Immigration
Canada-Why Everyone´s Leaving Their Country
The airport lounge
was packed with people that day. There was a gathering of
families and well wishers who bid their leaving loved ones
goodbye. There was a group of travelers anxious to get to their
destinations; some were going to the U.S., others to the Middle
East and still others to Europe.
My sister was one of them. She
had been waiting for that day to come. After years of grueling
immigrant visa applications including several visa denials,
finally she was set to go.
With her bags neatly packed
and her passport in hand she was ready to start a new life in a
new place she will soon call home. Everyone in my family took
our turns in kissing her goodbye. With tears in our eyes, we
saw her disappear amidst the throng of people.
I just wondered, when will I
see her again, now that she had chosen to live a continent
apart from us?
In the Philippines at least
2,700 people leave everyday to work abroad. Often you will find
one or two members of a family usually working and living
abroad. The same is true with other countries in Asia and other
developing countries in the world.
What are the causes of this
exodus of people from one country to the other? The first is
for economic reasons. People want to seek a better life.
Attractive opportunities like high paying jobs, better working
conditions and higher standards of living. All of these entice
a lot of people to go abroad.
When migrating to a more
economically stable country, a migrant usually enjoys a huge
wage disparity compared to what is usually earned from their
country of origin. A Filipino nurse for example, usually earns
between 5,000 to 6,000 pesos monthly, roughly $100 when working
in the Philippines as compared to earning £1,600 ($3,000)
monthly while working in U.K. The bigger salary doesn’t only
benefit the migrant but also the family, the migrant leaves
behind.
Second, some people migrate to
countries with better climate conditions than their own. This
is especially true of people who are retiring and pensioners
who want to live their remaining years in a vacation kind of
environment.
Usually people coming from
countries with extreme weather conditions and who have had
enough of the cold winter season choose to migrate to some warm
tropical countries where every day is sunny.
The third reason is
interracial marriage. With the rising popularity of Internet
dating and made to order brides, men and women are migrating to
unite with their new found love. Finally, as interracial
marriages increase and waves of migrant workers grow, family
reunification becomes imperative.
This brings out a new group of
migrants. In order to reunite with the family they left behind;
migrants will usually file for petition so that members of
their family who still live in their country of origin will
finally reunite with them in their new adopted land.
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