Migration
Figure 1: A Syrian Refugee Camp
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Migration refers to the movement of people. This can include people moving within a country or across borders to a new country. People move for a variety of reasons. Many people move voluntarily for better lifestyle opportunities or better economic conditions. In some cases people are forced to move due to natural disasters or humanitarian disasters. There are five broad categories of migrants. They are settlers, contract workers, professionals, undocumented workers and finally, refugees and asylum seekers.
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Settlers |
Those people who choose to move permanently to a new country and are easily excepted. |
Contract Workers |
These are contracted workers who enter a country for a short time under a contract basis. For example, a ski instructor. |
Professionals |
Transnational corporations often require the movement of their employees to new countries for a period of 2 to 3 years. |
Undocumented Workers |
Otherwise known as illegal immigrants. It is estimated that there are approximately 6 million illegal immigrants in the United States that came from Mexico. |
Refugess and Asylum Seekers |
Some people are forced to leave their country through no choice of their own due to a fear of persecution or a sense of being in danger. |
Write your own definition for the terms listed on the left hand side o the table above.
Human Trafficking
Not all migration occurs willingly. Human trafficking involves taking people from one country to another against their will. People are either tricked or kidnapped and taken to another country for the purposes of work, often in the illegal sex industry.
The United Nations estimates that 800,000 people are trafficked across borders each year. Of those 800,000 people, 700,000 are believed to be in the United States of America. This includes labourers who are forced to work in terrible conditions in small factories. Other countries in which people are trafficked include Britain, Nigeria, Brazil, France, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands. Between 2004 and 2008 184 victims of human trafficking were identified in Australia, mostly from Southeast Asia for the sex industry. In another example, a number of Pacific Islanders have been employed to work on Australian farms, exploited under the trafficking program. Human trafficking almost always originates from developing nations and common source regions include Central Africa, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. |