Topic 21: Migration in the past and present

Topic 21: Migration in the past and present

1. Migration in the past

   • Mobility is a human’s characteristic. In many ways, the history has shown people's movement from one place to another, even from one continent to another. Thanks to the migrations, humanity began knowing its surroundings and adapted.
     • With the discovery of agriculture, the human groups were becoming sedentary. As the population grew, they needed new territories where to live. Then, great colonization efforts took place increasing the number of inhabitants. Since 8000 years before Christ until the beginning of the Christian Era, it is believed that the population went from 5 million to 250 million of habitants.
       • Then, in 2000 years of human history, population mobility has been very important. In fact, it marked the world history, for example, the big displacements in Asia, the conquests of North Africa and the invasion of Northern Europeans to the Roman Empire.

2. Migration and modernity

   • In modernity, in the 16th century, millions of people left Europe to conquer, almost always by force, new territories in America, Africa and Oceania. In some cases that action reached genocide.
     • During industrialization, in the 19th and 20th centuries there were large displacements of people from the countryside to the cities where the factories were. More than 50 million people from Europe migrated to America, where the capitalist system expanded. In the post-industrial era, the meaning of migration changed.

3. Globalization

   • At the end of the 20th century, migrations accelerated on the world in the middle of the crises of the capitalist system, which occurred with the introduction of neoliberalism in the framework of globalization.
     • With globalization, conditions were created for countries to eliminate customs barriers and products and capitals circulate around the world without restrictions, supported by the development of the leading economy and knowledge economy. The migration of the business sector and highly qualified professionals from poor countries to First World countries was facilitated
       • Currently, 3% of the world's population, about 214 million people, lives in countries other than where they were born; more than 14 million have requested refuge in other countries; and more than 26 million are forcibly displaced within their countries. To this mobility are added at least 740 million people who have permanently changed their residence within their countries.

4. Migration in Latin American

   • The current population of Latin America is the result of several migrations that have taken place from the first settlements to the present.
     • The conquest of America was related to large migratory processes of people from Europe and Africa. Subsequently, significant groups from Japan, China and the Middle East have arrived to our continent. In general, people from all continents, countries and cultures have come, so Latin America is complexly diverse.

5. Types of migration

   • There are several types of migration, that are:
     • If length of stay of people who move is taken into account, there are three types of migration: definitive migration, when those who left do not return to their place of habitual origin or residence; temporary migration, when the departure is for a certain period and stationary migration, when they move to a place by seasons.
       • According to the places of destination, they are distinguished: internal migration when performed within from the same country and international migration when they happen from one country to another. Among these, cross-border migration occurs when displacements happen between border areas between countrie
         • From the legal point of view, there are: regular migrations, when people can meet all the requirements that a State requests so that people of other nationalities can enter; for example, visas, work permits and censuses. On the other hand, there is talk of irregular migrations when those who migrate cannot meet the requirements and enter irregularly or as tourists, and then reside in an irregular situation and require they are called "paperless".

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