Segregation as a Result of Immigration

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In times where large amounts of people have the possibility to travel, there has been a tremendous amount of movement in the world, not only for pleasure, but for work opportunities as well. This has lead to a huge migration process from “poor” countries to “rich” countries in search for a better income. Hence what are the consequences of such migration? These individuals, in search for better job opportunities or a better life, bring with them their religion, traditions, culture and language, creating a big diversity in their hosting countries. Diversity is normally seen as an enriching and stimulating element for a country, but there can be too much diversity as well. This essay argues that extensive immigration and multiculturalism has a negative impact on the psychological, social and economic transformation of the hosting country, in this case the UK, bringing with it conflict and weakened trust in the society and as a result the deterioration of the current welfare state. Commencing with the definition of the first point: the psychological impact. We humans have a natural instinct to favour one of our own, as opposed to an outsider. This is basic human nature and it is built in our DNA, without us realizing it. We often choose to socialize with people “like us”, live and work with people “like us” in general feel more comfortable and can better relate to someone that shares our values and traditions, creating solidarity with our fellow man, as long as he or she is one of our own. This brings me to the second point, the social transformation stemming from too much immigration. As a result of mass diversity, UK is a country with numerous groups of people having different values and traditions. This strains the social cohesi... ... middle of paper ... ... the lower level of trust within the community and within their local government, ultimately leading to higher levels of violence. Professor Tatu Vahanan found in his research paper: Domestic Ethnic Conflict and Ethnic Nepotism: A Comparative Analysis that there is a big correlation between diversity and violence, he points out that homogenous countries like Japan and Iceland are peaceful, while highly diverse countries like Lebanon and Sudan are armed with strife (7). Since diversity destroys community trust and solidarity within fellow citizens, it would prove difficult to sustain the current welfare state that is known in the UK. Clear signs of erosion of the welfare state forced the UK to increase means-tested social welfare payments to the tune of 40%, narrowing the gap between the UK and US welfare systems, hence, an ‘Americanization’ of the UK Welfare system.

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