I have a feeling that these days, when an Englishman walks the streets of London, he is sometimes made to feel that he is a tourist- strolling the streets of an Indian city, an African city or an Asian City, all depending on which London streets he is in. I was surprised to see that many immigrants when I first came to Stockholm, but London surprised me more as a melting pot. Sitting in a bus, you can hear spattering of different languages. In several occasions, I heard Malaysian-styled Hokkien, and this made me feel like I am in Penang.
Europe’s welcome is due to it’s low birth rate and also it’s dire need for talents. Migrants has been coming in steady streams since centuries ago, but in recent years, due to globalization, it has boomed heavily. They come not only from other continents but from Europe’s East to West, according to a UN report,
Between 1970 and 1980, the rich world took about one million migrants a year from poor countries. During the next 43 years, immigration will run at more than twice that level and approach 2.3 million every year from now until 2050.
Of these migrants, some 400,000 will leave Africa every year and about 1.2 million will emigrate from Asia. The gap in wealth and opportunity between the rich and poor worlds will be the most significant “pull factor” behind this change. But the pressure exerted by rapidly rising populations in developing countries will also be an important underlying cause.
Looking at the population trend, it’s saddening for some countries that the population will continue to fall by such big percentage. Without the needed manpower, it will be very hard for the economy to develop, unless of course, they too, choose to take in migrants from other parts of the world.
Bulgaria’s population will fall by 35 per cent by 2050. Ukraine’s will plummet by 33 per cent, Russia’s by one quarter and Poland’s by one fifth. There will be 10 per cent fewer Germans and seven per cent fewer Italians.
Image source : United Nations