What is immigration? Push and pull factors
Emigration = leaving your country. Immigration = arriving to live in a new country. The same person is an emigrant at home and an immigrant in the new place.
- Push factors: war, persecution for religion or politics, poverty, no jobs, natural disasters, climate change.
- Pull factors: jobs and higher pay, safety, freedom, good schools and universities, family already there.
- Kinds of migrants: economic migrants (for work), family-class migrants, international students, and refugees, who flee danger and cannot safely go home.
Immigration policies: who may enter?
Each country makes rules about who may enter and stay.
- Skilled worker or points systems: points for age, education, language and job offers (used in Canada and Australia, for example).
- Family reunification: citizens can sponsor spouses, children or parents.
- Refugees and asylum: the 1951 UN Refugee Convention says refugees must not be sent back to danger.
- Temporary visas: seasonal workers, students, contract workers (for example in the Gulf).
- History: many past policies were openly racist, for example head taxes on Chinese migrants and laws that blocked people from Asia. Most were removed in the 1960sโ70s.
Settling in and facing challenges
- First steps: housing, learning the language, a bank account, school for children.
- Work: degrees from abroad may not be accepted, so doctors or engineers may drive taxis at first ("brain waste").
- Prejudice and racism: unfair treatment in jobs, housing or by police; in the past, institutional racism was written into laws.
- Help: settlement agencies, language classes, community groups, anti-discrimination laws and recognition of foreign qualifications.
- Citizenship: after some years (often 3โ5), many can become citizens and vote.
Immigration and global interdependence
- About 281 million people (around 3.6% of the world) live outside their birth country (UN estimate for 2020).
- Remittances: money migrants send home. India receives the most, over US$100 billion a year; Mexico, China and the Philippines are also big receivers.
- Rich countries with ageing populations need workers; poorer countries gain money and skills when migrants return, but can lose trained people (brain drain).
- Trade agreements often include rules on moving workers, and global companies move staff between countries.
Try it: ask three adults you know: did anyone in their family move to another city or country? Mark each answer as a push factor or a pull factor.
Key formulas and definitions
- Immigration: arriving to live in a new country; emigration: leaving one's own country
- Push factor: something that drives people away from a place
- Pull factor: something that attracts people to a place
- Refugee: a person who has fled their country because of danger or persecution
- Points system: entry based on points for skills, education, age and language
- Remittance: money a migrant sends to family in the home country
- Brain drain: loss of skilled people who move abroad
- Net migration = immigrants โ emigrants
Worked examples
1. A country had 400,000 immigrants and 150,000 emigrants in a year. What is its net migration?
Net migration = immigrants โ emigrants = 400,000 โ 150,000 = +250,000. Positive means the population grew from migration.
2. Classify: (a) a war at home, (b) a job offer abroad, (c) a cousin already living abroad, (d) floods destroying farms.
(a) push, (b) pull, (c) pull (social), (d) push (environmental).
3. Why might a trained doctor from abroad work as a taxi driver at first?
Step 1: the new country may not accept foreign medical degrees. Step 2: re-qualifying takes exams, time and money. Step 3: the family needs income now, so the doctor takes any job. This is a settling challenge called "brain waste".
Common mistakes
- Mixing up immigration (coming in) and emigration (going out).
- Calling every migrant a refugee. Refugees flee danger; many migrants move for work or family.
- Thinking immigrants only take jobs. They also create jobs, pay taxes and start businesses.
- Thinking settling ends on arrival day. It often takes many years, and children may face different challenges.