The "pull factors" theory asserts that there are a number of pull factors that cause people to migrate to a particular country or region. In Europe, this concept is often used to justify restricting the movement of people, arguing that "everyone would come here".
However, there are many reasons that may motivate someone to leave their country:
>> Lack of employment,
economic or educational <<<<<
opportunities <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>> Political, ethnic,<<<<
religious, racial or cultural persecution <<<
or because of
their sexual orientation
or gender identity <<<<<<<
>> Civil unrest
or war <<<<<<<
>> Natural disasters and
the consequences of climate change <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>> Governmental
corruption <<<<<<<<<<<
Human rights
violations <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
And also the legitimate desire to live elsewhere.
There are 281 million migrants in the world. Of these, 38 million, fewer than 14%, have migrated to the European Union. In 2020, there were 54.9 million migrants living in the European Union.
In the same year, there were 33.3 million Europeans living in a country other than their own. In other words, they were migrants in another country.
Although the majority of migrants to Europe come from the Americas, the EU spends most of its resources on controlling and obstructing the arrival of people from African countries.
Most of them do not migrate to Europe
African migration mainly occurs within the African continent and not beyond its borders
Most of them do not migrate to Europe
Of the 40 million African people who left their homes up to 2020, only 9 million came to Europe.
"We're here because you were there"
José Antonio Vargas before the US Congress
The narrative that highlights pull factors hinders understanding the role played by the push factors forcing people to leave .
Free trade agreements have allowed mining companies to pollute the area he lived in, meaning he's had to leave in order to find work.
Droughts caused by climate change have forced him off his land.
With his family killed in the war and his home and city destroyed, he has nothing left and decides to escape with his life.
Faced with the threat of female genital mutilation being legalised again, he/she decides to leave to protect his/her daughters.
The conflict between the forces that support extractivism and groups that try to halt the exploitation of natural resources makes living there complicated and dangerous.
The Penal Code of his country includes the death penalty for people with his sexual orientation.
People have to leave their country when forced out by circumstances, but not everyone can leave in the same way. What determines whether a person can leave on a plane or has to flee in a dangerous or secretive way?
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