igration has provided millions an escape from poverty, coercion and conflict. Every day, all over the world, people make one of the most difficult decision of leaving their homes in search of a safer and better life. These journeys, which all start with the hope for a better future, can be dangerous.

Causes of migration from ancient times to recent ones and issues around migration including refugees and asylum seekers, settlement, brain drain and trafficking have been discussed at length.

The World Migration Report 2020 revealed that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world that year – nearly 3.6 percent of the global population. Most people in the world have had the experience of leaving the place where they grew up. Maybe they will only move as far as the next village or city. But some people need to leave their country, sometimes for a short time, but sometimes forever. Approximately 31 percent of international migrants worldwide reside in Asia.

The Covid-19 pandemic has stressed the connections between migration and mobility, with the disease-related travel restrictions resulting in hundreds of millions of people being unable to travel for months on end. Thousands of migrants were stuck in need of assistance. The results can be observed in economic, social, cultural, political and demographic challenges. Understanding changes in scale, emerging trends and shifting demographics-related issues to global social and economic transformations can help us make sense of the changing world we live in and plan for the future.

Women comprise slightly less than half of the international migrant population, yet the gender-specific social and cultural norms affect women and girl migrants more adversely than men. A greater understanding of migration as a gendered phenomenon can enable states to better protect migrant women and girls from gender-based discrimination, abuse and violence. Between 2018 and 2021, an average of between 350,000 and 400,000 children per year were born into a refugee life.

Turkey currently hosts the largest number of refugees, with 3.8 million people. Colombia is second with more than 1.8 million, including displaced Venezuelans. The majority are refugees of the Syrian Civil War, numbering 3,591,892 as of June 2020. In 2018, the UNHCR reported that Turkey hosted 63.4 percent of all registered Syrian refugees. The war in Ukraine has caused the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. The number of people who have fled Ukraine has reached 2.5 million. Nearly 2 million are thought to be displaced within the country, according to the UNHCR.

Promoting global peace and prosperity, managing calamity and disasters, and ensuring political stability and safety are affirming steps to address the challenges of global, regional and internal migrations.

Pakistan began admitting nearly three million Afghan refugees in 1979, before and after the start of the Soviet-Afghan War. By the end of 2001, there were over four million refugees in Pakistan. Most have returned to Afghanistan since 2002, but 1,282,901 registered refugees remain in Pakistan as of May 2022. Currently, Pakistan is one of the top 10 emigration countries in the world.

Migration and urbanisation have had strong effects on the economy and the development of Pakistan, including changes in labour market opportunities, family structures, education, health and environment management, security systems and governance. Since 1980, the number of people living in urban areas has increased more than threefold, from 22.4 million to 75.6 million in 2017. It is estimated that the urban population is likely to increase from 32 percent as of the 1998 Census to 50 percent by 2030.

Limited employment opportunities, low rates of investment in infrastructure in the public sector and instability of the agricultural industry are causing a large migration of rural populations to major urban centres.

There is evidence that natural disasters, climate change and conflict are contributing factors to internal migration. The floods of 2010 placed large numbers of farmers in vulnerable positions, forcing some to move to the cities for alternative work. The War on Terror and cross-border terrorism have, unfortunately, had major consequences for internal migration.

Internal migration in the country is causing problems of poor sanitation system and quality of drinking water. Pollution is another outcome of haphazard and unplanned urbanisation. Researchers found that due to migration from rural to urban areas, life in the city is adversely affected. When a large number of people migrate from their regions to other people’s region, the culture also migrates with them. The impact of culture in any region has an impact on the people who are living there. Many impacts come into the existence of the change in language, costume, food, ritual, festival, marriage, profession, art, music and literature.

Pakistan has faced a series of displacement crises due to natural disasters and armed conflict in recent years. Moreover, 19 million people have been displaced by earthquakes and flooding during the past seven years. These refugees and migrants have also suffered the negative economic impacts of lockdown and travel restrictions in recent years. In addition to that, income loss and healthcare insecurity may have particularly affected labour migrants. They may have also experienced legal and social insecurity caused by the postponement of decisions on migration status or a reduction of employment, legal and administrative services.

Migration is a consequence of uneven distribution of opportunities. People tend to move from a place of low opportunity and low safety to a place of higher opportunity and better safety. Results can be observed in economic, social, cultural, political and demographic terms. Promoting global peace and prosperity, managing calamity and disasters and ensuring political stability and safety are affirming steps to address the challenges of global, regional and internal migrations.

The writer is a    playwright and freelance journalist. He can be reached at   pashajaved1@gmail.com and his blogging site: soulandland.com