MIGRANT WORKERS

‘Voluntary and involuntary movement of people from one place to another’, those people work as migrants in the country that is not their country home. Sometimes they work illegally without formal documents when as desperate way they move trying to find better opportunities to live, such as good income that can afford their needs.

Canada, The United States, England and Spain are examples to this situation. Most of the people that migrate to those destinies are looking better conditions, the most common reasons are:

· Expatriates business people
· Better levels of income
· Better conditions to live for their family
· Looking for peace

They decide to choose those destinies for many reasons additionally because those countries have a high economic level and are known as developed countries, which is the main reason. Migrant workers are the result of economic crisis in the third worlds, it means, undeveloped countries, so many people have decided to look for a better future in big cities.

As a consequence each country has a set of laws or treatments for those people that work as migrants, avoiding to use discrimination on it, even though, native people are not aware of this situation, in some cases they are xenophobic not allowing them since using public transportation to enter into a company. In the case that they were allowed there are other people that do not let they were treated as normal persons.

Nowadays we see on TV many aggressions that native people make to migrants in the subway in Spain for example, that is the same case for companies in those countries, because as soon as they know that the person is from an undeveloped country an the worker is migrant, they hire them as hard workers, like cleaners for example. This kind of jobs is which a native person is not available to make, because of the big effort that he has to do for less payment. As a consequence we see that there is a limited opportunities to work for a migrant worker with less benefits rather than native people.

THE MOST LUCRATIVE JOBS AMONG MIGRANTS ARE:

· Electricians
· Cleaners
· Drivers
· Cashiers
· Constructors
· Waitress

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

The controls and laws that governments of those developed countries are based on not allowing people enter to their countries so; they select who can access and who do not like Visa system.

Otherwise, when visa is not given to a person, he or she tries the illegal way. They cross the borders illegally in the worst situation leaving their health at risk of death. Many illegal immigrants suffer hypothermia in the mountains and dehydration in the deserts. Most of these borders are guarded by police officers who control the illegal pass.

¿WHY DO PEOPLE MIGRATE?

· Social and economic exclusion
· The attraction generated by the developed countries
· The need of these countries of counting with migration
· The internal armed conflicts
· Natural disasters

Question:

1. ¿Do you think the Points System in Canada is meant to protect the country’s sovereignty? Or ¿is it just a deliberated form of discrimination? ¿Why?

“Points system” was implemented in 1967, in Canada, which highlights the immigrant’s skills. With this system Canada make a selection on the immigrants that have special skills and economic level in order to keep up the volume of its immigration.

In this context, Canada uses this mechanism to protect the country’s sovereignty. The reason that they give is because of the need of skilled people that contribute to Canada’s economy. ‘Canada may once again become a destination of choice for the skilled and educated workers of these societies as they seek to relocate’



References:

1. Verbeeten, David. 2007. The Past and Future of Immigration to Canada. Journal of International Migration & Integration, 8(1): 1-10.