In this week’s Topic in Focus, we will look into the topic of migration. There are many forms of migration, and these movements carry different sets of implications and challenges. According to a report by the World Economic Forum published in 2017, over a billion people migrated in 2015. The migration can take place within the home country, or by going abroad. At the same time, migration can bring positive economic impact to both the countries where the migrants are from, and the host country. For individuals, the draw of cities often include better economic, social, and creative opportunities. However, there are challenges that need to be managed to reap the benefits of immigration.
Some of these challenges include housing, education, health, and employment. With more people congregating in urban areas, housing becomes a problem to be managed as there are pressing needs for affordable housing in limited spaces. Healthcare is another basic need that requires structural improvement. In the education sphere, providing career development and quality education for migrants and their children poses a challenge to some cities. There is also the problem of increased unemployment rates if there are insufficient opportunities around for both locals and foreigners. For countries with the problem of undocumented migrants or refugees, the problem is further aggravated.
Changing one’s living and working environment is a big shift for people. The push factors that drive them to leave their home country and the pull factors of the destination they are heading to must be compelling. This can be understood further by studying the rural-urban migration of countries like China. The effects of mass migration from rural towns to urban cities were in the spotlight this year as an image of a young boy from Yunnan, China, who showed up at school with frost covering his hair and brows went viral.
The photo had brought to attention that there were millions of children in rural parts of China who are similar to this ‘Ice Boy’. Children whose parents have went out to the cities to look for better job opportunities are often left behind with relatives or friends. Unlike in the cities, infrastructures and amenities are not as developed, so some of these children travel long distances to attend affordable schools. With the aim of improving the lives of their children and elderly back in the rural homes, migrants rough it out in the cities in low-skilled jobs such as working in factories or construction sites. However, long periods of childhood without the presence of parents bring about socioemotional developmental challenges for the child as well, leading to many advocating for the government to take action on helping these families.
In other parts of the world, people move out of their home country voluntarily, or involuntarily, for reasons such as political unrest and climate change. Regardless, they migrate in hopes for better opportunities. As governments improve their practices of managing risks associated with movement of people, it is hoped that the benefits of migration can be further maximised, both for the host country and the migrating people.
Questions for further personal evaluation:
- Would you consider migrating in search of other opportunities that Singapore cannot provide? What opportunities are these?
- In your opinion, what are the greatest benefits and costs of migrating?
Useful vocabulary:
- ‘influx’: an arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things
- ‘prominence’: the state of being important, famous, or noticeable
Here are more related articles for further reading:
- Health and Human Rights Journal: Effects of migration and denial of social rights on mental health
“The constant socioeconomic hardships and social rights failings experienced by rural-urban migrants result in socio-psychological concerns. Qun Shen et al. and Xiaoming Li et al. reported large numbers of young rural-urban migrants suffering from mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, hostility, social isolation, and insomnia.2 Factors which affect the psychological well-being of rural-urban migrants include stigmatization, financial worries, heavy work load, family separation, expectation-reality discrepancy, and difficulty in coping on a daily basis.3 Rural-urban migrants, especially those with depression, are at increased risk of suicide. One of the most publicised cases involved the suicides and attempted suicides of 13 young rural-urban workers employed at the Foxconn factories in southern China in 2010.”
- SCMP: Story of a ‘left-behind’ child in rural China
“Yuzhong is part of China’s lost generation known as the left-behind children.
Last year, according to government statistics, there were 9.02 million minors who matched the profile of Yuzhong: rural children both of whose parents were working away from home or where one parent was working and the other did not have guardianship of them. A much wider definition, which counts all children with at least one parent as working away from home, would put the figure at 61 million.”
- The Straits Times: The social costs of growing income disparity in rural-urban places
“In June last year, for instance, four siblings, aged five to 13, were believed to have killed themselves by drinking pesticide. In 2012, five left-behind boys in the same city climbed into a large bin and lit a fire for warmth during winter. They were later found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.
These shocking incidents have sparked public outrage over the social cost of China’s rapid economic success, finally galvanising the authorities to take greater action.
This year, for the first time, the Civil Affairs Ministry said it would conduct a census of left-behind children. The central government also issued new guidelines in February on the protection of such children. They include tasking rural governments to monitor the welfare of children who live alone.”
Picture credits: https://pixabay.com/en/pedestrians-rush-hour-blurred-urban-1209316/