Emigration can be defined as a situation when a person leaves their permanent place of residence for some time or forever. It is the movement of people outside the borders of a given territory, temporary or permanent departure from the country.
There are various causes of emigration. The first one is the desire to improve one’s living conditions. Unable to find employment in their country or dissatisfied with the reality of a specific place, many people decide to emigrate for economic reasons.
Some of them, unable to choose their career path in their homeland, try to find something abroad. A frequent form of economic emigration is one related to seasonal work. Emigration is also driven by the need to see new places. Curiosity about the world, various cultures, totally different opportunities for earning a living and building one’s career – this is something that may appeal particularly to young people.
The main cause of economic emigration is the desire to improve one’s living standards. A higher salary and a better standard of living are important. However, we should also remember additional factors – the quality of education, better healthcare, totally new standards in social care. Other countries do not only offer a higher salary. They can also guarantee better conditions of life “after work”.
Historically, it is recognised that relatively favourable economic conditions and political stability have been factors in attracting immigrants to European Union countries. Europe is a continent that many people around the world associate with “paradise” on earth. Many European countries are perceived as rich with institutions that provide legal and social protection. Such institutions include legal protection of employment, minimum wage, and various benefits that affect the standard of living, which attracts residents of less developed countries. Moreover, many European countries have signed the Geneva Convention, which imposes an obligation to provide shelter to people who flee their home country from war or persecution.
The scale of the phenomenon, its consequences and impact on various economic and social spheres make migration one of the most important problems. Various disciplines attempt to learn and understand the phenomenon of contemporary international migration.
Learning about the causes and conditions, as well as predicting their course and consequences is still a very topical issue. The changes that are occurring in the modern world, also cause changes in attitudes towards people who change their country of residence. In many countries, there is a high demand for labour and indicates a “lack of hands for work”. This gap is filled by immigrants taking up jobs with conditions that are not acceptable for the local population.
In 1965, the Swiss writer Max Frisch wrote a very telling task: “We wanted hands to work, and the people came“. The growing proportion of immigrants in many countries has made their problems more visible, and even though they are economically active people and contribute to the economic development of the host country, they are still viewed negatively by certain groups.
The main purpose of migration policy is not only to ensure the effective management of migration flows, but also to prevent illegal immigration, to prevent trafficking in human beings, to ensure fair treatment of people from third countries and to help people to better adapt to a new culture and society. Migration is affected by a combination of economic, environmental, political and social factors in the migrant’s country of origin (push factors) or in the country of destination (pull factors).
