International Migration into Europe – An Old-new Challenge from the Afro-Asian Neighbourhood
Journal Title: EUROLIMES - Year 2017, Vol 23, Issue 23
Abstract
The history of the intercontinental migration between Europe and its Afro-Asian neighbourhood dates back to the Palaeolithic. Although the paper outlines the history of international migrations affecting Europe (immigration, emigration, migration within Europe and between countries) and the demographic effects of such migration on the present European population, it try to analyse the global and regional causes of the recent European migration crisis (2015–2016), the countries of origin of the migrants, the main routes of migration, and the destination areas in Europe. From among the various and multidisciplinary research possibilities, the study focuses on a geographical analysis. As far as intercontinental migration is concerned, Europe was characterised by emigration between the 16th and mid-20th centuries and mainly by immigration thereafter. Immigration has principally affected Western Europe, the more developed part of the continent. In consequence of post-WWII reconstruction, dynamic economic development, local labour shortages, and the decolonisation process, Western Europe received many migrants, initially from the Mediterranean region and subsequently from the post-communist European countries. Meanwhile, the core areas of the European Economic Area (EEA) became the main destination for migrants coming from predominantly Muslim regions in Asia and Africa. This decades-old process suddenly accelerated in the year 2015 and constituted mass migration. The global and regional causes of such intercontinental migration in the sending areas are as follows: the population boom, economic backwardness, unemployment, growing poverty, climate change, desertification, negative ecological changes, global political rivalries and local power changes (e.g. the Arab Spring, 2011), growing political instability, wartime destruction, multiple and cumulative crises, general hopelessness and despair.
Authors and Affiliations
Károly KOCSIS, Judit MOLNÁR SANSUM, Gábor MICHALKÓ, Zsolt BOTTLIK, Balázs SZABÓ, Dániel BALIZS, György VARGA
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP354306
- DOI -
- Views 104
- Downloads 0
Migration –A Factor of Development or Destabilisation?
The movement of masses of individuals from one territorial area to another has been recorded since the appearance of the human species. If this movement is also followed by the action of cha...
How the Security Dimension Triggered the Modifications of the European/EU Borders and what were the Subsequent Consequences? An ex post 100 years Perspective
Within the current research we shall make an endeavour to analyse how the need for security contributed to the appearance of new frontiers in Europe after the end of the First and Second World War and how in today’s Euro...
The European Union’s Southern Maritime Migratory Border and its Challenges in the Context of Irregular Migration
Since 2009, more than 2 374 975 irregular migrants have arrived in Europe through its southern maritime and land migratory border. The southern maritime migratory border comprises more than 35 000 kilometers, from the Po...
The Relations between the Magyar and German Minorities from Transylvania and the Romanian State in the Interwar Romania: Dialogue or Conflict?
Review of: Ivan, Adrian Liviu. State, Majority and National Minority in Romania (1919–1933). The Case of Magyars and Germans from Transylvania. Cluj-Napoca: CA Publishing; Debrecen: Debreceni Egyetem, 2016. ISBN 978-606-...
Achieving Competitive Advantage by using the Tourist Potential of Cross-border Areas
This research aims to identify the advantages of cross-border cooperation in tourism in order to remove the barriers that hinder the development of the border areas. The research is based on the literature on the managem...