarantees every person’s right to free movement, the right to migration is not a realistic part of everyone’s basic Human Rights since it is unsustainable and will lead to many negative effects.
Works Cited
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