Migration Impacts: Challenges to States & Societies - Essay Sample

Introduction

Migration has been experienced in many countries, leading to multiple issues. The movement has both positive and negative impacts. For instance, one of the advantages is that movement helps in enriching a diverse culture. On the other hand, a demerit of migration is that it leads to the increased cost of services such as health care and education. Migration has many impacts, both negative and positive, on society and states that can be analyzed.

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Challenges Posed to States and Societies by Movement of People

One of the main challenges of migration that many states face is the increasing cost of services. For instance, migrants require services such as health care and education services, which forces the sectors to use more funds and ensure all people access quality services. Besides, it may be hard for the states to account for the migrants, which leads to poor distribution of resources in various institutions (Boyle and Keith 2014, p. 9). For example, health care facilities in areas with many migrants might lack adequate drugs and equipment due to increased populations that lead to increased demand for health care services. Migrants can also move with their families, whereby their children join the schools in the community (De Haas 2010, p. 228). Therefore, some institutions may lack enough resources, such as books, due to the increased school population. Another challenge faced by societies and states is overcrowding that is caused by migration. Typically, when people move to new countries, they have to settle in new houses, which leads to congestion. Overcrowding has also led to other issues, such as the spread of new diseases (Guo and Li 2012, p. 2413). Some of the migrants may also have some infections that can be spread due to overcrowding. For instance, leprosy, tuberculosis, and smallpox infections which have been spread by migrants have been experienced in Mexico City (Bellaset al. 2013, p 100). Thus, the spread of diseases is also a significant challenge influenced by migration.

Religious conflicts can also be influenced by migration in societies. There are various religions, and people have different beliefs. Thus, migrants can have their opinions that may differ from those of the people in their host society, leading to religious conflicts (Nathan 2011, p. 56). The world is diverse and different people have different cultural values. Hence, migrants may have a different culture that can lead to conflicts in societies. Disagreements between different religions and cultures have also led to the deaths of many people (Singapur and Sreenivasa 2014, p.2139). Consequently, the movement of people may lead to challenges such as loss of lives due to conflicts that are based on religion and cultural beliefs.

How Migration Affects People in Different States and Societies

Migration also affects the lives of people. The movement has helped people to learn new ideas and approaches from the migrants. Interacting with other people is essential as it helps in the exchange of ideas that can be used to develop the society. Moreover, different people have various techniques for doing things that can improve life. Subsequently, migration helps in improving the quality of life of people due to the sharing of new ideas and approaches. The movement also enhances the social experience of people. In this case, people can learn about new cultures and customs, which helps in improving unity among people. The movement also allows people to learn new languages, which enables people to interact well with different people in the community.

Economic growth is also influenced by migration and has an impact on the lives of people in the host state. In this case, the movement of skilled workers leads to the enormous growth of the region. Additionally, skilled migrants can educate people in society about various sectors, which can improve the productivity of the people and the development of the state (Taylor et al., 2010, p. 96). For instance, globalization has led to the migration of many people in different states, leading to the spread of innovation and technology (Vargas-Silva et al. 2016, p. 20). Developing countries have also benefited from migration, whereby people have gained skills from the migrants and used the skills to improve their lives. For example, Chinese migrants in many African countries have helped people to advance their skills and learn more about technology.

`Migration also has some impacts on the health of people. Migrants may face challenges in the recipient states, leading to poor mental health. The number of international migrants has also increased rapidly over recent years. Thus, some international migrants have been tortured in the host countries, which has affected their mental health. Stress and depression are common in migrants who are discriminated against in their host states (Ullmann 2012, p. 948). Forced migration may involve an extended stay in refugee camps and socioeconomic hardships that can lead to stress and anxiety among the migrants. Coping with new languages, and social and political context can also be stressful. Migration also has health implications for the country they have left (Jingzhong and Lu 2011, p. 355). In this case, people who emigrate for economic opportunities may lead to a lack of adequate skilled people in their country of origin. For instance, migration of health personnel from developed to developing countries increases the existing imbalance in the global health workers and can lead to poor health care services.

Conclusion

To sum up, migration has both positive and negative impacts on people and societies. Therefore, some ways can be implemented to limit some of the adverse effects. For instance, recording the number of migrants can help states to budget their resources in various sectors. Issues such as the spread of infections can be curbed by screening the migrants. On the other hand, people can learn from migrants new skills that can help in developing society. People can also learn a new language, culture, and customs from migrants that can help in increasing diversity in society. In essence, migration has various impacts on both communities and individuals.

References

Bellas, I.O.A.N.N.I.S. and Livaditis, M.I.L.T.O.S., 2013. Psycopathological impacts of migration. ENCEPHALOS, 50, pp.100-103.

Boyle, P. and Keith, H., 2014. Exploring contemporary migration. Routledge.

De Haas, H., 2010. Migration and development: A theoretical perspective 1. International migration review, 44(1), pp.227-264.

Guo, H. and Li, M.Y., 2012. Impacts of migration and immigration on disease transmission dynamics in heterogeneous populations. Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst. Ser. B, 17(7), pp.2413-2430.

Jingzhong, Y. and Lu, P., 2011. Differentiated childhoods: impacts of rural labor migration on left-behind children in China. The Journal of peasant studies, 38(2), pp.355-377.

Nathan, M., 2011. The long term impacts of migration in British cities: Diversity, wages, employment and prices.

Singapur, D. and Sreenivasa, K.N., 2014. The social impacts of migration in India. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention ISSN (Online), pp.2319-7722.

Taylor, J. Edward, and Alejandro Lopez-Feldman. "Does migration make rural households more productive? Evidence from Mexico." The Journal of Development Studies 46, no. 1 (2010): 68-90.

Ullmann, S.H., 2012. The health impacts of international migration on Mexican women. Global public health, 7(9), pp.946-960.

Vargas-Silva, C., Markaki, Y. and Sumption, M., 2016. The impacts of international migration on poverty in the UK. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.