Why do people migrate?

Immigration has been on the UK's agenda for months. 

The government's biggest achievement is a set of new practices aimed at preventing illegal immigration… UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that they will remain committed to the plan to send migrants to Rwanda, even without complying with European Court of Human Rights rulings.

The anti-immigrant sentiment and far-right trend that have begun across all of Europe are, unfortunately, the trend of the day in the UK as well. 

The only propaganda source available to the government, which is preparing for local elections first and then general elections at the end of the year, is immigration. Among the laws that will soon come into effect are clauses that are likely to do more harm than good. 

The government, which won the elections with promises to 'reduce the number of incoming migrants,' has increased marriage, work, and other visa fees and tightened rules because it is struggling to prevent illegal arrivals. It has created difficulties not for those arriving by boat, but for those arriving with visas. 

Within the framework of all these developments, I asked my friend Murat Mete Metin, a political science expert and visa consultant who has lived in the UK for over 30 years, about these ongoing events. He approached the situation from an interesting perspective. 

Metin approaches the term 'illegal' as follows; “They are trying illegal routes, but there is no legal way to flee a war zone and migrate to the UK! They are not letting these people into the UK with visas anyway. However, we can see the double standard when we compare it with the facilities provided to Ukrainian citizens!”

According to Metin, the main source of migration is the military operations carried out by EU countries—which follow the US's lead—despite not having United Nations authorization. Stating that the real culprits behind innocent civilians being forced to migrate after fleeing organizations supported by Europe and the US in the Middle East are the very states that do not want these migrants, Metin also made an interesting observation about the recent past:

“There is actually a tragic story in the UK, which is trying to prevent migrants from coming with new laws. In many fields, the British were not working, and migrants were doing those jobs. It is said that with these restrictions, the British will be able to do skilled jobs. However, the British rank 6th in education within their own country. Children of Chinese descent are in first place, and children of Indian descent are in second. Unfortunately, there are not enough British people who have the expertise and want to work. 100 thousand nurses have resigned in the last 3 years. The Minister of Labor said that the UK economy would be harmed due to the difficulties introduced.”

In other words, the populist rhetoric we are very accustomed to is being used as an election investment in almost every country in the world. At the end of our conversation, Metin claimed that the events causing migration in the world depend on the decisions of global powers and that even one wrong economic move can cause migration. I am quoting him exactly: 

“The ASML firm operating in the Netherlands was one of the largest companies in the world producing and selling computer chips. When we look at how the chip shortage currently plaguing the world emerged, the fact that this company cut its ties with China as a result of pressure from the US government comes to the fore. However, because China had previously ordered these machines that produce chips, it was not harmed by the end of the cooperation. It even copied this technology and started producing its own chips. China's copycat chips suddenly turned into the best chips in the world. 

ASML executives made the demand, “We listened to the US, but now we are at a loss; the US should cover our losses.” The US government, however, did not accept responsibility. Now you might ask, what does this have to do with migration! For example, this economic change causes a sector in Europe to collapse. Employees in this sector change jobs or cities, or perhaps even countries. Even such a small wave is a cause for migration... So, is it very surprising that the migration of people living in underdeveloped countries, caused by selling weapons and inciting wars there, turns into a tsunami rather than a wave?”