Migration has become an essential part of economic development everywhere, and more people are now moving than ever before as part of that process. They are also moving much faster and further, crossing vast ecological, climatic and œdisease zones? as they do. Migration is not new. Poverty, land pressures, climate change, famine, war, persecution and the desire to explore have always pushed or attracted people to move.
In some instances immigration has also been fostered by receiving countries as a way of populating new lands and stimulating their economies. Today when real and relative poverty is becoming more marked in many parts of the world, and when the gap between rich and poor countries is growing, people are being pushed in even greater numbers to seek work elsewhere. At the same time, richer countries are still actively recruiting people from other parts of the world to help meet their emerging labour needs, transport is becoming cheaper and the media is constantly providing images of what life could be like in other countries.
For all these reasons migration is not likely to stop any time soon. Indeed there is reason to believe that in the years to come, both rural-to-urban migration and migration across borders will grow. The implications of this growing migration for those who move, those they leave behind and the societies that host migrants need to be factored in to national health plans and international agreements. Migration has become an essential part of economic development everywhere, and more people are now moving than ever before as part of that process. They are also moving much faster and further, crossing vast ecological, climatic and œdisease zones? as they do. Migration is not new. Poverty, land pressures, climate change, famine, war, persecution and the desire to explore have always pushed or attracted people to move.
In some instances immigration has also been fostered by receiving countries as a way of populating new lands and stimulating their economies. Today when real and relative poverty is becoming more marked in many parts of the world, and when the gap between rich and poor countries is growing, people are being pushed in even greater numbers to seek work elsewhere. At the same time, richer countries are still actively recruiting people from other parts of the world to help meet their emerging labour needs, transport is becoming cheaper and the media is constantly providing images of what life could be like in other countries.
For all these reasons migration is not likely to stop any time soon. Indeed there is reason to believe that in the years to come, both rural-to-urban migration and migration across borders will grow. The implications of this growing migration for those who move, those they leave behind and the societies that host migrants need to be factored in to national health plans and international agreements.