Asylum seekers in the UK

Asylum seekers in the UK

It is hard to distinguish between genuine asylum seekers and those who are just after a better quality of life. Laws have been tightened in the UK to reduce the number of refugees entering the country.

An example of how many asylum seekers enter the UK is in 2002, when 85,865 refugees applied for entry to the country. Three quarters of these were male, and 82% were between the ages of 18-34.

This graph shows the number of applicants for asylum to the UK in each quarter of the year since the second quarter in 2006. The number of applicants seemed to be constant until the 4th quarter of 2007, where there were around 7000 applicants. Since then, this number has declined to just below 6000. The reason for this may be new laws and toughening up on immigration in the UK.

In 2002, 1 in 5 asylum seekers were unaccompanied children, which is much higher than the 1% 10 years earlier in 1992.

The UK is a top spot for EU migration. Over the past 10 years, the UK has become stricter over immigration laws. The UK can offer people jobs, and asylum seekers would see this as an opportunity to get work, and to get away from war or distress in their home country.

By Callum Sleet and Callum Bullworthy

Historical Migration at a Global Scale

The first humans lived in Africa. From here they migrated around the world eventually settling in every continent except for Antarctica. The migration pattern was affected hugely by the layout of the world at the time. This meant that the first migrants away from Africa had to travel through the Middle East. This effectively makes the Arabs the second oldest race, after Africans.

From the Middle East the migration of early humans split out. This lead to the population of Southern Asia, Australasia and Europe. Eventually humans spread over to Eastern Asia, North and South America. The transition from Asia to North America was via the Bering Straight between Alaska and Russia. The ice age at the time would have allowed a crossing either via an ice bridge, or because of a lower sea level a crossing via land is also a possibility.

Although it is difficult to ascertain the actual route of migration, comparing the DNA of indigenous people of various parts of the world shows similarities and differences between races. This allows scientists to trace routes of migration between different races.

One thing that can be concluded from this is that parts of the population of India eventually migrated to populate Indonesia and Australia. All Native Americans came from the same migration from Russia to Alaska, which is why Inuit and Amazon Indians are closely related with each other and the native Central and North American Indigenous populations.

This migration began to take place about 150 thousand years before today. There are many reasons why it took so long to migrate to some parts of the world. Firstly, humans weren’t actually trying to migrate. This is because they didn’t know about other parts of the world. Their migration was a result of finding new areas to live and hunt/farm. Another reason why the migration took so long was because of the harshness of the terrain during some points of migration, as the migrants would have faced desert, mountains, tundra, jungle, ocean and rainforest which would have slowed migration considerably. The fact that the migration happened purely by foot (and canoes for sea crossings) slowed the rate of migration substantially, as compared to the rate of colonisation millennia later.

The modern state of Israel has its roots based on the Land Of Israel. The state itself should not be confused with the Land Of Israel as it is a smaller modern political state within the region. For over 3,000 years the Land Of Israel has had concepts to Judaism. After World War I the British Mandate of Palestine were approved by the League of Nations to create a national home for Jewish people. In 1947 the UN allowed for two states to be partitioned in Palestine, one Jewish one Arab. On 14th May 1948 the state of Israel declared their independence, which has lead to many conflicts with neighbouring Arab countries.

Migration waves

During the last 100 years there have been many waves of Jews all over the world who have migrated to Israel. However when the rise of Nazi Germany began in 1929 the fifth wave or “the fifth Aliyah” was created. There were many push factors for Jewish people at this time in Germany. The Nazi party began a lot of propaganda and blamed the Jewish people at this time for the economy crises in Germany. This race of people were targeted and singled out from the rest of the nation. Many Jewish shops started to lose customers as the Germans did not chose to shop there and Jewish people started to lose money. In addition a major push factor for Jews was that German merchandise was imported to the Land of Israel and Jews were paid for their assets for leaving Germany. Another push factor was that the United States closed their gates at this time and condensed about many immigrants they were taking in. This encouraged more Jews to migrate to Israel and to leave the tough conditions they were having in Europe.

Israel has many pull factors for Jewish people as the country coasts are on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The proof that this is a major geographical pull factor is that 70,000 of Israeli inhabitants live here. Another reason why many Jews migrate to Israel is that their economy is considered one of the most advanced in Southwest Asia. The country has been ranked highest in the region on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. There are many well paid jobs available in these business districts such as the city of Tel Aviv. The country brings in a lot of money from exporting goods. However the country is known for having limited natural resources, intensive development of agriculture and industry in the past years had made Israel self sufficient. In 2006 Israeli exports reached $42.86 billion. The obvious pull factor for Jews to migrate to Israel’s obvious pull factor for Jewish people is that it is the homeland for all Jews. Over 75% of the inhabitants are Jewish and there are many special places in Israel for Jewish people; the Western Wall and Temple Mount.

Modern Migration to Israel

France has a larger Jewish population today than in 1939. A total of over 600,000 Jewish people live in France. These Jewish people moved to France when the French abandoned their colonies in North Africa and these colonies became independent Arab countries. However there are around 6 million Arab people who have moved to France thus out numbering Jews 10:1. These Arabs are pushing Jews to migrate to Israel as they have the implicit approval of the French government to attack Jewish community centres and assault Jews in the street. Examples of this are: An arson attack on the Or Aviv temple in Marseilles and the burning of synagogues in Strasbourg and Le Havre. These assaults are pushing Jews out of France and the prime minister at the time Ariel Sharon invited French Jews to move to Israel, which he added that he would pay them to come over.

Moroccan Jews

Over a 2 year period between 1955 and 1957 alone, over 70,000 Moroccan Jews arrived in Israel. In 1956 emigration to Israel became illegal and in 1959 Zionist activities were also banned in Morocco. During this time around 30,000 Jews left for France and the Americas. In 1963, the ban on emigration to Israel was lifted bringing another 100,000.

The mass migration which saw over 250,000 Moroccan Jews move to Israel was forced and caused by anti-Jewish practices within the country. On June 4, 1949, riots broke out in northern Morocco killing and injuring dozens of Jews. Shortly afterwards, the Jews began to leave.

Today the Jewish community of Morocco has dwindled to 10% of its original size. Of the 17,000 Jews that remain, two-thirds live in Casablanca. Since 1964, 30 Jewish courts have been closed down, including the High Rabbinical Court. Jewish schools still exist, but many are under Muslim administration. There has been no Jewish press in Morocco since 1966 .Generally speaking, the Jews who remain in Morocco have a reasonably stable existence, however, occasional outbursts of anti-Israel sentiments make daily life for Jews insecure.

Russian Jews

In 1950 Israel passed new laws that gave Jews anywhere in the world the right to settle in the country. During the second half of the twentieth century they began to return to what was regarded as their ‘spiritual home’. One of the largest flows being from the former Soviet Union. Over 25 years a million Jews made this move.

Permission to migrate to Israel was usually not hard to gain. Whilst Russia was happy to the departure of the ethnic minority, Israel complained the country was being swamped by Russians. These people were generally poor and in either country are viewed as the minority.

This migration helps increase Israel’s population but does not help the long standing Palestinian problem as this means Israel’s population will continue to increase through natural increase and migration.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Aliyah

http://www.jbuff.com/c042502.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3904943.stm

http://www.iflac.com/jac/jac/THE_FORCED_MIGRATION_morroco.htm

As the image shows, Kosovo is part of Serbia, but for a long time now the population of Kosovo has been trying to break free from this link. Therefore in the eyes of the Kosovian people, they are a landlocked Country.

This is the process where the army of one, larger ethnic group ‘expels’ the Civilians of the minority ethnic groups in any town or city they come across in order for the land to be ethnically clean for their group to inhabit. It can be understood as the expulsion of a population from any territory.

An IDP is an internally placed person. In 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, there were 221, 000 IDP’s in Serbia, 21, 000 of these were within in KOSOVO, and 16,000 in Montenegro. However, because IDP’s are based on registration, it is estimated that there are a further 20,000 Roma IDP’s who are not registered. Because of this, it is estimated that the number of Roma is as high as 50,000 to 100,000, but only 26,600 are registered.

Year

Event(s)

1389

Battle of Kosovo-Beginning of 500 years of colonisation by the Ottoman empire.

1877-1878 (19th Century)

Expulsion of Albanians

1912-1941

Colonisation of Kosovo-by Serbian monarchy/army/government

1941-1945

Greater Albania-created and Italian occupation of Kosovo

1945-1948

Reign of Vasa Cubrilovic-so Albanians sought refuge in Turkey

1968-1988

‘Demographic warfare’-emigration of Serbs &illegal immigration & high birth rate of Albanian population

1988

All rights abolished-police state introduced

1999

90% Albanians in Kosovo, 20% in Serbia

Ethnic cleansing in Kosovo

The ethnic cleansing of Kosovo started when the communist control over Yugoslavia collapsed in 1991 causing a break-up of the country. As a result Kosovo joined and became part of Serbia. The main problem with this was that 90% of the two million Kosovo’s were ethnic Albanians and only 6% were Serbians. This caused many rebellions across the country and one group in particular the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) openly rebelled against Serbian rule. This group in particular were supported by the majority of the ethnic Albanians. As a result of this, the Serbian Government started to victimise anyone who was thought to be a KLA sympathiser. In addition, Serbia also had a strategy to rid of the Albanians of the Serbian province. They did this by persuading those who where ethnic Albanians to emigrate to Macedonia or Albania therefore Serbia was in the process of ethnic cleansing.

Serbia’s Strategy to rid Serbia of the ethnic Albanian population involved the Serbian government persuading them to emigrate. However after the air strikes carried out by NATO, Belgrade’s claimed that this caused a huge outflow of Albanians because they feared for their lives but the refuges claim that they were expelled out of there homes by Serb forces at gunpoint. At this time many refugees reported that the Serb forces had expelled the majority of the ethnic Albanians from most urban areas such as Dakovica. They also claimed that those who are forced to remain are being used as human shields. Some of the crimes that were carried out included mass executions in eighty-five towns and villages and it was claimed that there were over 6,000 executions of ethnic Albanians. In addition, there was also many organised and individual rape of ethnic Albanian women. In a further attempt to cover up this strategy of ethnic cleansing, the Serbian government are forcing the refugees to sign disclaimers saying that they left Kosovo on their own free will. There were also further reports of the Serb forces confiscating the refugee’s personal belongings and documentation, including their national papers. At this time there were at least 735,000 Albanians from Kosovo who were refugees in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. The remaining 300,000 refugees have been displaced to other countries.

NATO made military threats to Serbia to stop this ethnic cleansing, however Serbia did not. Then in March 1999, NATO launched a series of air strikes against military targets in Kosovo and Serbia. As result many Albanians fled Kosovo as they feared more genocide by the Serbians in relation to the air strikes. Over this period of time there were many killings, atrocities and looting carried out by the Serbian Forces. Within a few days, Kosovo had been drained of its ethnic Albanians.

In 1999, under military pressure, the Serbian forces agreed to withdraw. Under NATO protection some Albanian refugees began to return home. AS a result the Serbian population became the target of revenge attacks by the returning Albanians. Fearful for there safety and lives many fled from Kosovo, therefore the process of ethnic cleansing occurred again but with different group of people.

WWW.ESS.UWE.AC.UK/KOSOVO/KOSOVO-ETHNIC_CLEANSING15.HTM

WWW.FREESERBIA.NET/DOCUMENTS/KOSOVO/CLEANSING3.HTML

http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/kosovo/SoE/popullat.htm

http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1076063.html

http://www.metafuture.org/articlesbycolleagues/IvanaMilojevic/peaceserbiakosovo.htm

http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/E2928D405B865F3D802570B8005AAF37?OpenDocument

Rwandan Genocide

Background

Rwanda gained independence from Belgium in 1962. The majority of the population were Hutu, the minority being Tutsi. For many years the two groups got on peacefully, sharing language and culture.

Tutsis tended to be landowners and Hutus worked the land. When European colonists moved in, the two tribes were forced into a social hierarchy, the Tutsis, were viewed as more superior, this created a class divide.

European colonists brought weapons, the idea of war and the feeling of oppression to some communities, these sparked a revolution.

In 1956 a Hutu rebellion began. By 1959 they had seized power and were stripping Tutsi communities of their lands. Many Tutsis retreated to exile in neighbouring countries, where they formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

In 1962, a politically inexperienced Hutu government began to face internal conflicts. Tensions grew between communities. The Tutsi were consistently repressed within Rwandan society, for example in 1973 they were excluded from secondary schools and universities. The RPF began to fight back in 1990.

A ceasefire was achieved in 1993 but Hutu leaders and extremists fiercely opposed any Tutsi involvement in government. On April 6 1994 the plane carrying Rwanda's president was shot down. The Tutsis were accused of killing the president, and Hutu civilians were told, by radio and word of mouth, that it was their duty to wipe the Tutsis out. First, though, moderate Hutus who weren't anti-Tutsi should be killed. So should Tutsi wives or husbands.

During the genocide Hutu civilians were sometimes forced to murder their Tutsi neighbours by military personnel. They were often given incentives, such as money or food, and some were even told they could have the land of the Tutsis they killed. After the genocide, the numbers of death was calculated at 800,000.

The genocide lasted from April to July, during, it finally cam to an end when ceasefire was declared when the RPF captured Kigali, the capital. The pro-Hutu government collapsed.

After the RPF took power, an estimated two million Hutus fled to near by Congo. These refugees include many who have since been found to have been involved in the genocide. There are still 100, 000 people awaiting trial in Rwandan prisons and about 500 people have been sentenced to death over genocide allegations.

Life for Refugees

· After the assassination of the Hutu president (1994), there was resentment towards the Tutsi people which formed a massacre. Some Tutsis managed to flee to nearby countries such as Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda.

· The Tutsi refugees in Uganda formed a Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which aimed to secure their rights to return back to their homeland.

· After the RPF became victorious 2 million Hutus and some Tutsis then fled to Zaire (now Congo), and refugee camps were created.

· The main camp in Zaire was the Kibumba camp which was created at the bottom of an active volcano. The refugees fled with nothing and with little space meant the camps soon became overcrowded.

· Zaire is one of the world’s poorest nations and with thousands of refugees arriving put a great strain on the country’s survival. This was worsened by refugees stealing crops, cattle and cutting down firewood in order for them to survive.

· Government organisations noticed the strain and polluted water systems so provided camps with plastic sheeting and a clean water supply from Lake Kivu.

· An orphanage was set up nearby to help children who had lost their family in the genocide or been separated when fleeing the country.

· In July (1994), a multi-ethnic government formed who promised all refugees a safe return to Rwanda.

· Mainly Hutu militants and former Rwandan army fled to Congo at the end of the genocide.

· There were 20,000 Hutu rebels in Congo and most returned back home.

· To encourage refugees to return to Rwanda, the capital Kigali introduced new houses, modern office blocks and hotels.

· But the current Rwandans are too scared to say their views due to the past history.

· The Tutsis who fled came together forming an external opposition movement.

· The refugees in Uganda were on the verge of poverty with no food, welfare and unable to work.

· Most refugees were forced to return to Rwanda.

· Today 60,000 refugees still remain outside of Rwanda and have the fear of being forced to return to Rwanda.

Relation to models

Thomas Malthus created a population theory arguing the point that food supply and population growth wouldn’t increase at the same rate. Food supply tends to increase in a linear pattern for example a 20% rise in the amount of crops produced each year. However population is increasing at a much faster rate in an exponential trend in which food production could be exceeded. Once the population has gone above the level of crops being produced it passes the carrying capacity and famine, war and desperation are likely to occur.

Rwanda has become a key example of Malthus’ theory where population and environmental problems have created non-liveable conditions. The cultural split in Rwanda caused by the genocide has made it hard for young people to marry, leave home and find their own farm so they stay living at home. This has caused an increase in the number of people living on a farm from 4.9 to 5.3 and with the decreasing size of the farms (0.89 to 0.72 acres) the need of food gets greater and greater. During and after the genocide land was a big issue with the Hutus taking the land off the Tutsis’ that they killed, management wasn’t maintained, gaps between fields or gap years for fields to regain nutrients for a healthier crop were not kept in the desperate attempt to produce crops to survive. As there are no gap fields there is no room for run off causing even more damage to the existing crops leading to an even greater gap between the population and food production.

Bib

Websites

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1288230.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3557565.stm

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/country/detail/2913/

http://www.lnsart.com/Rwandan_Refugee_Stories.htm

Books

Collapse how societies choose to fail or survive – Jared Diamond

Two states partitioned in Palestine.

Wall of Jerusalem

State of Israel

A map of Israel

The Moroccan flag

A map of Morocco