Labour migration (part 2)
Yvonne Harvey, Contributor

Hello again. Last week, the distinction was made between labour mobility and labour migration, and reasons for internal and external migration were given. This week, we will discuss effects of the migration of professional and skilled personnel.

EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL MIGRATION

Many migrants offered their services to the countries in which they settled. Among other things, they got jobs as porters, post office workers, bus drivers and conductors, teachers, civil servants and nurses. Others went on to further education and became doctors, economists, lawyers and accountants, returning to their homeland at the expiration of their studies. Many migrants, however, remained abroad, refusing to return to their homeland where they were most needed.

In the foreign country, many found it difficult to get work because of sex and/or racial discrimination, class discrimination and barriers, and because they had educational qualifications that were not recognised in the new country. Also there were language difficulties and they experienced exploitation of their ignorance of the new country. Most of those who did get work had to settle for low-paying, dirty work, at least to begin with, and they had to be prepared to live in very bad conditions.

Migration causes the break-up of families. In the early 1950s, it was mostly married men who migrated, leaving behind their wives and children in the hope of them joining them later. For many of them, that later never came. In addition, many social problems were created among those who were left behind, as parents migrated without making adequate plans for the care and protection of their children. These children got into trouble with the law and put greater pressure on the country's social welfare system.

Brain drain

Not all persons who migrated were unskilled, untrained and uneducated. Many were well trained and skilled, for example teachers, experienced welders, plumbers, mechanics, and so on. When they left, it was difficult to replace them and, in most cases, they were not replaced. This migration of skilled persons came to be known as 'brain drain'. This includes even the migration of potential members of the labour force, such as children who migrate with their parents. Because of the brain drain, home countries suffered from the lack of proper economic development. In the British Caribbean between 1955 and 1975, the exodus nearly caused a minor economic depression. External migration affects production negatively. Over time, negative economic growth results, mainly because of scarcity of entrepreneurial skills and a low level of technically trained people in the region.

Perhaps one positive effect of external migration was that when the unskilled and untrained migrated externally, this resulted in a reduction of the strain on the national budget of home countries.

EFFECTS OF INTERNAL MIGRATIONS

Migration of labour internally, for example, rural migration, means that one area is being upgraded while the other area is being depleted. These persons might have been able to help their communities develop economically, socially or otherwise. The shortage of labour in the areas vacated causes a setback in terms of development of these areas. Urban drift (rural migration) causes agriculture to be plunged into serious problems, as there are fewer and fewer persons to work in and to develop this vital area.

Movement to cities and towns from rural areas causes over-population in those areas, resulting in unemployment, lack of housing, crime and other social disorders, inadequate health services, competition for good education, traffic congestion and lack of open space. Such movements put pressure on the authorities in cities and on governments which must provide more social and other amenities in the cities and towns. Also, the lack of housing results in the capturing of, and squatting on, (government) Crown lands, and even on private properties. Competition for good education causes pressure to be brought on the educational system as people seek good quality education and compete for limited spaces in schools and other educational institutions.

Now, you should be able to use the two lessons presented on migration to answer the following questions.

a) What is meant by external migration? (2marks)

b) Discuss TWO reasons why people migrate externally and TWO reasons why people migrate internally. (8 marks)

c) What is meant by internal migration? (2 marks)

d) Discuss TWO effects of internal migration and TWO effects of external migration on the labour force. (8 marks)

Total: 20 marks

Hanif Thomas of Dunoon Technical High School, Kingston, looks back at his stumps after he was bowled for 13 by Neo Oxford of Meadowbrook High (out of photo) in the ISSA/Grace Shield schoolboy cricket match at Courtney Walsh Oval, Excelsior High School, recently. Meadowbrook (81-4) beat Dunoon (79 all out) by six wickets. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Yvonne Harvey teaches at Glenmuir High School.