Migrants and Europe

February 26, 2016

Current Unit of Study: Unit 3




Synopsis
With the crisis involving Europe and the huge influx of migrants, much of Europe's youth are beginning to become hateful and intolerant to these migrants. The majority of them come from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq due to the many issues these countries have been facing. Although many of the countries such as Germany had been welcoming towards these people, ideas have shifted. A group called the youth of Europe who originally welcomed migrants have now become hostile, fearing for the loss of European culture and identity.  

Analysis
It has always been common for European countries to be resistant towards welcoming others into their countries and accepting their culture, but recently this has gotten worse. Because of the huge numbers of migrants entering the countries due to the unfortunate cause of forced migration, many people including the Youth of Europe are protesting the arrival of any more migrants.

Link to the original article:
http://www.voanews.com/content/european-young-turn-against-immigration/3161406.html

Illegal Immigration Is Not The Only Problem - Visas Are Too

February 5th 2016

Current unit of study: Unit 3



Synopsis:

After the terror attack on 9/11 and and San Bernardino in California, the topic of addressing legal immigration is far more critical to our national security. Along with this comes the major issue of immigration. Although many Americans are wishing for tighter border patrol, this isn't the only issue. Visas are now contributing to the problem as well, as the government has shortcomings on the way they do background checks. The process of screening or vetting for foreigners applying for immigration visas is flawed, meaning more of the religiously radicalized and others with ill-willed intentions can make it easily in and decide to stay for long periods of time if not, forever.

Analysis:

Due to the pressing topic of illegal immigration, many Americans are beginning to develop strong ideas and beliefs regarding the situation, when in reality there is one related issue just as prominent: Visas. Of course there are many different kinds of visas ranging from student visas to religious visas, but are they being used properly? No. Because of the flawed process undergone through screening, more and more  immigrants are beginning to abuse the privilege of the visa. Workers who come her for their jobs use these visas to  bring their families over. Not only does this contribute to brain drain,  but also the process of unauthorized immigration.

Current Event 11: Syrian Family in America

January 8th, 2016

Current unit of Study: Unit 3

How One Syrian Family Is Making Its Home In America 


Synopsis

Mohammed Darbi, father of the Darbi family, is one of many Syrian refugees. He decided to make the move to America after evaluating what was best for his family, and knew that his status as a refugee would keep him safe once he entered the country. Now living with his beloved family in New Jersey, he works  an overnight shift at an Egyptian bakery. After a few months of financial aid from the government, things were going steady for his family until the support became to little to depend on, leaving him desperate for better work as his family struggles to meet demands. At the same time, the Darbis are trying hard to shed a good light on their name, as many Americans look down upon refugees. Unfortunately around the time Mohammed went looking for a job, the attacks on Paris had just been carried out. This made it even more difficult for him to get a job, as the whole hysteria of Syrian refugees being members of Isis was going around. Thankfully the family was able to seek financial assistance from the Refugee settlement who now provides the family with food. With Mohammed still working his night shift and the new financial aid, he and his family are committed to showing what the Muslim religion is really about.

Analysis

Reading this article reminded me of what we have been talking about in class, migration, immigration and emigration. Mohammed and his family are the perfect examples of immigrants, and even better example of products of forced migration. Reasons for forced migration include natural disaster, civil unrest/ human made disaster, economic problems, health care and better education. The most applicable reasons for the Darbi family are the civil unrest and human made disaster. Had they decided to stay in Syria, they most likely would be dead. Being refugees and choosing to immigrate to America, they came to seek a better life for them and their children.

Link to the original article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/syrian-family-in-america-darbi_566b28cfe4b0f290e5231495

Current event 10: Population growth bomb

December 16th, 2015

Current Unit of study: Unit 2

The population growth bomb exploding in Ethiopia 

Synopsis

Since 1994/95, the age structure of Ethiopia has been constantly changing, and since then the growth bomb has been ticking as well. This has many causes, access to education, jobs and housing being one of the many reasons. But as of recently, Ethiopia has started to experience an increase in its working age population in association to its dependent members of the population. Thankfully, this increase is very balanced, almost at knife edge since the early 2000's. Now, thanks to the sudden eruption of the population, Ethiopia's percentage of young adults has increased to 51% meaning that the country has many more citizens working rather than citizens relying on few who are still able to work.

Analysis

Ethiopia has thankfully become more and more stronger, and that's all thanks to this sudden eruption in the population. With this movement, Ethiopia has a greater number of people within the working age than a dependent population. This has only benefits, as we've seen before with countries with more of a graying than dependent population struggle to keep their economy and work force strong, young and up to certain demands.

Current event 9: Japan's baby shortage

December 3rd, 2015

Current Unit of study: Unit 2

Baby Shortage Imperils Japan's Economy


Synopsis
According to Government officials, more than 1 million babies were born last year in Japan. This so happens to be the lowest figure on record. This shows that the country has made little, if any effort in their battle against unfavorable demographic trends. Aside from this, Japan's health ministry estimated that 1,269,000 people died in 2014 meaning that the country's natural population had declined by 268,000. This rapidly shrinking population is extremely alarming. Some factors to blame include the declining number of marriages, the number of women holding jobs, and Japanese immigration. Should the population continue to decline in numbers, that would threaten to limit economic growth. Some are even going as far to suggest that Japan's population could shrink by a third over the next five years.

Analysis
Japan's population is taking a huge blow due to many different factors. So Japan's current situation is looking, shall we say, not good. Without the birth of more children, Japan's graying population holds most of the power. This is because the more older people there are, the more of a dependent population the country will have. This will lead to all of these elderly citizens to rely on those who are still able to work. And lets face it, that's not many. Japan's natural increase rate could even decline by a third over the course of the next 5 years. Meaning, the country's economy will suffer greatly. Of course, some of the major causes include the decline of marriages, education of women, and Japan's growing number of immigrants. Should this troublesome trend continue however, Japan's population pyramid with grow alarming in old age, and remain sparse with younger ages.

Link to the original article:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/02/news/economy/japan-baby-shortage/

Current Event 8: Fastest growing city in the world

November 20th, 2015

Current Unit of study: Unit 2

Where is the fastest growing city in the world?



Synopsis
According to recent studies done by the US based consultancy Demographia, which only includes cities with populations of 1 million or more, the fastest growing cities in the world include  Batam, Indonesia, Mogadishu, Somalia and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. With a population of 1.1 million people, Batam is located close to Singapore and a free-trade zone boosts trade with the city. Mogadishu's population is at 2.1 million, a city driven by economic prospect. Ouagadougou has a population of 2.7 million and a growth of 6.8%, yet with a decline in Chinese economic growth could lead to a drop in the growth. One thing that all of these major cities have in common is the work and jobs available to those who want them. Could this be the reason as to why some of these cities populations are through the charts?

Analysis 
By looking at the numbers, there is no doubt that these cities populations are off the charts. But why in these specific cities and not anywhere else? When I was reading on each country, I did notice something that all top three had in common - opportunities for work. This took me back to the conversation we had in class on the english industrial revolution, and how the city had to expand to meet the needs of the population. During this time when all these new jobs were being created, the total fertility rates increased tremendously. This was because more people were needed to work and wanted to have children who would then be able to work as well. This also makes me wonder what exactly the population pyramids for each city must look like. I would expect there to be many working class people than people who fall under the dependent category.




Link to the original article: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/18/where-is-the-worlds-fastest-growing-city-batam-niamey-xiamen

Current Event 7: Report on Ebola

November 11th, 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 2

Ebola Situation Report
Synopsis
On November 7th, 2015 WHO declared that Ebola had been stopped in Sierra Leone, yet the country has now entered a 90 - day period of surveillance which is not said to end until February 5th, 2016. This is being done in order for the country to stop or prevent any remaining possibility of the virus to continue being spread. Unfortunately, the virus has had an impact on the population of the country. 470 deaths were reported in Guinea, the small community in which the virus was first found present. The number of deaths recorded represents approximately 20% of the 2248 deaths soon to be expected based on the population and crude mortality rate. Even worse, only 4 out of the 470 dead from the virus were actually properly buried, meaning that there is a high chance of the virus returning, despite the countries efforts to prevent it.

Analysis 
It's scary to hear that the Ebola virus has made a comeback in Guinea, and quite horrible to hear how the virus has had quite a heavy impact on the community's population and total death rate. 470 people had been killed by the virus, and that's only 20% of the 2248 deaths expected in the future. Although the country has been making efforts to stop the virus in its tracks and prevent it from ever returning, because of the lack of proper health care and medical attention needed to research or quarantine those suspected to be carriers of the virus, the population most likely will decline even more.

Link to the original article: http://apps.who.int/ebola/current-situation/ebola-situation-report-11-november-2015