Increase in Long-term Migration

Long-term international migration is on the rise. While war and famine will always displace people geopolitical issues and the need to make more money are also powerful motivators for people to make the move to another country. Indeed most developed countries now have a large portion of foreigners living in their country due to the trend of long-term migration.

Data

In the UK alone there are several agencies that produce migration data to show immigration and emigration and from they produce the result of net migration. Most of these are produced annually and according to Migration watch to the year ending March 2017, there was a net migration figure of 246,000. The problem with these figures is that they generally only reflect short-term trends, finding data for the long-term is a little trickier, though the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) puts the immigrant population as 3.5 million in the UK.

UK Outlook

The outlook for the UK is a little unclear at present. In 2016 the UK held a referendum on leaving the European Union, a trading bloc of European countries on things such as commerce and movement of people. The UK marginally voted to leave the Union, the result caused a huge shift in the politics of the UK and has left uncertainty hanging over the heads of many of the current EU citizens living in the UK who may lose their automatic right to live there.

Though in recent times their status appears to have been clarified, it will not stop people worrying that their future prosperity could rely on the whim of trade negotiations and the UK must do more to protect them. Aside from that, the future appears to be somewhat bright for the UK as it is a world-leader in many developing fields as well as financial services.

Global outlook

The global outlook seems also uncertain. With Donald Trump continuing his war of words with North Korea's Kim Jong-Un the potential for nuclear war has never been so high. There are also issues surrounding climate change that is impacting low-lying and often poor countries that cannot protect themselves from rising sea levels and increases in freak weather occurrences. Also, continued friction in the Middle East means that refugee crises from areas such as Syria will continue to affect the movement of people.

The joint effect of these huge events means that migration is only likely to increase going forward as people seek a safe haven from one or more of the potential crises that could break out.

How we can help

Whilst we can't mitigate against a nuclear war we can help you to move to another country. Our immigration solicitors can give you advice and offer services on all matter of immigration-related matters. So why not get in touch today and see what we can do for you?