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Emigrant And Immigrants In The Kingdom Of The Netherlands

Decent Essays

Over the years, the Netherlands has seen a massive influx of immigrants, both refugees and economic, from all areas of the world. As a result, the current demographic of the Netherlands is characterized by “20% of the Dutch population [being] immigrants or children of immigrant parents” (Ersanilli, 2007); thus, for that reason the importance of this topic/problem is further elevated. Coming from Curacao, a small island which forms part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as whose economy depends on tourism and permanent migration, it is interesting to apply theories and empirical data to something that I have accepted as the norm. For some, living in a nation-state where migration is extremely prevalent might not seem the norm, but for me it is; thus, it is compelling to see how this previous knowledge can be applied on a global scale. In order to thoroughly cover the different aspects of migration, the following points will be addressed: key definitions which aid in understanding of the topic; types of migration; the push and pull factors of migration; and the impacts on the source and destination countries. For the better understanding of this topic it is important to understand the distinction between immigrant and emigrant, as well as internal and external migration. Immigrant refers to someone who comes to a foreign country to live permanently, whereas a emigrant refers to an individual who leaves their home country to then permanently reside in a foreign country. Similarly, internal migration refers to people within a country moving to another location within its borders (e.g. from one city to another), whereas external migration refers to the act of migration across borders (e.g. from one country to another). Now that some key terms have been addressed, the types of migrants will be illustrated. People migrate to different countries for various different reasons. This results in the categorization of different migrants in relation to their reason for migrating, whether it be for social or economic reasons. The types of migrants include the following: temporary labor migrants, highly skilled migrants, irregular migrants, forced migrants, family reunification migrants, and return migrants.

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