5.3 International migration

Question 1

definition of a refugee

Answer 1

a person forced to leave their country in order to escape war or persecution of violence

Question 2

cause of emigration from Syria and MENA region

GENERAL

Answer 2

uprising and civil war break out since 2011. people leaving due to push factors of persecution and militant groups like ISIS

millions of refugees have made difficult journeys to i.e. Sweden and Germany

Question 3

Syria - specific causes + migrations

Answer 3

March 2011, civil war broke out with opposition of FSA attempting to overthrow Assad

Up to 12 million people have left their homes - over 6 million internally displaced within Syria. 5 mill going to neighbouring countries and 1 million fleeing to Europe

300,000 to germany
100,000 to sweden

Question 4

Effects on source country

Answer 4

2 million Syrians have been either killed or injured in the conflict

1 in 10 refugess live in makeshift camps that lack sanitation

1 in 4 schools have been damaged, destroyed or used as shelter for armed forces

lost generation of schoolchildren not receiving adequate education in Syria -> long term implications

all 6 of UNESCO world heritage sites have been destroyed and tourism has been wiped out from a high of 8.5 million in 2010

millions of hectares of farmland have been damaged leading to food costs soaring up to 900% higher

Question 5

Effects on receiving country - Germany

Answer 5

hosting 300,000 refugees is costing G 0.7% of GDP but will in turn generate an additional 0.4% GDP through filling some of 1 mill national job shortage.

migrants bring diverse skill sets

Germanys ageing pop has left a high dependancy ratio and up to 1 mill job vacancies

competition for work has increased in the unskilled sector, which has driven down wages

two thirds of the refugees are male, resulting in gender imbalance in destination cities e.g. Cologne

Several sexual attacks and groping incidents have been reported by male immigrants e.g. New Years eve outbreak in Cologne at “Aquapark”

many germans are suspicious that Merkel’s open door policy is unwittingly importing islamic extremism. Merkels popularity has been rocked

politically, germany has seen a rise in right wing AfD party as a reaction to relaxed immigration laws -> social + ethnic tension