Spirit Of Migration Shall Prevail

Through various phases of history, migration has remained a defining characteristic of human society, serving as a crucial strategy for survival, economic advancement and intellectual growth. In modern times, migration is broadly classified into two categories, internal and international. The purpose of this article is to make a brief overview of international migration, highlighting the challenges and opportunities associated with human mobility. 

International migration refers to the movement of people from their country of residence to other countries for various reasons. From an anthropological perspective, migration is an instinctive response of human beings to threats such as climate change, cycles of violence and scarcity of food resources. Since the period of primitive society, human beings have relied on mobility to seek more hospitable environments, access opportunities, acquire knowledge, and maintain an edge over other competitive groups. 

Drivers for migration

Before the dawn of modern civilisation, large-scale human migrations were primarily driven by existential threats such as extreme climate events, attacks from hostile races or a need to find more hospitable and resource-rich lands. However, with the emergence of organised societies governed by rules and defined by sociologists as a civilisation, additional factors appeared as drivers for migration.  These include cross-border conflicts, search for employment or pursuit of better opportunities, which have increasingly influenced human mobility across regions.

With the growth of education, cross-cultural tolerance and social decency among people of different nationalities and geographical backgrounds, international migration has been increasingly accepted as a social norm worldwide. Migration has been steadily increasing over the past decades. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the global number of international migrants was 304 million in 2024, accounting for 3.9 per cent of the global population. Of this, the female migrants constituted 48 per cent. 

In recent decades, involuntary migration has surpassed voluntary migration. According to UNHCR reports the world hosted 43.7 million refugees at the end of 2024. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (ANRWA) has provided an appalling figure of 5.9 million registered Palestinians being under its mandate during the same period.  Until recent years, nearly all the countries - except a few closed societies - considered migration and mobility of people as positive forces for the growth of national wealth and enrichment of cultures. 

Recognising its significance, Target 10.7 of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) calls on all nations to "Facilitate an orderly, safe, regular, responsible migration and mobility of the people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies".  SDG 10 emphasises "protecting migrants' rights and maximising the benefits of migration for both origin and destination countries. This highlights the global commitment that migration remains a tool for development and social cohesion.

Migration has been a common phenomenon for all epochs in the history of human society. In earlier periods, the host society was generous to assimilate the newcomers or was ready to frame a space for peaceful coexistence. The migrant population filled labour shortages, expanded the consumer market for goods or services and helped form supranational organisations. In most cases, migrants also brought skills, innovation, new perspectives and creativity. The migrants also sent remittances back home raising the standard of living of their families and helping in national economic growth. 

In countries like America, migration also helped foster cultural diversity and enriched society by enhancing tolerance, mutual dependence, reinforcing knowledge and enlightened understanding. However, unlike in the previous centuries, migration today presents a complex challenge. The increased flow of refugees, the change in social structure migration introduces in destination countries, growing concerns over crimes and security, particularly the association of some migrants with terrorism, have prompted the host governments to enact or enforce more stringent anti-migrant policies. This, in turn, risks fostering discrimination, exclusion and hostility towards outsiders potentially deepening societal divisions, undermining the values of openness and inclusion. 

In recent years, migrant-receiving developed countries have experienced social tensions because of cultural clashes and issues of discrimination. In some countries like Israel, France, Germany and the USA, migration is generating hate and xenophobia instead of promoting plurality and cultural diversity. In view of growing internal unrest and social disorder, many countries, known to have pursued liberal policies towards refugees or fostered diversity through targeted policies such as opening diversity visas (DV), skilled worker's visas, and students' visas are backtracking from their policies.

With the election of Donald J. Trump as the President, the United States has pursued a policy of deporting illegal migrants. In the process, even people who were in the process of acquiring residential permits or students of colleges and universities who had participated in the pro-Palestinian demonstration are being deported creating fear and uncertainty even among those who had entered the USA legally, especially if their ideologies were considered extremist or radical. 

Even countries that pride themselves on being the oldest democracy and claim to hold tolerance for differing views- including radical ideologies like Marxism- are increasingly exhibiting authoritarian tendencies.  The forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, the French government's anti-hijab legislation, the USA's explicit pro-Zionist stance on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the complicity of powerful countries in the mass killings of ethnic minorities in different parts of the world, all signal a troubling future for the security of the displaced people. 

Unstoppable undercurrent 

Throughout history, migration has remained an unstoppable undercurrent of social life, shaping people's wisdom, education, science and technology. People's natural urge for mobility institutionalised during the Age of Exploration in the 14th century expanded the horizon of human knowledge and fostered the exchange of higher social values and innovation. Nations that once championed cultural assimilation and the "melting pot" ideal are increasingly eager to block migration. 

Experience has, however, proved time and again that fortification is not the best strategy for survival, much less for growth. Mobility provides dynamism and unleashes people's potentials, uncovering the collective strength of society to foster diversity, unity and cohesion. Therefore, the spirit of exploration and pursuit of a better life, the essence of migration, will endure.

(Dr. Bharadwaj is the former ambassador and former chairperson of Gorkhapatra Corporation. bharadwajnarad@gmail.com.)