Urban Geography

Migration

Migration

• Changing migration patterns in Ireland
• Migration policies in Ireland and the EU
• Issues arising from migration
• Impact of migration on donor and receiver countries
• Rural to urban migration – developed and developing world

Key Words

• EMIGRATION (E for exit): People leave an area.
• IMMIGRATION (I for inward): People arrive into a region.
• DONOR REGION (or source area): The country/region from which migrants leave.
• HOST REGION (or destination area): The country that receives migrants. A country may be both a donor and receiver of migrants.
• NET MIGRATION (or migration balance): This is the difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants in a country.
• PUSH FACTORS: Things that make a person leave an area, e.g. lack of work, famine, war.
• PULL FACTORS: Anything that attracts people to an area e.g. Job opportunities, freedom from danger

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Urban Geography

• BARRIERS TO MIGRATION: Anything that makes migration difficult or impossible, e.g. immigration laws, cost of buying a fare, distance, poverty.

• REFUGEE: Someone who leaves their country because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on their religion, race or politics, and who has been given refugee status in a country to which they have moved.

• ASYLUM SEEKER: A person who applies for refugee status in a country to which they have moved.

• INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON (IDP): Someone who is forced to move within their own country due to persecution, conflict or environmental disaster.

Push Factors:

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Natural disasters
• Violence or civil unrest
• Overpopulation

Pull Factor:

• A better quality of life
• Employment opportunities
• Personal reasons such as family ties
• Personal freedom

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Geography

Urban Geography

Changing Migration Patterns in Ireland

Emigration in the 1950's

• There was a deep economic recession during this time

• The population if Ireland declined by 4.8% as over 400,000 people emigrated due to various push factors – no money, lack of jobs/opportunities

• Most of those who emigrated had been employed in construction or as agricultural labourers and lacked a variety of skills and education – they left to find employment in the same sector

• Rural Ireland suffered from rapid depopulation and social isolation and this created a high dependency ratio with large numbers of children and elderly remaining

Economic prosperity – 1960's/1970's

• In this period, then Taoiseach Sean Lemass launched the programmes for economic expansion with foreign investment and free trade being promoted, attractive grants and tax relief offered to new companies, as well as the creation of industrial estates

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Urban Geography

• This attracted large MNC's such as Braun, which brought new jobs to Ireland

• As a result, outward migration from Ireland declined as people were able to find work in Ireland

• By 1966 over 300 foreign companies were located throughout the country, including the West of Ireland which had been worst hit by emigration in the 1950's – this resulted in large-scale employment in regions such as the West

• In 1973 Ireland joined the EEC (EU) and this allowed for further economic growth

• The EEC focused on the expansion of the manufacturing industry, creating many more jobs in Ireland as a result

• Ireland enjoyed an industrial revolution as thousands of jobs were created – this enabled migrants to return home for work

• Living standards rose dramatically during this period and people began to go on 'package holidays' and car ownership increased significantly

• For the first time in 120 years, immigration was greater than emigration

• Between 1971 – 1981 there was a population increase of 15.6% with emigration being at its lowest in 1971 – only 5,000 people left the country

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Urban Geography

Recession, 1980's

• Another economic recession, caused by the world oil crisis saw a return to emigration in the 1980's
• Over 200,000 people left Ireland due to high unemployment rates
• A new type of emigration occurred as 'economic refugees' (highly educated young people) left the country in search of work – brain drain
• Govt. debt increased and MNC's closed down as they could not find skilled workers

Celtic Tiger era, 1990 – 2007

• Ireland became a country of net inward migration – reached its highest ever level in 2006
• These immigrants included skilled and unskilled workers and asylum seekers from within and outside of the EU
• The expansion of the EU in 2004 and 2006 meant that Ireland was becoming a multiracial society as people from many different nationalities came looking for work
• Numbers peaked at over 100,000 in 2006, mostly from eastern European countries as Ireland was one of three EU countries that allowed these new migrants immediate access
• There was also significant investment in Ireland by high tech MNC's such as Dell and Google who attracted a well-educated workforce
• Ireland had 1% of the EU population at this time but attracted 20% of new inward investment into Europe

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Urban Geography

• Ireland was underpopulated and could not fill jobs in sectors such as construction, retail and services – therefore, the govt. announced there would be unrestricted immigration from newer member states. These people flocked to Ireland in their thousands

• Applications for asylum in Ireland peaked in 2002 with 11,634 applicants. In 1994 it was 362 – most applicants came from Nigeria – 35% of all applications

• Irelands population grew rapidly during this time period due to the influx of migrant workers and asylum seekers

Recession 2008 – 2013

• Emigration was a massive social issue during this time due to another recession/economic downturn

• Extensive job losses were a result of multiple MNC's such as Jacob's biscuits closed down, moved or were taken over

• The government fell into a large debt during this time, rising from €35 billion in 2005 to €84 billion in 2010

  • This led to a bailout from the 'Troika' which included the EU, European central bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund)

  • Irish govt. was answerable to the Troika on all spending until they could prove that they were more financially stable

• As a result, living costs and taxes rose, the housing market collapsed – lead to more unemployment

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Geography

Urban Geography

• As a result, living costs and taxes rose, the housing market collapsed – lead to more unemployment

• In 2007, 140,000 jobs were lost – by 2012 unemployment rate had reached 15%

• Young, well educated people began to leave Ireland yet again in search of work – due to the nature of unemployment (e.g. housing sector crashing), 80% of all those who emigrated were men

  • Outward migration increased dramatically

• The number of immigrants also decreased as employment was no longer available and restrictions were tightened on unskilled workers

  • Ireland experienced a net outward migration for the first time since 1995 as immigration numbers fell from 83,800 to 57,300

• Ireland exited the recession in December 2013, however the effects of this period on migration can still be seen

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Geography

Urban Geography

Migration Policy in Ireland and EU

Ireland

The main aim of immigration policy in Ireland is to treat all migrants with justice and fairness.

In 2014 the 'Employment Permits Act' was introduced, which outlined stricter laws on people entering Ireland from outside the EEA.

• EEA = European Economic Area – est. 1994
• Includes all members of the EU and trade partners of the EU – Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein

These laws focus on allowing people into the country who provide skills that are in short supply here. There are four main categories for permission to work in Ireland:

General Employment Permit

• Also referred to as a 'work permit' and is open to people with an annual salary of €30,000 or more
• Only in exceptional cases will people who earn under this figure be considered – e.g. severe shortage of a particular skill
• A labour market means test is also necessary in order to ensure that an equally skilled Irish or EEA person does not miss out on employment over a non-EEA national

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Urban Geography

• Formerly known as the 'green card' permit and is available for non-EEA nationals with an annual salary of over €60,000

• It can also be given to people with a salary of over €30,000 if they have a skill that is highly required in Ireland e.g. Registered midwife

Dependant/Partner/Spouse employment permit

• This allows spouses/partners of holders of the above work permits to also apply for work in Ireland

Reactivation Employment Permit

• Allows those who previously held a work permit to apply for one again

Asylum seekers

• People who arrive in the country without a work permit. They are allowed stay and apply for refugee status but cannot work or leave the country

• Ireland is one of two EU countries with a ban on asylum seekers working

• They are entitled to state accommodation, healthcare, education and welfare

• If refugee status is granted, they are given the same rights as any other Irish citizen, if it is refused then they are deported

• In 2015, 3,276 people applied for refugee status in Ireland – 152 applications were granted

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Geography

Urban Geography

In 2004, a referendum removed the automatic right of citizenship for Irish-born children of non-national parents

European Union

The policy of the EU regarding migration is continuously evolving and developing with the aim of helping genuine refugees gain residency status whilst returning ineligible asylum seekers to their homeland.

Migrants are needed in Europe as most countries are in Stage 4, moving into Stage 5 of the demographic transitional model.

Migrants fill labour shortages created by falling birth rates and declining populations in countries such as Germany.

The recent EU expansion to eastern Europe has seen an influx of skilled and unskilled migrant workers to the core EU countries. This influx, combined with further migration from Africa and Asia, has meant that the EU have had to develop further, and tighten, migration laws.

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Urban Geography

The Schengen Agreement in 1995 allowed the free movement of people between EU member states - Ireland was not included in this.

The EU wanted to develop a common set of laws to regulate immigration and asylum across the region in order to:

• Share responsibility across all member states - i.e. Spain was taking more migrants than most at that time

• Eliminate illegal trafficking - $8 billion dollar 'industry' world wide

• Prevent admission of migrants to countries, when they have already been turned away from another country

• Make it easier for migrants to obtain residency and work permits

Some people are against the idea of a common policy on migration into the EU for a number of reasons:

• Countries might lose more sovereignty if more political power is given to the EU

• If the EU strengthens/tightens its migration laws, then it could lead to xenophobia, creating a fear and hatred of foreigners

  • There is growing support for right-wing parties that look to limit inward migration e.g. National Front in France, UKIP in UK

It could also lead to a 'Fortress Europe' where migrants find it very difficult to enter Europe

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Geography

Urban Geography

Figure 2: Fortress Europe

• However, many people believe that this common approach is necessary, especially after the mass influx of migrants that came into the EU in 2015.

• Over 500,000 migrants entered Europe in 2015, 54% from Syria. The EU struggled to cope with this large number of migrants seeking asylum and refugee status despite setting up Frontex – border control agency- in 2004

• This mass migration has led to tension at EU borders:

  • Hungary and Croatia could not deal with the large number of migrants trying to gain entry – as there was no common policy towards this, they felt abandoned by the EU and took drastic measures. They built wire razor fences and used tear gas to keep migrants out

  • In Greece, riot police forcefully prevented migrants from crossing the border

  • Macedonia declared a state of emergency in August 2015 as 2,000 migrants a day entered the country making it dangerously overcrowded

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Urban Geography

These events show the need to upgrade EU laws on immigration to help these border countries.

However, these upgraded laws need to focus on human rights, anti-discrimination and citizenship in order to improve the lives of both EU citizens and migrants.

Impact and issues arising from migration

Ethnic, Racial and Religious issues

Ethnic Issues

• Ethnic refers to minority group with self-identity that is different to larger population – e.g. Polish people in Ireland
• Defined by place of birth, language or religion
• Their native language is important to immigrants as it is central to their culture, traditions and beliefs
• It is difficult to maintain this language in other countries as business and employment requires the use of the country's native language

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Urban Geography

• In Ireland, this has been addressed positively by the government as leaving cert exams are offered in languages of major migrant populations such as Polish

• However, there have also been negative issues such as ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina

  • Ethnic cleansing is the forceful removal by slaughter, threat or terror of a minority group from an area

  • The term was first widely used to describe the forceful removal of the Muslim population from Bosnia-Herzegovina during the civil wars after the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990's

Racial Issues

• Racial refers to the biological inheritance of a person – based on physical characteristics such as skin colour

• Migrants tend to live in the same area of a city known as 'ghettos' – this segregation can result in fear and suspicion which in turn can create racist attitudes

• A national policy on racism was developed in 2005 due to an increased number of racist attacks on foreign nationals – ESRI report in 2006 showed that 35% of immigrants had experienced harassment in public. The policy aimed to:

  • Help them participate fully in all areas of life
  • Ensure they have equal legal protection
  • Include them in all areas of social and economic life

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Geography

Urban Geography

France experienced racial riots in 2005

• Riots carried out by French youths, mainly of North African descent after the accidental deaths of two teenagers in Paris who were fleeing the police at the time – had done nothing wrong

• This brought the issue of integration and discrimination to the fore in France

• Tensions already existed between the French government and this community as a result of lack of opportunities and housing

• A state of emergency was declared as €200 million worth of damage was caused across 274 towns

• Govt. admitted that the rioting was a result of their failure to provide equal opportunities to people of North African descent

• As a result, a €30 billion aid package was announced for areas affected in order to improve employment and standard of living

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Urban Geography

Religious issues

Pakistan

• After British rule ended the region was divided in two – Muslim state of Pakistan and the Hindu dominated India

• During this time 12 million people moved to live in their area of faith – the largest migration of people in history

• Tension still exists between the two regions – in 2002, 2,000 people were killed in rioting which started after 58 Hindus were burned to death on a train in Godhra, north-west India

• This was blamed on a Muslim mob

• Tensions still run high over the ownership of the Kashmir state on the border

  • It was divided under Indian independence in 1947 with 65% ruled by India and 35% by Pakistan

  • Pakistan believes it should have full control of the region as it has a majority Islamic population – two-thirds

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Geography

Urban Geography

Irish educational system

• Majority of this system, especially at primary level is still under the trusteeship of the Catholic Church. This makes it difficult to integrate immigrants who have different religious beliefs

• Equal Status Act in 2000 allowed schools to give preference to children of religions that matched the ethos of the school

• Govt. obliged to provide education for all so changes had to be made, such as the introduction of 'Educate Together' schools, ETB schools and a rise in community schools

• Further planning is still needed to ensure that immigrant children are educated together with Irish children independent of religious beliefs

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Urban Geography

Impact on donor and receiver countries

Donor Countries

Needs of the population

• Migrants can act as a 'safety valve' for a country's population reducing the pressure on resources for the people still living there
• E.g. Ireland in the 1980's and 2008-2013
• Migrants tend to be young adults which lowers the birth rate of the country, reducing the need for future generations to emigrate – more employment

Remittance

• This is a major source of income for the developing world as migrant workers send money home to their families
• This was worth €19 billion to the Mexican economy in 2006
• In the Philippines, remittance is worth three times the amount of foreign aid received each year - €4.5 billion

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Urban Geography

2 Disadvantages

Depopulation

• A major socio-economic problem, especially in rural areas as a youthful population is needed for government investment

• Local services will decline such as post offices closing, schools amalgamating and sports teams will struggle for numbers (big issue in the west of Ireland)

• Farming practices do not improve or become modern – knock on effect on quality of land and produce. *Link back to agriculture in the western region

Brain drain

• Highly educated and skilled young workers leave a region in search of unemployment – huge effect on Ireland from 2008-2013 with thousands of young people leaving for places like Australia and Canada

• This slows down economic growth in donor regions as it is unlikely to attract manufacturing industries or investment in education and other services

• In 2005, 17% of all Polish migrants who came to Ireland were 25 or over and held third level qualifications. The brain drain from Poland saw its economy slow down as it lost valuable skilled workers that would attract investment

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Geography

Urban Geography

Skills and labour

• Influx of highly skilled workers is good for a region – fills labour shortage in certain sectors
• During the Celtic Tiger Ireland benefitted from this
• In 2006, 50% of production jobs in the food industry were filled by migrant workers as there was a severe shortage of appropriately skilled workers in Ireland
• These workers also benefit the economy as they pay for goods/services and taxes which increases the governmental budget of a country

Multiracial society

• More migrants = greater diversity which can lead to increased tolerance and understanding of new cultures
• E.g. Ireland is a salad bowl, welcoming all migrants and valuing their culture, heritage and beliefs
• This can be seen in Ireland through various ethnic food outlets, Chinese medical practitioners and the celebration of different cultures
• This has helped to enrich Irish society and introduce people to other foods, music, religions and cultures that they would otherwise never experience

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Geography

Urban Geography

2 Disadvantages

Lack of integration

• While a multiracial society can be an advantage, a lack of integration of different cultural backgrounds can lead to racism, discrimination and ghettoisation

• An increase in ghettos prevents people from fully integrating into their new society

• In the developing world, this can be seen by the growth of shanty towns in cities such as Sao Paulo in Brazil – migrant workers locate here when they are looking for work in the city

• A minister for integration was appointed in Ireland in 2007 to combat the disadvantages associated with a lack of integration – its focus was on making sure that legally resident immigrants were fully integrated into society. One method used was the publication of official documents in multiple languages

• Language can be a major problem for migrant workers and prevent them from fully integrating and participating in their new society

• In 2015, it was found that migrant workers on fishing trawlers were earning less than half of Irish workers for the same job

Pressure on resources

• Housing, education and medical services can be put under massive pressure due to large-scale immigration

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Urban Geography

• These services are constantly stretched as a result, e.g. hospital wait times

• This can lead to resentment and xenophobic attitudes (fear or hatred of foreigners) as they feel that the migrant population is a burden on the services and finances of their country

Rural to urban migration: Developed world

Case Study: Ireland

A reduction of people working in agriculture led to population decline in rural areas such as the Western region, as people move to larger towns and cities throughout the southern and eastern regions.

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Urban Geography

Impact on the rural area

1 Rural depopulation

• Rural areas have a small, ageing population as young people move to urban areas in search of work, better opportunities and a higher standard of living

• Due to a lack of young people, birth and marriage rates have decreased leading to a 'greying' of the population

• Donegal, Mayo and Leitrim lost 40% of their combined population between 1996 – 2002 due to outward migration as the younger generation left for urban areas with more opportunities

• This outward migration can also lead to a gender imbalance with males outnumbering females

• This imbalance can be associated with cultural attitudes with young males more likely to stay in rural areas and work the farm while women are more likely to leave for the city in search of jobs

• This imbalance aids the declining marriage rates with many single men left behind in rural areas

2 Reduction of services

• Provision of services such as healthcare is limited in areas with low population densities

• Social aspects of life has also suffered with local sports teams struggling to field teams as a result of migration – this is a big problem in the west of Ireland

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Geography

Urban Geography

• The amalgamation of schools and closure of post offices also affects rural areas as it creates a lack of choice for people in the area

• This can create feelings of resentment towards the government who can appear to be uninterested in the needs of these areas and focus more on more densely populated areas

• The West of Ireland has lost 30% of its post offices in the last 30 years which has a major effect on the ageing population as the elderly struggle to get to post offices that may now be up to 30km away from their home

Impact on the urban area

1 Urban Sprawl

• Cities must expand rapidly to accommodate an increased population

• Dublin has experienced high rates of urban sprawl, growing rapidly outwards in a westerly direction – now a highly dispersed city

• **link notes from regional geog – 'growth of Dublin city' in here for extra info

• People are attracted to cities such as Dublin for the widespread and diverse services available and more job opportunities also in secondary and tertiary sectors as it is an economic core

• Industries are attracted by the young, educated workforce and well-developed transport infrastructure – access to markets

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Urban Geography

Dublin is unlike other European cities and instead resembles the American model of cities with low-rise buildings leading to urban sprawl. This takes over farmland and wildlife as it spreads.

To counter urban sprawl, new planning policies are being implemented which will promote the construction of high-rise buildings which would be more in line with the European model of building cities

Traffic Congestion

Increase in car use due to commuters travelling to and from work means traffic congestion is an increasingly important issue in Dublin

This is not helped by the limited availability of public transport in some parts of the city and higher housing costs close to the city centre

Planned National Roads Network 2020 replaced Transport 21, an initiative by the govt. to incest in transport infrastructure

While this investment declined for a number of years due to recession (2008-2013), investment has increased again, e.g. M7 upgrade

Dormitory towns such as Celbridge have become more common as people avail of cheaper housing on the outskirts of the city and then travel in to work – this also increases traffic congestion

New towns such as Adamstown have been built to try reduce urban sprawl with govt. investment ensuring an adequate level of services

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Urban Geography

Rural to urban migration: Developing world

In the developing world, migrants have poured into cities out of desperation for a number of reasons:

• Countryside is overcrowded, e.g. in Indonesia, areas are over the carrying capacity
• People migrate to cities in the hope of creating a better life
• Services such as drinking water is more easily available in urban areas
• The hope of finding work draws people to cities, however it is often harder to find accommodation than work

Case Study: Mumbai, India

With a population of 22 million, Mumbai is the most populated city in India and 6th most populated in the world.

Impact on the urban area

1 Poor living conditions

• The city is highly congested, resulting in serious issues with lack of open space and clean water
• Overcrowding is a major problem as residential areas in the city are divided along religious and social lines

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Geography

Urban Geography

• Population density in the city is 28,500 people per km², this puts massive pressure on facilities and resources which cannot cope with such a large population

• There has also been a huge increase in the number of people living in bustees in the city with temporary dwellings made of plastic, tin and cardboard, with shanty towns home to over 4 million people

• These shanty towns have poor hygiene standards with high risks of diseases such as typhoid and cholera, made worse by the fact that some areas of the city have no running water

• Pollution is also a huge problem as rubbish is often not collected in certain parts of the city and it accumulates over time

• 70% of India's population lives in rural areas, however these areas are facing increased outward migration of younger people who move to urban areas in search of work

• Most unskilled workers find work in the informal sector/hidden economy (not taxed or monitored), e.g. recycling industry

• The recycling industry is especially common in the Dharavi bustee, home to 1 million people. Here, migrant workers sift through endless amounts of household waste to find material that is suitable for recycling – they earn €1 a day for this

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Geography

Urban Geography

• These poorly paid migrant workers have a subsistence lifestyle and focus on having just enough food, water and other necessities needed in order to survive

• In the future, the government has plans to demolish the Dharavi bustee and invest €300 million in the area through the construction of business parks, a university and hotels while also building apartments in other areas to rehouse the inhabitants

Figure 3: Dharavi bustee