Migration case studies (Ben)

Question 1

Syria: Causes of the war

Answer 1

• Civil war broke out in 2011 due to a military response to peaceful protests against the Assad regime, triggered by the Arab Spring uprisings.
• Between 2006-2010, a severe drought struck Syria, leading to widespread unrest and poverty in the breadbasket region, exacerbating socio-economic tensions.

Question 2

Syria: How has the war led to outwards migration?

(what push factors did the war cause?)

Answer 2

• In 2015, the situation in Syria deteriorated to the point where schools were forced to shut down due to the danger.
• By 2021, the conflict had resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis, with 6 million people fleeing the country internationally, and an additional 6 million internally displaced.
• The White Helmets, consisting of 2900 civilians across 120 centres in Syria, play a critical role as the first rescue group to arrive after bombings, providing essential assistance to affected populations.

Question 3

Syria: How are Syrian refugees distributed?

Answer 3

• The vast majority are in neighbouring countries such as Turkiye, which has the largest amount at 3.6 million
• European countries collectively host over 1 million Syrian asylum-seekers and refugees, with a significant portion concentrated in specific nations.
• Germany hosts the largest share, accommodating approximately 70% of Syrian refugees in Europe, followed by Sweden.

Question 4

Syria: Impacts on the country caused by emigration

Answer 4

• The Syrian conflict has severely disrupted the country’s education system, leading to the departure of around 2,000 university professors and brain drain occurring.
• The healthcare sector faces significant challenges, with between 30-60% of physicians leaving Syria since the onset of the war, exacerbating shortages in critical medical specialties such as oncology

Question 5

Syria: Social impacts on recieving countries

Answer 5

• Syrian refugees in Turkey have encountered xenophobia from locals, leading to tensions and social conflicts.
• Notable incidents such as “banana-gate,” where 45 Syrians were targeted and deported due to xenophobia and perceptions that they were living better than the local population
• Far right parties (AfD) in germany growing

Question 6

Syria: Political impacts on recieving countries

Answer 6

• Huge numbers of migrants and debates over the EU principles of free movement and their obligation to recieve refugees have led to far right parties such as the AfD gaining traction in germany.
• The AfD was the strongest party in Saxony in the last Bundestag elections
• Critics argue that turning away Syrian refugees may fuel illegal migration and exacerbate human smuggling activities.

Question 7

Syria: Environmental impacts on receiving countries

Answer 7

• In Jordan the Northern Governorates Irbid and Mafraq have been affected by the influx of Syrian refugees, with shortages occuring due to a 40% increase in demand in the Northern Governorates in the last few years as a direct result of hosting Syrian refugees.
• More than 50% of the total groundwater abstraction is unsustainable due to overexploitation or abstraction from nonrenewable fossil aquifers

Question 8

Syria: Economic impacts on recieving countries and why this is so hard to measure

Answer 8

• Sustaining Germany’s manufacturing workforce
• Many of the Syrians that could afford to flee to the UK are the wealthier, more educated and have likely contributed significantly to the economy
• Downwards wage pressure as a result of high competition for low-paying jobs in Lebanon has occured
• However due to the undocumented nature of many of the migrants their economic impact has been hard to measure

Question 9

China: What is happening?

Answer 9

• Due to significant wealth inequality in China there are large amounts of urban to rural migration
• The difference for example between GDP per capita of Sichuan and Guangdong is 40%.
• Large factories and abundant employment as a result of China’s manufacturing boom as well as better education and healthcare are pull factors to coastal cities

Question 10

China: Push factors from rural areas

Answer 10

• Primary product dependency
• Little to no career progression
• In some mountainous regions there is a drought 9 out of every 10 years

Question 11

China: CCP plans for internal migration and their problem

Answer 11

• China aims to expand their urban population by 200 million in the next 10 years
• By 2030 China will have 1 billion people living in cities
• This is to increase the number of consumers available to pay off their significant debt
• However, rural migrants into Chinese cities are not offered the same schooling as under the Hukou system they can only register one place of permanent residence, so have to rely on NGOs for educational needs