Week 9: Migration and adaptation (Part 2)

Admin

• Assignment 7 marked and ready for collection• Marking assignment 5 and 6 • No weekly assignment this week (test next

week)• Oral History of a migrant due 3 Oct by 13:00 at

Anthropology window and email to mymigrantnarrative@gmail.com

Term 3 marks

• Term 3 = 30/100 (30%)– In class activities 5%– Weekly assignments 10%– Test 15%

• Term 4 will be out of 70 (70%) • Any queries you are welcome to contact / see

me

Test 2 (25%)

• Week 10 (next week) during Tuesday class (short lecture and then test)

• Clash (Tuesday clash students) / sick test– 3 October – 13:00- 13:45– D LES 204

• Test prep tomorrow (Wednesday seminar)

Assignment 7 Feedback

• Five journal articles (Why people migrate?)• Reference five journal articles using Harvard

short style (no commas, full stops) • Overall fine- many of you did not follow the

instructions!!!– Marks illustrate this

• Exercise practice different methods of referencing based on the Harvard style

Today we are focusing on…

• Part Two Migration and Adaptation part 2– Follow on from last weeks lecture (video clip-

Genographic project) focusing on how ‘we’ all got to where we did/ have (Early migrations)

– Reasons why people migrate – Various kinds of migrations• Climate change

– Refugee- what does it mean?– Migrants stories

Early Human Migrations

• From Africa around the world (Homo erectus)• Homo sapiens evolved (Homo erectus) 60 000

years ago ‘broke out of Africa’ and migrated around the world

• From Africa where did (they) spread around the world – Middle East, Europe, New world– Various migrations throughout history

World migrations

“Barbarian” invasions

Modern Migrations• Industrialisation in 18th century - from rural to urban in Europe

• WWI 1914-1918

– Ottoman Empire collapsed. The Russian Civil War caused some three million Russians, Poles and Germans to migrate out of the Soviet Union.

• WWII 1939-1945

– World War II and decolonization also caused migrations

• In the 19th century, over 50 million people left Europe for the Americas

• Partitioning of India in 1947

– Modern India and Pakistan – over 12 million people displaced

Why do people migrate?• People migrate for many different reasons. These reasons can

be classified as economic, social, political or environmental:

– economic migration - moving to find work or follow a particular career path

– social migration - moving somewhere for a better quality of life or to be closer to family or friends

– political migration - moving to escape political persecution or war

– environmental causes of migration include natural disasters such as flooding

Why do people migrate?

• Some people choose to migrate, eg someone who moves to another country to enhance their career opportunities (voluntary migration)

• Some people are forced to migrate, eg someone who moves due to war or famine (forced migration)

• A refugee is someone who has left their home and does not have a new home to go to

• Often refugees do not carry many possessions with them and do not have a clear idea of where they may finally settle

Push factors are the reasons why people leave an area.

• They include:– lack of services– lack of safety– high crime– crop failure– drought– flooding– poverty– war

Pull factors are the reasons why people move to a particular area.

• They include:– higher employment– more wealth– better services– good climate– safer, less crime– political stability– more fertile land– lower risk from natural hazards

Why do people migrate?

• “…migration must be viewed as a process in which individuals consciously change their own situations in search of a more rewarding life. Only in extreme cases of hardship such as famine or war (e.g. genocide in Darfur, civil war in Afganistan and Iraq, natural disasters in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast) is migration motivated by a single factor” (Gmelch, Kemper & Zenner 2010:282)

– Migration is a process– Migration usually happens as a result of a combination of these

push and pull factors

Forced migration

• “Forced migration can be defined as the movements of refugees and internally displaced people as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects” (Mukherjee & Saraswati n.d)– War, genocide, weather (climate) etc

• Forced displacements (movements) of population may also occur due to other factors– social – ethnic – political conflicts– weak states– Inequitable distribution of resources

High levels of unpredictability

• High vulnerability associated with forced migration. According to Human Development Report 2009, “those who are forced to flee and leave behind their homes and belongings often go into the process with limited freedom and very few resources. Likewise, those who are moving in the face of local economic crisis, drought or other causes of desperate poverty, may not know what capabilities they will have; they only know that they cannot remain. Even migrants who end up well off after a move often start out with very restricted capabilities and high uncertainty” (Mukherjee & Saraswati nd:2)

Other factors…Climate migrants

• Environmental degradation and climate change = seen as (future and now) major driver of population displacement—a crisis in the making

• People have ALWAYS moved around in search of greater opportunities… BUT climate change is expected to ‘trigger’ larger patterns of human migration

• Weather and climate (droughts and floods…)• Disruption of the ecosytem– Estimates of future “climate migrants” range from 200 million

to 1 billion by 2050

• Displacement due to weather- Hurricane Katrina (displaced over 1 million people)

• The damage it caused was a product of poor disaster planning– “consistent underinvestment in the city’s protective

levees as well the systematic destruction of the wetlands in the Mississippi delta that might have lessened the force of the storm. Labelling it a “climate change event” over-simplifies both its causes and its effects”(Brown, 2008)

Migration- not always easy…

• People’s decisions to migrate typically result from linked environmental, social, and economic factors

• Impaired access to food and water and severe weather are challenges that have historically led to tension and conflict. As more and more people are displaced or compelled to migrate in the face of these challenges, political, ethnic and religious tensions may result.

• Those displaced by climate change lack legal status as “refugees.”

• Climate migrants often referred to as “climate refugees,” people displaced by climate change (not formally recognized as refugees)

• The term refugee legally applies only to people who leave their home countries due to fear of persecution, war, or violence

• Those who migrate due to climatic factors often relocate within their own countries, or cross borders due to a combination of environmental, social, political and economic factors = tricky to pinpoint climate as a single ‘driver’ of migration

• Movement due to climate change various forms and responses– Forced movement due to floods, extreme

weather, and rising sea levels– Migration due to more gradual changes associated

with climate processes (shifting temperature and rainfall patterns- affect water supply and agricultural production

• The characteristics and needs of these different categories of migrants are likely to vary widely, requiring a range of humanitarian and political responses

Climate migration NOT new

• Archaeological evidence suggests that human settlement patterns have Archaeological evidence suggests that human settlement patterns have responded repeatedly to changes in the ate stress.

Case study: Migration pressures in Bangladesh

• Densely populated and highly vulnerable– Located in the low-lying Ganges-Brahmaputra

river delta (vulnerable to flooding, sea level rise, cyclones, and storm surges )

– more than 1000 residents per square kilometre• Flooding and extreme weather already

contribute to increased domestic migration

• Climate change is also expected to increase the flow of cross-border migration into India – “Bangladesh’s Finance Minister, Abul Maal Abdul

Muhith, expects 20 million environmental refugees to be fleeing his country by 2050.18 In response, India began a $1.2 billion project in 1999 to build a 2,500 mile-long, 12 foot-high steel fence along the border, and has amassed thousands of troops there” (Population action international)

Taking action…

• Population growth (Meeting Needs for Family Planning Can Reduce Migration Pressures)

• Population and Migration Need a Place in Adaptation Plans – Tree-planting, providing reliable sources of

drinking water, and improving agricultural techniques in areas impacted by salinization and flash flooding

BUT…• The NAPA states that these efforts may help to

reduce the “social problem of migration,” but it does not include actions to address population pressures or plan for the continuing and inevitable flow of in-country or cross-border migrants

• Need to understand the relationship between the population growth and climate change = aid planning – Planning could both reduce migration pressures and

prepare for a degree of migration that minimizes impacts on communities that receive migrants, and on the migrants themselves (Population action international)

• Flood-affected people wait for relief in the form of food and fresh drinking water in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit: © 2007 Monirul Alam, Courtesy of photoshare

• Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass migration. While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world.

— QUADRENNIAL DEFENSE REVIEW REPORT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, 2010. P 85.

Migration at a local level (South Africa)

• Local institutions often don’t address or acknowledge human mobility why? – Belief among policy makers that immigration and

migration are exclusively matters of national policy concern

Some ideas…• A migration policy framework should be seen as a

tool for strategic development, RATHER than being viewed as a negative issue that needs to be reversed (Brown, 2008)

• Urbanisation is a global phenomenon with specific local effects (should be factored into policy and planning processes at all levels in order for it to be effectively managed- including managing the interface and relationships between urban and rural municipalities (Brown, 2008)

Cont.• An effective response to human mobility and poverty

reduction requires the ongoing cooperation of all relevant partners, including, among others, civil society, faith-based institutions, the private sector, research agencies and academic institutions (Brown, 2008)

• Local government responses to migration must be supported by improved communication between municipalities and migrant communities (for example, municipalities may consider the establishment of migrant desks or other inclusive means of engagement) (Brown, 2008)

Migration at a local level Zimbabwe to South Africa

• "As to this... inflow of illegal people, I personally think that it's something we have to live with... it's difficult; you can't put a Great Wall of China between South Africa and Zimbabwe to stop people walking across." President Thabo Mbeki, speech to Parliament, 17 May 2007

• Large numbers of Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa

• Humanitarian crisis (it is increasingly clear that there are severe humanitarian implications of the Zimbabwean migration)

• The key humanitarian needs experienced by Zimbabweans are accommodation, food and access to health care

• Lack of documentation makes it tough to find work or start a business (even for those with ‘papers’ - asylum or refugee documents

• Dispersed settlement • Mixed migration (various reasons for

migrating) – Shoppers, Economic migrants, Traders, Transit

migrants, Humanitarian migrants etc…

Process

• Migration= process• Migration often takes place due a variety of

push and pull factors – no single factor• Social networks = important – Link multiple destinations rather than one

(reduces costs per migrant- next person used their already built network- transnationalism (identity) and social connections and social capital

– Reciprocity

Stories of a migrant- leaving my home for another ‘home’

"Sometimes my mom says, 'Maybe we should go back,' and I tell her I don’t want to go. I want to stay here. America truly is a melting spot, especially in the Bay Area.“

Story of Thais Da Costa by Kaeleigh Thorp

My name is Thais Da Costa and came from Brazil. I lived in Brazil until I was 12 years old, and then I left my homeland for the greener pastures of the United States of America. Now I am 17, so I have been here for five years. I remember my childhood in Brazil very well. My family lived on my grandfather’s farm. It was really fun. We had contact with all the farm animals and I could run around and play. They had all sorts of farm animals: cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, and cats., The farm also had a lot of different fruit trees that were really good. I lived with my parents and my brother, Jerome. We had our own house on the property. My father took care of the farm while my mother was a high school teacher. She taught Portuguese, English, math, and biology.

• When I got here, initially I was treated very well. It was hard for me because I didn’t speak or understand English. It was complicated. But everyone turned out to be really nice and understanding. They were more understanding because they realized I didn’t speak English, so they were willing to help me.

• Long immigration process- took years

Migration stories

• http://www.migrationstory.org/

To conclude…

• Migration takes place for many reasons (voluntary and forced)– Many types of migration and reasons – Push and Pull factors

• Migration has always taken place – NOT a new phenomenon

• Been described as a process (social networks and notion of transnationalism have implications for adaptation and settlement– Communities = development of migration (‘Little Istanbul’)

rebuilding of identity

In class activity

• What can give migrants a sense of belonging and identity within their new ‘home’?

– Think about migration as a process and the making of a community etc

– Think about the notion of a hybrid identity? Adopting others cultures/ ways of living- does one ‘forget’ their own?