Why Do People Immigrate To Other Countries
People leave their countries to work in other countries in search of better future prospects for themselves and their families. In doing so, they usually face many problems including language barriers in communication with the natives, alienation or sometimes harassment at workplaces, ignorance of local laws and sometimes having to work illegally in order to earn livelihood and support their families back home. For their survival and success, they have to cope with all these pressures and adapt to the foreign conditions.
Another major reason of immigration is to seek companionship of the loved ones. With the advancement of electronic communication and easy availability of social networking opportunities, relationships now have no barriers. Such relationships sometimes become so intense that people decide to immigrate to other countries, not keeping in mind the difficulties they may have to face in adapting to the new lifestyles. Moreover, such relationships usually involve new family and social connections, which may not be suitable to the personality and character of the immigrant. Sometimes electronic relationships do not succeed physically and immigrants are left helpless in unfamiliar conditions. Despite all these problems, number of such immigrants is on the rise.
Immigration to other countries is also sought by the people whose lives are threatened by a civil war, an armed conflict with another country, or any other reasons. Such people consider the option of taking risks involved in settling in other countries better than staying in their own and risking their lives.
On the other hand, the prosperous countries, in order to control the rate of immigration, periodically revise their immigration policies, making them harder for the immigrants. Consequently, potential immigrants may have to use illegal means for the purpose. Some opportunists exploit such immigrants and make them work on low wages in return of providing illegal asylum.
Immigrants get a mixed collective reaction from the natives with the proportion of negative and positive responses varying in different circumstances. The reaction depends on the behaviour of the immigrant and natives and the social and cultural aspects of the immigrant’s native country. However, generally speaking, most immigrants have to compromise a lot for adjusting in another country.
AUTHOR: RANA ASIM ZAFAR ranaasimzafar@hotmail.com
