Phil and Luke are brothers, libertarians and flatmates based in Wellington, New Zealand. Their blog, Pacific Empire, covers topics including politics, libertarianism, international relations, psychology, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, art and history. See the About page for more information.
Luke is the Libertarianz Media Coordinator, while Phil was the Hutt South candidate in 2005 and is now Spokesman for Deregulation of Education.
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I’m currently thinking of ideas for a 10,000 word research paper on international migration, due in October. I’d like to study some aspect of illegal immigration, possibly people-smuggling or human trafficking.
So this is a question to my readers: what aspects of this issue are you interested in, and why? Any burning questions you want me to answer?
Thanks in advance!
The reasons why people migrate are interesting and revealing. It seems to be based on “relative deprivation”, ie the perceptions of inequality rather than absolute poverty. That implies that Hollywood and TV images of life in rich countries really contribute to the desire to emigrate, rather than an objective assessment of different opportunities.
Thanks for your comment SG, you have brought up some very relevant ideas for my research.
Maybe something about how technology has influenced migration – lower moving costs is obvious, but also technology in removing other emotional costs associated (like missing family – but being able to call, etc).
Steve’s comment reminded me of how many migrants send money back home using money transfers, etc. That would be much more difficult without modern technology.
Yeah, the role of technological, social, and criminal networks in facilitating illegal migration is fascinating…
Steve: thats why there is a problem with large, unintegrated immigrant populations (eg Muslims in France. More links to your homeland – fewer links to your immediate neighbours, and less incentive to change your culture, something which often causes conflict.
Luke: remittances are such an important part of the economy of many countries. There is a lot of temporary migration for work these days, everything from Asian domestic servants in the Gulf to Africans being trafficked for sex work. However the remittances aren’t always facilitated by electronic transfers, as Muslim countries have had arrangements for international cash transfers by informal, low-tech means for centuries – the hawala. The same informal networks are now used for remittances.
I’m interested in where blame and legal responsibility are laid – ie both the media and the law tend to lay blame at the foot of asylum seekers and refugees, rather than the people that smuggle them in. This reminds me of the way Australia criminalises prostitution, targeting prostitutes rather than their clients (cf some countries, which make it illegal to pay for sexual services, but not to offer them).
Yeah, its been said that “people-smugglers” who helped people escape from East Germany or the Soviet Union used to be considered heroes. Now people who do the same thing are considered international criminals. Maybe Australia and Indonesia are too soft on smugglers. I heard that on some boats the older smugglers would escape on a smaller craft, leaving teenagers to take it into Australian waters. This was because young smugglers were treated much more leniently in Australia if they were caught.
Hmmm. Do you foresee Australia joining the ranks of the civilised countries (like NZ) with legal prostitution? Criminalising clients isn’t the answer; it would just drive it further underground. Legalisation at least gives some transparency and makes it easier to prevent trafficking, exploitation and underage prostitution.
Something to say?
I would be interested in the motivation of the migrants.
What did they fear in their home country.
What did they seek in the new country.
How much were they prepared to “stake” to make the journey.
Exactly how much did the migrant know about the new country before they made the commitment to travel. Was the decision based on verifiable information or was it just better than the home country.
Did they percieve they had a choice about which country to migrate to or was it simply the apeal of the weakest boarder crossing.
Another interesting angle is the type of people motivated to migrate by their own means, legally as well, or even just embark on the “Big OE.” Anecdotally they are perceivced as hard workers and intelligent. More so in the days when overseas travel was rare.
So do these people consciously consider themselves as “above average” in their home country and are drawn to the wider opportnities of a foreign country or is it a benign cruiosity factor that provokes the travel.
Another angle is to study the political regimes that people travel from and too. For legal and illegal migration. I doubt that the totalitarian and Communist regimes have to prevent illegals comming into their jurisdiction. Do those regimes publish statistics on offical/legal migration?
SG
Left by SOUTHERN GENT on April 3rd, 2007