Introduction
So far this year there has been a lot of coverage in the news about a new wave of migration: it has been termed the 'migration crisis'. The hotspot areas are the waterways between Africa and Europe (the Midetteranean Sea) and Myanmar/Bangladesh and Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia (the Adrean Sea).
Already it has claimed thousands of lives due to a range of causes: apalling conditions including lack of food, water and hygeine on the boats, overturned, overcrowded, sunken and unseaworthy boats.
We have spent the last 3 weeks analyzing, comapring, evaluating and discussing the many reasons behind modern human migration. Now it is your turn to put it into practice with this problem that confronts us today!
Task
What is causing this sudden so called 'migration crisis'?
This task involves working in teams of three- you can help each other to use and explore the web quest material. However you will be accountable for researching one country where many of these migrants come from. You will become an 'expert' on the push and pull factors for this persons reasons and decisions to make their journey, the probable path that their journey will take them, and the likely outcome.
One person from each group will therefore be:
- A 14 year old boy of the Rohingya people of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma)
- A 20 year old Syrian woman
- A 17 year old boy or girl from Eritrea
I have colour coded each situation, this will make it easier in the rest of the activity to direct which articles and research are most important for you to read.
In the next lesson, you will have 10 minutes to meet with the other students in the class who representsd your person to share ideas, thoughts and 'experiences' to become an 'expert'. Then you will come together in your groups to learn about the migration experiences of the other two migrants.
As a group you will then collate a short, 3 minute presentation that outlines what you think are the main push and pull factors (eg economic, safety, environmental, governmental, religious, other) causing the 'migation crisis' and formulate three possible solutions to the problem.
Process
How many people are leaving your country and where are they going? This link is an interactive app that allows you to click on your country and track outgoing and ingoing migration.
http://www.iom.int/world-migration
Read some of these recent news articles to get an idea about why these people are leaving their homelands. (Hint: by clicking on some of the related news stories, you may be able to find out more about your particular 'person').
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-20/south-east-asia-nations-hold-cris…
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32573389
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/05/19/the-mediterranean-migrat…
What are the conditions like in your person's country to make them want to leave (push factors)? (Hint: Here are some useful links, but wikipedia is also a great source for general information- assess the reliability of your sources and always ask if they are primary or secondary- what may influence the authors perspective).
BE CAREFUL- some of the links I have given you may be biased! I encourage you to try your own searches rather than relying solely on my links- these are a guide only!
http://www.infoplease.com/country/eritrea.html
http://www.eritrea.be/old/eritrea-information.htm
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14703995
http://tracks.unhcr.org/2014/10/learning-to-live-again/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12992883
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/Asian_History_Terms_N_Q/g/Who-Are-The-…
What is your person's final intended destination pull factors)? Learn about the path they have to take from their country to their intended destination. What are some of the perils in these intermediate countries? (research/google if you don't know!)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24521614
http://www.iom.int/news/joint-statement-andaman-sea-iom-unhcr-ohchr-un-…
Evaluation
To continue on with the exercise in the next lesson, it is best to take the time to consolidate your thoughts and what you have learnt from today. Writing down what you feel about this topic now will help you reflect on your future conclusions. Its OK to not have the answer, or have multiple answers that seem conflicting. We will work through these in the coming lessons.
What did you find most interesting about this project?
What did you find most challenging (this can be in terms of ideas, technology, finding information, understanding, time constarints etc.) about this activity?
What would you like more information on, or what would better help you to complete these tasks?
Conclusion
This so called 'migration crisis' is expected to continue indefinitely due to a myriad of factors. Poverty, civil war, lack of water, starvation and malnutrition, poor infrastructure, religious and ethnic persecution, displacement is but to name a few. What do you think are the main driving factors (push and pull); whay do you think this? What can we do as a nation, a region and a global community to solve this problem?