The airport lounge was packed with people that day. There was a gathering of families and well wishers who bid their leaving loved ones goodbye. There was a group of travelers anxious to get to their destinations; some were going to the U.S., others to the Middle East and still others to Europe. My sister was one of them. She had been waiting for that day to come. After years of grueling immigrant visa applications including several visa denials, finally she was set to go. With her bags neatly packed and her passport in hand she was ready to start a new life in a new place she will soon call home. Everyone in my family took our turns in kissing her goodbye. With tears in our eyes, we saw her disappear amidst the throng of people. I just wondered, when will I see her again, now that she had chosen to live a continent apart from us? In the Philippines at least 2,700 people leave everyday to work abroad. Often you will find one or two members of a family usually working and living abroad. The same is true with other countries in Asia and other developing countries in the world. What are the causes of this exodus of people from one country to the other? The first is for economic reasons. People want to seek a better life. Attractive opportunities like high paying jobs, better working conditions and higher standards of living. All of these entice a lot of people to go abroad. When migrating to a more economically stable country, a migrant usually enjoys a huge wage disparity compared to what is usually earned from their country of origin. A Filipino nurse for example, usually earns between 5,000 to 6,000 pesos monthly, roughly $100 when working in the Philippines as compared to earning 1,600 ($3,000) monthly while working in U.K. The bigger salary doesn't only benefit the migrant but also the family, the migrant leaves behind. Second, some people migrate to countries with better climate conditions than their own. This is especially true of people who are retiring and pensioners who want to live their remaining years in a vacation kind of environment. Usually people coming from countries with extreme weather conditions and who have had enough of the cold winter season choose to migrate to some warm tropical countries where every day is sunny. The third reason is interracial marriage. With the rising popularity of Internet dating and made to order brides, men and women are migrating to unite with their new found love. Finally, as interracial marriages increase and waves of migrant workers grow, family reunification becomes imperative. This brings out a new group of migrants. In order to reunite with the family they left behind; migrants will usually file for petition so that members of their family who still live in their country of origin will finally reunite with them in their new adopted land. |
