Key points/information for 4b

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Key Definitions

Migrant: A person who moves from one place to another on a temporary or permanent basis. This includes economic migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons.

Economic Migrant: (Voluntary migration) Those who move to another place in search of better work opportunities/wages in order to improve their standard of living.

Asylum Seeker: People who have applied and are seeking asylum in another country as they have fled their own.

Refugee: (Forced migration) Once the person has been granted asylum, they've been forced out of their country due to war/fear of prosecution.

Displaced person: (Forced migration) Those who are forced to move due to natural disaster, war, famine, or fear of prosecution however still reside in their own country.

Voluntary migration: Relocation due to personal desires, to look for better work opportunities for example, in order to improve their standard of life.

Forced migration: People who are internally displaced or flee to another country (asylum seeker/refugee) due to natural disaster, war/conflict, famine, fear of prosecution, chemical/nuclear disasters or development projects.

Push factors: Factors that cause people to move away.

Pull factors: Reasons that attract people to the destination they want to move to.

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Africa

Saharan Desert: The largest hot desert (36 million miles²) and is located across most of North Africa. It covers large sections of Algeria, Chad, Niger, Egypt and Morocco.

- Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (west), the Atlas mountains and the Mediterranean sea (north), the Red sea (east) and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger river (south).

Sahel region: The Sahel lies to the south of the Sahara desert. It is the transition between the arid Sahara (in the North) and the humid savannah (in the South).

- This region is semi-arid across western and north-central Africa stretching from Sengal eastwards to Sudan.

Climate

- The Sahel region experiences 200-600mm of rain annually with temperatures ranging from 21°C to 36°C. It has suffered 3 major droughts in the 20th century which has damaged the already vulnerable food security.

- Agriculture is mostly rain-fed and depends on 3/4 month rainfall in order to fully develop ready for harvest.

- The soil in the Sahel is fragile and has to be maintained properly. Fetilisers are difficult to get hold of and farmers don't have the money to purchase them. This has lead to desertification (Soil becoming a mix of dust and sand (infertile) due to the top soil being eroded/washed away once over cultivation has occurred and the plants have been stripped) and erosion (soil looses 100 tonnes per hectre per year).

- Climate change in the future is likely to increase vulnerability of environment and socio-economical systems.

Ways to manage climate change

Nigeria - Diversify the crops grown, intercropping the crops grown in order to avoid risk of total crop failure, increasing yields.

Chad - Improved fallow (farmland) by ploughing it ready for planting but then leaving it to restore some fertility - Increased cereal crop yields by 15-25%.

Ethiopia - Dew harvesting - Temperatures rise in the day outside greenhouse which makes the water on the plants inside the greenhouse evaporate. At the top of the building the

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Push/Pull factors

Push factors:

> Climate (Physical) - hot and arid - causes water scarcity, desertification, salinisation of agricultural land (item 5) - leads to crop failure, yields decrease - famine that displaces people - people want to migrate to search for better agricultural conditions and sustainable food supply.

> Climate change (Physical) - Increasing temperatures and less rain - prolonged periods of drought - increased water scarcity - reduction in food that can be eaten/traded - conflict forcing people to migrate.

> Population growth (Human) - (due to lack of contraception, need for children to work) - stretch in resources ie. lack of food (leads to starvation), poor healthcare/hygiene (increases likelihood of death) as governments can't afford them - migrants leave in search of better healthcare and services ie. education to improve their quality of life or better paid jobs to send the money back home.

> War/conflict - several regions in Africa involved in war/conflict ie. border fights, Sierra Leone human rights crisis - forces people to migrate to find safety or in fear of prosecution.

Pull factors:

> Perceived better quality of life - usually told from smugglers to encourage migrants to make the journey - told that they'll find work, no conflict, they'll be safe. (In reality this is not the truth - traitorous journey to reach Europe, obstacles along the way).

> Better job opportunities/ better paid jobs (Economic migrants) - Entice people as they're struggling to get by on low paid jobs - either to make a living for themselves or send back to allow family to migrate or to improve their home life.

> Better healthcare provisions/services ie. education - people want a better life for themselves or their children.

> In search of better agricultural land - to grow food to eat/trade with, this will usually be to a neighbouring country though rather than Europe.

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Benefits/disadvantages for host countries. (Italy)

In 2014 Italy saw 320,000 migrants enter, costing 3.3 billion euros.

Benefits:

> They pay taxes into Italian's economy - support 600,000 annual pensions, put 125 billion euros in.

> Will work low paid jobs that Italians don't want to do - this means the jobs are still getting done.

> For free accommodation (small apartments to share) the migrants do jobs that the local towns can't afford to pay for - ie. clearing litter at neglected cultural sites (Pompeii), painting railings/school gates and cleaned/mowed the lawns in parks in towns (Belluno). Those who are more skilled get more sophisticated work.

> Migrants increasing the working population therefore decreasing the dependency ratio.

> Asylum seekers are usually young so have a higher fertility rate - them having children will increase the decreasing br so there will be more of a working population in the coming generations.

Disadvantages:

> Migrants bring in diseases (some that used to be eradicated) - 1 in 3 migrants have hepatitis C.

> Italy is overwelmed - not enough volunteers/aid workers to monitor the Mediterranean shores and Italy is the first place most migrants get to in Europe. The schengen agreement has collapsed in the countries bordering Italy (France, Switzerland, Austria) which means migrants are trapped so have to apply for assylum in Italy.

> Italy is expected to spend 3.8 billion euros on refugees when Italy is already struggling economically.

> Problems with processing the number of refugees - 175,000 still in reception centres with poor housing, food and water and clothing being stretched, diseases easily spread due to number of people and anti social behaviour arises due to frustration and lack of resources (Puts strain on immigration services).

> Italy struggles to keep track of migrants - Migrants not getting their photos/ fingerprints taken so they can conceal their identity to the authorities and seek asylum elsewhere (would be denied through the Dublin regulation if they didn't).

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Chad

Background

> Population: 1.8 million

> Life expectancy: 49 years men/ 52 years women (low - poor development)

> President Idriss Deby only came into power as he overtopped the last one with aid from another country, government controlling of radio and tv coverage and communications (equal to a dictatorship).

> Suffers from inadequate infrastructure, internal conflict, high poverty and poor health and social conditions (lack of spending - only 3.6% of GDP go on these)

> fertility rate 6.3 births per women (very high - shows poor development).

> High homicide rate (9.2 per 100,000 people) - policing is an issue, government prosecuting those that go against them - forces people out to find safety.

Location

> Located in the continent of Africa it borders Libya (North), Sudan (East), Central republic of africa (south), Nigeria (south west), Niger (west).

Climate (physical push factor)

> Very hot and arid with temperatures between 24°C - 33°C.

> In the south heavy rainfall (some regions reaching 1000mm)

> Weather is changing due to global warming - Temperatures are likely to increase by 0.6 - 1.7°C by 2023 and rainfall patterns are likely to change with more rainfall at the beginning of the growing season and less in the wet seasons. More frequent dry spells.

Agriculture (physical push factor)

> In the arid/semi-arid areas farmers rely of grazing stock.

> Areas that receive 300mm or more of rain grow cereal crops, wheat crops and peanuts, beans and vegetables.

> Cotton is their main export but can only be grown in very wet conditions which mean the more frequent dry periods due to climate change could be a problem.

> Chad used to be a dense woodland but trees have been cut down and soils become drier (leading to desertification) - agricultural cops harder to grow.

Lake Chad (physical push factor)

> Situated in the south west of Chad lies a large shallow lake that is semi -permanent (in wet season water levels rise, in jan-may the lake is stagnant). Large water source for Chad.

> Lake Chad is reducing in size - 90% reduction between 1960s and now, gone from 25,000km to 1,350km - vital water source depleting, fish numbers decreasing - poverty.

> Used to be home to 40 species of fish but this is decreasing due to size - not as much food, conflicts caused between local fisherman - malnutrition, lack of trade, poverty.

Economics (human push factor)

> High percentage in poor paid jobs (24.4% argriculture, 35.5% services) - people search for better work

> GDP per capita only $941 - people don't earn much, poverty - in search of better jobs.

GDP growth rate increasing 10.4% - things are getting better.

Other push factors

> Diseases are common - people dying of AIDs (11,000 in 2009), malaria killing zone, diarrhea, guinea worm and rabies - people migrate to reduce the risk of catching these.

> Poor quality of life - scare food, low amounts of sanitised water, few doctors that treat many, lack of infrastructure - not having access to schools, hospitals, roads.

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What are the EU doing?

>Dublin regulation: Migrants have to apply in the first EU country they enter, if not countries can refuse asylum applicants - stops migrants applying for asylum in more than 1 country.

> North of the EU use this to their advantage however migrants still slip by due to poor asylum systems in the south.

> In 2015 European states realised blocking refugees crossing borders is harmful and unrealistic (they just try and find different routes, usually more dangerous) so worked together to allow migrants to continue to their desired destination.

> Early 2016 the support for this policy reduced with countries along the migrant routes closing their borders. The Eu decided to transfer 160,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy was unpopular - only a small number of needed transfers took place.

> EU giving development aid or economic incentives to commitments by regions to stem and manage the movements of people (ie. 1.88 billion euros given to Nigerian government to address migration across the Sahel and Lake Chad regions). July 2016 - assisting Nigerian authorities in developing policies, techniques and procedures to better control irregular migration.

> Open society foundation - support initiatives that protect migrants/refugees, help them integrate into society and empower them to take a lead role in advocating policies that affect them. Recognise migration is an unavoidable issue and help find responsible policy issues to the changes in poses. (ie. In Italy - Refugees Welcome Italy promotes housing refugees and asylum seekers in private accommodation as an alternative to state facilities).

> Mandatory quotas - The amount of people a country has to take in, fine of 250,000 euros per rejected refugee.

> Feb 2016- - 3 billion euros given to Syria to assist the Syrian people - refugees and communities hosting them in neighbouring countries.

> March 2016 -Emergency assistance within the EU to support the humanitarian crisis due to migration. Aims to provide food, shelter, water, medicine and other basic necessities.

> European border and coast guard agency launched 0ct 2016 - closely monitor EUs external borders, integrated border management, ensures effective management of migration flows and provides a high level of security for EU. Better than Frontex. (1500 members, better equipment).

Emergency responses

> Frontex - promotes, coordinates, develops European border management in line with EU fundamental rights. Monitors migration flows, manages borders and interventions, supports search and rescue operations, provides support at hotspot areas (identifying and fingerprinting migrants), assisting technical and operational cooperation with member states and third countries.

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Barriers

Unstable governments -

>Libyan revolution saw the fall of Quaddafi which led to Libya struggling to form a new government, Much of Libya is Islamic militia governed - controls two biggest cities (Tripoli and Benghazi) - Government cannot control the influx of migrants and stop the smugglers.

Economics -

To help out the third countries, both in Africa (getting to source of the problem) and Libya (stopping them crossing Mediterranean), money is needed from the EU as these countries do not have sufficient funds itself. Difficult for EU as some countries ie. Italy and Spain are currently having issues with their economy so can't spare much.

Corruption -

Even though the EU is paying governments ie.1.33 billion euros to Nigeria to stop the migrants moving to the next stop ie. Libya however the governments may not implicate the laws properly due to the revenue created from the smuggling (In Agadez 1 billion).

Logistics (conducting safe movement) -

This becomes very difficult as migrants are desperate and operations take time to plan. Also the issue of smugglers not willing to stop, journeys are still dangerous (crossing Sahara, kidnapping, IS militants).

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