Migration Towards Western Europe

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Migration Towards Western Europe

        “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14, Chapter 1.

        Development in a country partly means the ability to meet the demand for jobs, healthcare and education for the growing population in the country whilst keeping that population growth at a desirable level. Running an efficient economy also depends on these conditions. The world today is virtually divided into three sectors; developed countries, developing countries and non-developed countries. The developed countries consist of the nations that have managed to reach a certain level of technological development along with high standarts of living for their residents which include the above mentioned conditions. These countries include the superpowers of the world like the US, Japan and most of the European Union (EU). As euphoric as they may seem, these high standarts in the developed countries attract incomers from the other two sectors. As a requirement of nature’s laws, humans always want to live in better conditions and therefore population flow from one country to another, defined as international migration, occurs. The intent of this essay is to focus on the migration to Western Europe in the late twentieth century with historical information and define the recent status of migration policies and politics in the area.

        To understand the current status of migration in Western Europe, it is essential to understand the history of migration to Western Europe. Following the end of World War II, Western European countries had to welcome refugees from war-torn countries, displaced residents and returners from their overseas colonies. By the end of the nineteen fifties, part of the demand for labor in these countries were met by employees from Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal, former Yugoslavia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunusia and Turkey. This had several reasons including agreements between countries and lack of domestic cheap labor. By 1970, the immigrant worker population in West Europe had passed five million. In the mid seventies, West European governments reacted to this situation following the economic depression of 1973 and stopped foreign worker recruitment which was achieved through not extending temporary residence and work permits. Anti-foreigner movements took place and led to some racial conflicts in these countries as well. Since then, new routes and methods of migration have been found with entering the country as a “tourist” as the most important new method.

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        Another group of migrants that added to the immigration to Western Europe picture has been the elites. The least visible and most welcomed by the western countries, the elites are the businessmen, international company workers, artists, students and retired seniors. In many of these cases, a gradual transition from short term stays to permanent migration has been observed (Fassmann and Münz, 1994, p.11). The elites are highly skilled and only a small percentage of the whole migration process and therefore are not considered to be a part of the migration issue in Western Europe.

Flow of refugees is another major ...

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