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Unlock This CourseRemember from the last two lessons that migration brings both benefits and costs. Governments cannot stop it, but they try to manage it so that more people gain and fewer people lose. Two words matter here. Strategies are the overall plans and agreements. Techniques are the methods used to carry them out.
Key terms:
Australia uses a points system for skilled migrants. Applicants score points for age, skills, work experience and English. Only those with enough points are invited to apply.
Strength: the country gets the workers it needs. Weakness: poorer countries may lose skilled workers (brain drain), and people with low skills find it hard to qualify.
A work permit lets someone take a job for a set time. A quota caps how many can come. Many countries use temporary permits for seasonal farm work.
Strength: numbers are predictable and match the jobs available. Weakness: workers may be tied to one employer, which can lead to exploitation, and farms may struggle to find staff if the quota is too low.
Passport checks, fences, patrol boats, fingerprint scans, e-gates and databases help to check who is entering. Technology makes checks faster for legal travellers.
Strength: reduces illegal entry and helps security. Weakness: very costly, and tighter borders can push people onto more dangerous routes.
Countries can agree rules between them. The Schengen Area lets people travel between many European countries without passport checks at the shared borders, while checks are concentrated at the outer edge.
Strength: easier movement and shared costs. Weakness: countries must trust each other, and a country that disagrees with the rules may pull out.
The 1951 Refugee Convention is a United Nations agreement. It defines who a refugee is and says that countries should not send a refugee back to a place where they face danger. The UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency. It protects refugees, helps run camps and works to find them a safe, long-term home.
One long-term answer is refugee resettlement. Canada, for example, has a scheme where groups of private citizens can sponsor refugee families and help them settle.
Germany runs integration courses that include language classes and lessons about life and law in the country.
Strength: migrants can find work more easily, communities mix better and discrimination can fall. Weakness: it costs money, takes years and does not reduce the number arriving.
Richer countries can give aid, support development projects and help with peace-building so that people have fewer reasons to leave.
Strength: tackles the push factors at their source. Weakness: slow, expensive and uncertain. Also, as incomes rise, some people can afford to move, so numbers may not fall at first.
Remember that sustainable management meets the needs of people today without harming the chances of people in future. For migration, this means a plan that:
No single strategy does all of this. Most countries use a mix, such as legal routes for workers, protection for refugees, integration help and support for development.
To evaluate, give a strength and a weakness, say who benefits and who loses, think about cost, and make a judgement. Different groups may disagree. Employers may want more workers. Some residents may want fewer arrivals. Migrants want safe, legal routes. Use neutral wording and give each view fairly.
Fig. 1.1: Made-up information about Country H.
| Strategy | Yearly cost (million US dollars) | Migrants affected each year |
|---|---|---|
| Points-based visa system | 40 | 20,000 |
| Border technology | 120 | Not applicable |
| Integration classes | 30 | 15,000 |
(a) Define the term quota. [1 mark]
(b) Using Fig. 1.1, calculate the cost per migrant affected each year of the points-based visa system. [2 marks]
(c) Describe one weakness of border controls. [2 marks]
(d) Evaluate the success of integration programmes and dealing with root causes in managing international migration. [6 marks]
(a) A limit on the number of migrants or visas allowed in a set time. (1)
(b) 40 million divided by 20,000 (1) = 2,000 US dollars per migrant. (1)
(c) Border controls are very costly to run (1), and tighter borders can push people onto more dangerous routes (1).
(d) Top level answer: Integration programmes, such as language classes, help migrants to find jobs and mix with the community, which can reduce discrimination and help the economy. They are paid for by the destination country, they take years, and they do not change the number of people arriving. Dealing with root causes through aid and peace-building tackles the push factors, so fewer people may feel forced to leave. This helps migrants and origin countries and is more sustainable in the long run. However, it is slow and expensive, results are uncertain, and higher incomes can even let more people afford to move. Residents who want lower numbers may see integration as not enough, while migrants may value it highly. Overall, integration is more successful in the short term because it has quick, clear benefits for people already living there, but work on root causes is needed for long-term success, so a mix of both is best.
In a six-mark evaluation, cover both strategies, give a strength and a weakness for each, and finish with a clear judgement that uses the word sustainable.