Confronting the Realities of Forced Migration - Term Paper Example

Why have international initiatives to share responsibilities for forced migrants not been more effective? Introduction: Researchers and politicians have documented the concept that international migration is a complex phenomenon that causes social, cultural, and political polarization of nations. Intercontinental migration is a one of the most important difficult aspect of this, which created many problems. It is rising in level, has an effect on almost every nation in the world and takes place both contained by and between provinces. In the recent years, international initiatives to share responsibilities for forced migrants have showed a poor performance or such initiatives have failed to achieve their objectives. International migration envisages occupied a various series of different stakeholders that have diverse and occasionally conflicting welfare, and is progressively associated with other vital global problems such as growth, employment, human rights and safety measures. National governance of worldwide migration has faced different types of disputes. International initiatives to share responsibilities for forced migrants have not been as effective as these should be because of various reasons. International initiatives to share responsibilities for forced migrants have emerged among the various nations. This paper argues that these efforts have registered failure in most cases because of the lack of coordination between the State and the Federal governments, absence of international support, scarcity of funds besides the identity crisis of the migrants. Absence of coordination between the States and the Federal government in policy making for forced migrants: The primary and important reason for the failure of initiatives is a lack of consistency in policy making and the execution of various rehabilitation programs. Policy makers and authorities often fail to describe the scope, consistency, possibility and international support of their initiatives in the issue of rehabilitating forced migrants. Researcher can have stated that the second one is the management of policy-making and its accomplishment. Severe administrative problems in the field of policy making have paved the way for conflict between the Federal government and State governments. International initiatives have often failed to ensure the fortification of the human rights and restore the dignity of migrants. This has become a cause for the failure of international initiatives to share responsibilities for forced migrants. A report by United Nations Dept. of Economic and Social state that “Governments were also urged to intensify efforts to provide basic social services, facilities family reunification, of documented migrants, promote social and economic integration of documented migrants and ensure their equal treatment before the law.” (United Nations Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2006, p.52). Failure to overcome the organisational conflict between the State and the Federal government often draws back the international efforts to enhance migrant communities I to an ineffective way. The web article entitled “Creating coherence: The governance of international migration” states that “If states are to address the issue of international migration in a coherent manner, they must have agreed national objectives for their migration policies, as well as agreed criteria for the entry and residents of non-citizens that are consistent with international law.” (Chapter six: Creating coherence: The governance of international migration, n.d, p.67). In many countries, the liability for migration is allocated among different ministries and proper organisation is often lacking. There is also a lack of harmonization between those ministries responsible for resettlement. The problem of social, economic and cultural marginalization among the forced migrants: The reader can easily find that the issue of international migration faces lots of challenge and mainly that of competence. The web article,” The challenge of labour migration flows between West Africa and the Maghreb”, underlines that “Irregular migrants, lacking legal status, and probably carrying false travel documents, are vulnerable to social and economic marginalization and rarely have access to or enjoy decent work.” (Adepoju 2006, p.17). Nearly all states are familiar with the significance of international migration and look for means to address it in a way that facilitates them the admiration of their intercontinental responsibilities and to maximize the benefit they and their citizens receive from individual mobility. But, sometimes many countries, particularly the poor nations lack the acquaintance, information, organisations and income wanted to reach those objectives. The journal article entitled, “ Forced migration and the evolving humanitarian regime,” argues that; “In many cases, drawing careful lines between categories of forced migrants may hinder rather than facilitate the ability of national, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to offer appropriate assistance and protection.” (Martin 2000). The issue becomes a serious one and turns to be a negative force in the process of to rehabilitating the forced migrants. International organisations and agencies may shy away from responsibility by referring to an institutional permission to give out a definite population. Susan F. Martin remarks;” Many depart on their own initiative to escape these life-threatening situations although in a growing number of cases, people are driven from their homes by governments and insurgent groups intent on depopulating or shifting the ethnic, religious or other composition of an area.” (Martin 2000). On the other hand, agencies paying attention in prevailing on behalf of a specific group may be deprived of the opportunity for the reason that they have no unambiguous directive to do these activities. The problem of rehabilitating migrants and the socio-economic imbalances among the nations: International initiatives for forced migration have faced another important challenge in the form of their relationship with other states. The very nature of international migration demands intercontinental assistance and joint liability. The journal article Creating coherence: The governance of international migration states that “In many states, responsibility for migration is divided between different ministries and coordination is often lacking.” (Chapter six: Creating coherence: The governance of international migration, n.d, p.65). However, the truth is that almost all states have been disinclined to assign completely to the opinion of global cooperation in the area of worldwide resettlement, because relocation strategy is still mostly designed at the state level. At present a forced migrant faces a lot of problems, such as social and political security, financial stability, and difficulties of aid allocation and legal problems in citizenship. Michael Barutciski points out the underlying problem in the field of policy formation for forced migrants. He rightly comments that “While many states grant asylum to millions of refugees, there also continue to be situations where refugees face problems in relation of admission, access to procedure, expulsion, physical security, detention and human treatment.” (Barutciski 1999). An intercontinental migrant mainly arrives from comparatively poorer part of the world, and then sacrificing these persons to foreign employment market may not have a very large crash on construction at the origin. Job vacancies for forced migrants create serious legal and political problems in many states. Rehabilitation of migrants forced many nations to withdraw from their responsibilities Craig Parsons and Timothy M. Smeeding examine; “International migration is expected to be determined by geographic differences in the supply and demand of labour. On this account, it is wage differentials and employment opportunities which explain movements from low-wage countries to high-wage countries.” (Parsons & Smeeding 2006, p.450). Governments have many practical barriers to allot new opportunities for forced migrants in their existing job markets. Increasing job demands among the migrants is another important problem. A web article titled “Social Conditions and Forced Migration” remarks; “The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that over 200 million migrants live under very harsh economic, social and cultural conditions in their country of destination, in the hopes of earning enough money to send back to their home country and families they left behind.” (Social conditions and forced migration, n.d, p.1). In many cases, job providers demand skilled or highly qualified workers. The online article, “Asylum, Migration and Refugee Protection: Realities, Myths and the Promise of Things to Come” points out that “It fails to take into account the fundamental distinctions between those who are forced to flee because of a failure of national Asylum, Migration and Refugee Protection 515 protection and those who migrate for economic or social betterment.”(Feller 2006, p.7). Furthermore it also fails to notice, perchance expediently, the evenly significant dissimilarities between the responsibilities of States for refugees and for various forced migrants. Citizenship and Identity crisis: The dilemma of citizenship or identity of forced migrants always paves the way for serious political debates in many nations. One of the most important reasons for the failure of international initiatives for forced migrants lies in citizenship. Legal or transparent election is not possible for migrants and they were treated as outsiders. A news article, entitled “Azerbaijan Is a Country of Refugees and Forced Migrants: Each 8th Resident Belongs to This Category”, report “Note that results of voting of forced migrants were mostly falsified. Forced migrants had no right to propose their own candidate for municipal elections which was explained as being due to the fact that they had no place of their own.” (Kerimil 2010). Governments of different nations often fear various aids for forced migrants create imbalances with regard to economic development, social well-being, and human rights in various parts of their country. The same problem affects various neighbouring countries of the world. Stephen Castles remarks; “Border restrictions, however draconian, will do nothing to eliminate unwanted migration flows, as long as these fundamental disparities persist.” (Castles 2004).The problem of political, social, and economical imbalances between nations always prevent them from proving support for international initiatives for forced migrants. The status of migrants in various rehabilitation camps is more pathetic and they have suffered with lack of food, medical care, and effective sheltering. This rehabilitation crisis forced many countries to withdraw from their responsibility to serve the migrant community. “People in refugee camps or self-settled refugee communities are often thought of as being exclusively vulnerable civilians — and, under various international legal instruments, those who engage in armed activities are not to be accorded refugee status.” (Russell 2002). Conclusion: When it concludes, the issue of forced migration has become matter of serious attention for international community in recent years. After analysing the essay one can comprehend the fact that international initiatives for forced migrants do not fully succeed because of various practical reasons. Normally, number of governments in the international community is never ready to give equal importance for migrants as much as they give to their people. Lack of coordination, support and effective funding among the nations create severe problems. Both governmental and other agencies always withdraw their responsibilities from making to make political, social and financial protection for migrants. The administrative problems between the State and the Federal governments also result in the failure of rehabilitation programs. Reference List Adepoju, A., 2006. The challenge of labour migration flows between west Africa and the Maghreb. [Online] International Labour Organisation, p.17. Available at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/download/imp/imp84.pdf [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Barutciski, M., 1999. UNHCR and international refugee protection. [Online] Refugee Studies Programme. Available at: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:gxZG8ijUb34J:repository.forcedmigration.org/pdf/%3Fpid%3Dfmo:4350+%E2%80%9CWhile+many+states+grant+asylum+to+millions+of+refugees,+there+also+continue+to+be+situations+where+refugees+face+problems+in+relation+of+admission,+access+to+procedure,+expulsion,+physical+security,+detention+and+human+treatment.%E2%80%9D&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgipkZxpYZfRskJuTPLJImUk0qdBzIVhzZYvmrybEWVSA8SH02U_Z4gKrGOb9xVsBqKgbWGbbwtIZuq2dvMI9HFkcVv_Oz1IwQU7043MVWK545Zqbs0S2BI5I7UjMhT6Cll0dWF&sig=AHIEtbRniGa-RmhblRPb_TYdz_QiOhakBA [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Castles, S., 2004. Confronting the Realities of Forced Migration. [Online] Migration Information Source. Available at: http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=222 [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Chapter six: Creating coherence: The governance of international migration, n.d. [Online] Global Commission on International Migration, p.67. Available at: http://www.gcim.org/attachements/GCIM%20Report%20Chapter%20Six.pdf [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Feller, E., 2006. Asylum, migration and refugee protection: Realities, myths and the promise of things to come. [Online] Oxford University Press, p.7. Available at: http://www.cerium.ca/IMG/pdf/FELLER.pdf [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Kerimil, K., 2010. Azerbaijan is a country of refugees and forced migrants: Each 8th resident belongs to this category. [Online] ANC-HCA. Available at: http://hca-anc.org/?p=518 [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Martin, S. F., 2000. Forced migration and the evolving humanitarian regime. [Online] New Issues in Refugee Research. Available at: http://www.jha.ac/articles/u020.htm [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Parsons, C. & Smeeding, T. M., 2006. Immigration and the transformation of Europe. [Online] Cambridge University Press, p.450. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ez8EXvP5zugC&pg=PA450&dq=International+migration+is+expected+to+be+determined+by+geographic+differences+in+the+supply+and+demand+of+labour.+On+this+account,+it+is+wage+differentials+and+employment+opportunities+which+explain+movements+from+lowwage+countries+to+highwage+countries%E2%80%9D.&hl=en&ei=D0HnTOubGYrCceO54YkL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Russell, S. T., 2002. Refugees: Risks and challenges world wide. [Online] Migration Information Source. Available at: http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=64 [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Social conditions and forced migration, n.d. [Online] p.1. Available at: http://www.nyeleni.org/IMG/pdf/socialconditionandforcedmigration.pdf [Accessed 20 November 2010]. United Nations Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2006. Compendium of recommendations on international migration and development: the United Nations Development Agenda and the Global Commission on International migration compared. [Online] United Nations Publications, p.52. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=dh0L4kMOzqoC&pg=PA51&dq=Why+have+international+initiatives+to+share+responsibilities+for+forced+migrants+not+been+more+effective%3F&hl=en&ei=6jnnTIPpMc_XcfL3YcL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 20 November 2010]. Read More