Introduction
Immigration has always been high on the political agenda of many countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). During the last decades, the figure of international immigration has continued to rise, with about 3.6 million immigrants entering OECD countries in 2007. (OECD 2009a) Meanwhile, there are significant flows of illegal immigrants as well, but due to its secretive nature the accurate data is unavailable. Various measures have taken to try to control illegal immigrant flows, including stricter border control, identity checks, forced return and denial of survival, social security rights. Netherland, as one of the OECD countries, has also gradually adopted policies that exclude the undocumented migrants from access to food, shelter and health care, which are the most basic need for every human being to survive. Since then, the undocumented migrants are experiencing more difficulties than ever.
As part of the curriculum in Minor Human Rights and Social Work, the students of The Hague University of Applied Science are given a chance to interview the undocumented migrants in de Bijlmer, Amsterdam. The interview has given us more insightful perspective regarding the undocumented migrants themselves, and how the daily life looks like for them in the Netherlands. In this research paper, by applying one of Jim Ife’s seven arenas of human rights – the survival rights, together with the real life experiences from the undocumented, the writer will discuss what are the implications of the immigration policies in the Netherlands, and how do they affect the survival development of the undocumented migrants.
Survival Rights and the Undocumented Migrants
According to Jim Ife, there are...
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...s, the opportunity and duration is often very limit. As the Alien Acts adopted in 2000, it explicitly states that an asylum-seeker who is rejected of his/her application, has to leave the country within four weeks. COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers) will no longer provide housing and reception facilities once the four weeks’ time have passed.
From here it is obvious to see that the Dutch immigration policy to a large extent deprived the right to shelter for the undocumented migrants. Such policy does not only violate their basic human rights, but also exacerbate their survival situation. Furthermore, as shelter also provide sense of home and belonging in psychological form, such policy also leave the undocumented migrants no choice but to see themselves as a homeless person, which create further mental health problems and difficulties in their life.
In Amin Ahmad’s I belong here, the reader is faced with a sense of sympathy that makes the reader’s view of the world, not only questionable, but alterable. This personal experience, written in the year 2010 shames the fact that this world has and shows how little progress the world has made in the judgment and discrimination of immigrants. These people look differently, speak differently, and live differently; but on the inside they are the same. Nonetheless, they are looked down upon by people from different cultures. The author uses his personal ethos and pathos to support the claim of value that immigrants are not treated fairly. A claim of value is a claim that is based off of what is right and what is wrong.
Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account when he wrote Shadowed Lives, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY it takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants. Chavez is detailed within the book points are placed regarding people's choice to migrate as well as their stories of crossing the border into the United States We can learn a lot from Chavez's book, making distinct opinions on immigration itself, and the difference in immigration culture after migrating.
The 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act abandoned the dispersal policy and voucher scheme and introduced warehousing accommodation in the form of a camp that’s like a prison to house asylum seekers with a separate education and healthcare provision, these finally excludes them from normal community life (Bochel et al, 2009:388). This was highly criticized by NGOs, refugee council, refugee organization and several charitable organizations for refugee and this sometimes led to riots in the detention centre. The 2004-2006 Act further tightens the asylum system and speeded detention and removal by the withdrawal of legal rights (Bochel et al, 2009:388). The home office insist the dispersal policy is going on well whereas on the ground opinion is mixed (Guardian, 27 June 2001) this came up due to the case of some 14 asylum seekers on hunger strike in protest against the poor living condition in the privately run Liverpool tower block. The refugee council has serious concern over the dispersal policy especially as unaccompanied minors are being dispersed alongside adults with no proper resources and support service put in place. Chief executive Nick Hardwick mentioned that for dispersal policy to work government department need to develop proper support services for asylum seekers in dispersing areas and that dumping asylum seekers on poor estate blocks where they cannot access basic services like healthcare and education is leaving them abandoned and vulnerable (Guardian, 27 June 2001). In some situation asylum seekers refused to be dispersed and decide to
Immigration is a social problem that has historically been part of the United States since the 1970’s. Now let's interview (N = 200) undocumented families who are residing in shelters facilities for reasons that we will analyze in the development of this paper. At the same time homelessness has been a problem that our government, lawmakers, nonprofit organizations have tried to reinvent, address to reduce the homeless situation. Lastly, the housing system especially in New York City where the rent is skyrocketing and no one has been able to fight against this particular issue. This has been one of the main reasons for the tremendous increase and complex problem of evictions of families that are becoming homeless abruptly fast.
Firstly to justify why countries limit their immigrations, there should be knowledge of the different types of immigrants as there are different reasons to leave from one country and move into another. In the last 30 years, the number of international immigrants has been estimated 191 million worldwide, two times as before. As ...
Immigrants must overcome many barriers to succeed in America. First, migrants frequently must learn a new language. Inability to communicate is a critical barrier for accessing the health care system (Urrutia-Rojas, Marshall, Trevino, Lurie, & Minguia-Bayona, 2006). Second, the processes of work and schooling for themselves and their families can be daunting. Lastly, immigrants use the established social network of longer duration residents for reference and knowledge (Nandi, Galea, Lopez, Nandi, Strongarone, & Ompad, 2008). For purposes of this report, there are three different types of immigrant: legal, undocumented, and refugees or persons seeking asylum. All three types of residents want to succeed and achieve their personal dream.
Kessner, Thomas and Betty Boyd Caroli, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories.” Kiniry and Rose 343-346. Print.
The conflicting moral duties here are the laws of the land which are very harsh on immigrants and anyone found to be sheltering them are also penalized very harshly.
Instead of criticizing migrants with wild speculation and false pretenses, journalists and Europeans should encourage more efficient migrant policies. How unethical would it be to deny a migrant the celestial gateway to freedom, opportunity, and security and send him or her back to the fires of war, starvation, and despair? Regardless of cultural and economic differences, a migrant is just a human being pursuing environmental, political, and economic benefits that they don’t have access to in their homes. By repudiating a migrant’s entrance into Europe, people are essentially denying the migrant’s humanity and plea for help. Imagining myself as a migrant, I definitely would not enjoy people shunning me in the climax of my
Humans have a never ending thirst for a better life, and a better existence for themselves and those they hold dear. Jose Antonio Vargas was sent away from the Philippines by his mother hoping that he would be able to achieve a better life, and be happy. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas is able to find his better life and happiness in America but also fear and anxiety. Vargas gives us a look into the life of an illegal immigrant the good, the bad, their achievements and their constant struggles. Very much like Vargas my father immigrated to America, but legally in 1986.
Immigration is a prevalent issue in the United States and must be addressed in order to open more jobs for Americans and stop illegal immigrants from entering. In 2008 there were roughly 11.9 million immigrants living the in the United States. President Obama said that immigration reform would be a priority in his 1st year in office. Immigrants are currently held in prisons and jail cells and the government wants to make it more civil. They are living in substandard conditions and often mistreated. Immigration need to be kept under control and have constant upgrades in security. Foreigners’ can complement our workforce, but now they are taking American jobs and lower pays.
Illegal immigration has been an issue in this country since its founding. However, in recent years, more and more people are deciding that the conditions in their native countries are too dangerous and impossible to overcome, so they decide to take on the journey to try and enter the United States, “the land of opportunity”, without the proper documentation. In the novel Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario, we see first hand the expedition many of these people take in order to fulfill their dreams of helping the families they leave behind. Many of these people, like Lourdes and Enrique, come thinking that the “American Dream” will be easily obtained through hard work. Unfortunately, times have changed, and this promise of riches is no longer the norm. Those undocumented immigrants that are lucky enough to make it to the United States are faced with a harsh hit of reality when they realize that the perception they had build of America, with an abundance of jobs, is actually flooded by poverty and an unsteady job market.
Considering the ideas that both authors have brought to the table, I have concluded that in order to make progress in solving the problem of undocumented immigrants, we as a country must decide what’s best for our country. We either look at undocumented immigrants as an asset or a parasite. America is the ‘land of opportunity’ where millions of people want to live there and pursue the ‘American Dream’. We should not let people stop from achieving their dreams. But on the other hand, a quantity of immigrants leave their country because it does not have “stable democracies and free markets” that “ensure economic growth, rising standards of living and thus, lots of jobs”, because the countries of these immigrants “birth rates and native populations fall”.
Not only was this issue was highlighted several times in our class discussions, it was also a main theme in the presentation by Leticia Saucedo. The movie affirmed my belief that there should be policy reforms in employment law that extends protection to vulnerable migrants in the workplace. Likewise, I found another issue with how the system creates vulnerability and uncertainty for innocent children who migrated with their parents. For example, one girl had great academic achievements in high school, but she could not apply to college because she did not have a social security number. Similarly, another person migrated with his parents from Mexico, proceeded to enroll in school, and even received a driver license without any issues. I think this represents an important problem with current policies, in which the children of undocumented migrants often do not know their legal status until it is too late. Therefore, I believe the government should take steps in the early process of education and grant some form of status to children who migrated unknowingly with their
Imagine one day your mother tells you that she is leaving and is not sure with she will see you again. Imagine growing up only occasionally speaking to your mother on the phone. Immigrants make the decision to leave behind their life and move to a new place mainly because they believe it will be better for them and for the people they care about. The Book of the Unknown Americans and Enrique’s Journey show the advantages and disadvantages of parents leaving their children behind or bringing their children along when they migrate. This decision causes harsh consequences that affect the family immediately and in the future.