Economic Migration Turkish Gastarbeiter to Germany

The European labour market, after the Second World War, faced a shortage of labour due to the loss of young men of working age. To satisfy the growing demand for labour, many countries, including Germany, found the solution in recruiting migrant workers. In the 1950s and 1960s, many migrant workers from Turkey came to Germany for temporary work. The employers in Germany usually gave these migrant workers short-term contracts, in expectation that they would return to their country of origin once the contract ended. However, many workers had started families during their work term in Germany. With their families already rooted in Germany, these workers felt it would be too difficult to uproot their families, and decided to stay in Germany.

Staying in Germany, however, did not mean that these migrants were an integrated part of society. Since the German government still expected these workers to return home, there was no large-scale effort to encourage these migrant workers to integrate. German citizenship law, which is based largely on parentage rather than place of birth or residence, makes it difficult for migrant workers and their descendants to obtain citizenship. Out of a population of 80 million, there are approximately 7 million foreigners currently living in Germany. About 2 million are Turkish migrant workers or their descendants.

Questions related to this topic:

- What is the predominant age group and sex of the Turkish migrant workers? Does this change depending on the time period?

- What are the push and pull factors that encouraged the Turkish migrants workers to move to Germany?

- What type of employment do migrant workers typically engage in?

- In which parts of the country do migrant workers typically settle?

- How have their social and economic status changed since the 1950s?

- What measures have the German government taken to ensure the rights of Turkish migrant workers (as well as migrant workers from other country) and their families are protected?

Check the following links for information:


http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/migration/chapter9.html


http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2002/10/feature/de0210204f.htm


http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=235
http://www.dw.de/turkish-guest-workers-transformed-german-society/a-15489210
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2098464,00.html

Latest Info on Sudan

Check the BBC News website to update your Case Studies.

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Latest Immigration News

Check out the latest news and data on immigration in the UK. You will find some interesting and very relevant data on this news page from the bbc.

Read through and add the relevant data an facts to your notes. This is excellent material to support your notes on Cost Benefits (see blog for March 15th).

Happy holidays!

The Costs and Benefits of Migration

Migration affects both the area of origin and the area of destination. The effects of migration can be:

Economic

Social
Environmental

Cultural





The Costs and Benefits of Economic Migration
IMPACT ON ORIGIN / SOURCE COUNTRY
ECONOMIC COSTS

• Loss of young adult labour force
• Loss of skills base and entrepreneurs - could slow economic development
• out - migration may cause spital of decline which is difficult to halt (see link on NE Deindustrialisation blog)
• Loss of labour may discourage inward investment, increasing dependence on government support.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

• Prospect of reduced under emloyment in the source country
• Returning migrants bring new skills to the country which may revitalise home country economy
• Money sent home by migrants may be invested in the home economy or businesses
• Les pressure on resources including basic supplies such as food and water and essentail services such as healthcare

SOCIAL COSTS

• Perceived benefits of migration continue to encourage following generations to migrate with a net detrimental effect on social structure
• Disproportionate number of females left behind
• Non return of migrants leaves imbalance in population structure with long term consequences
• Returning retired migrants may impose social cost on the community if there is an inadequate support mechanism to cater for them

SOCIAL BENEFITS

• Population density reduced and birth rate decreases (young fertile who migrate)
• Money sent home by migrants can finance improved education and healthcare facilities
• Returning retired migrants increase social expectations within the community, e.g., demand for better leisure facilities

IMPACT ON DESTINATION COUNTRY
ECONOMIC COSTS

• Cost of educating migrants' children
• Increasing over dependence on migrant labour to support some industries (e.g. vegetable picking in East Anglia)
• Leakage of money earned by migrants, including pension payments, goes back to country of origin
• Increased numbers of people puts pressure on existing resources such as health services and education.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

• Migrants take up less desirable jobs
• Host country gains skilled labour at reduced cost
• 'Skills gap' in host country may be filled by qualified migrant workers
• Retirement costs are transferred back to the source country

SOCIAL COSTS

• Discrimination against minorities leads to civil unrest and political extremism
• The dominance of males is reinforced, especially in countries where the status of women is low, e.g., Persian Gulf states
• Aspects of cultural identity are lost, particularly among second and third generation migrants
• Segregated areas of similar ethnic groups are created, and schools become dominated by migrant children

SOCIAL BENEFITS

• Creation of a multicultural society increases awareness, respect and understanding of other cultures
• Influx of new and revitalised community services and businesses, e.g. corner shops and Turkish baths
• Growth of ethnic retailing and areas associated with ethnic food and textile outlets, e.g. fabric shops in Manningham, Bradford

Check this link on the impact of Economic Migration
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2019385.stm
ACTIVITYThe Poles are Coming (BBC 2 11 March 2008) - Following the broadcast (Click to see clip) and the notes you made from the programme, together with reading through the links on the Case Studies blog, use the bullet points above to compile a list of the COSTS & BENEFITS of Polish migration to the UK and Poland.

Causes of Migration and Migration Case Studies

The table below highlights some major causes of migration. It classifies such movments in terms of their origin and destination and whether the movement is voluntary or forced.





The following website contains a series of MIGRATION Case Studies and questions which will provide excellent anecdotal evidence for your notes





The following links provide detailed information and data for our work on migration. You also need to refer to the February Blog on Brazil.


Advantages of UK immigration
Britain's east-west divide
Can you pass a British citizenship test?
Dutch set immigrants culture test
German 'Muslim test' stirs anger
Migrants speak of city life
Migrant World: BBC in-depth reports reports
People seek 'country life' values

Brits Move Abroad

Studies by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) indicate that approximately 10% of British citizens live overseas suggesting that the rate of departure has been so great that population falls are only masked by immigration. Over the 39 years between 1966 and 2005, the UK has experienced a total net loss of 2.7 million British nationals.

Download a summary of the IPPR report ‘Brits Abroad: Mapping the scale and nature of British emigration’ from:

http://www.ippr.org.uk/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=509
or visit the BBC website at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/default.stm

Rural to Urban Migration

Task
Use the resources linked to from this page to produce the following:

1. A detailed annotated version of Lee's Model that summaries Rural to Urban population

movement in Brazil.

2. A written description of how Ravenstein's Law can be applied to Rural to Urban population

movement in Brazil.

RESOURCES


Use the Abstract and Introduction of Migration in Brazil in the 1990s, Norbert M. Fiess and Dorte Verner, The World Bank, 2002.

The two faces of Sao Paulo, Daniel Howden, 12 March 2007.

Brazil poor feel benefits of Lula's policies, Steve Kingstone, 18 September 2006.

Brazil's youth in poverty escape, Jo Wright, 30 July 2005.