The Right to Migrate... Danger

A person who has to migrate for survival

risks their life on the journey.

Survivors of a journey from North Africa, who never made their destination of Italy,
tell of their ordeals at sea.

This is the story of three Ethiopians who faced high seas between Libya and Italy.

Tunisians who survived the journey 

on the shores of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy,

(2/11/2011)

All humans need the Right to Migrate across Earth.

At the moment, thousands of people of Northern Mali are migrating
to their neighbor countries of Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
The United Nations launched an emergency operation
providing food and shelter.

The Right to Migrate... Security

There's a lot of people moving around.

The U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, documents 33.9 million persons as refugees---

10.5 million refugees are of immediate concern to the UNHCR (2011).

26 million people were internally displaced (within their own country).

Half of all these numbers are children.

These people are statistical numbers---

only estimates that are hard to collect.

These migrating people seek refuge.
The need to migrate is about security.

Centuries ago, cave people had to migrate due to basic survival needs

like food and water, or to escape enemies.

21st century people still migrate for these same reasons.



Migrating to safety, crossing bridges, borders, and even blog margins.

 Safety means security.

Two examples.

1) In 2011, escaping Somalians crossed, by foot or donkey cart,

into eastern Ethiopia or Kenya

to flee the drought-hit dry, cracked land of Somalia.

2) In Latin America, Colombia has the most fleeing refugees,

escaping from those who want to harm them,

numbering around 4 million people.

Migration supports the greater basic need: 

the Right to Security.

Migration is one of the 9 rights

found in the Sky of Stars constellation for Basic Survival Rights.

People just want to be safe and free.

The irony is that, often, the refugee moving into
another country threatens the Right to Security of the native citizen,
by a perceived threat to jobs, food, and other needs,
as well as an actual or perceived increase in crime.
Studies show, however, that refugees do not actually
take jobs from citizens, and actually increase the productivity,
innovation, and biodiversity of their adopted country.


Revision:  thanks to commenter SKT.

The Right to Migrate... Right to Biodiversity

The Right to Migration is a partner to the Right to Biodiversity.
Migration creates biodiversity.

And what's more beautiful than biodiversity?

Plants and animals migrated over centuries,

evolving into a variety of species through long-distance dispersal.

As they were carried by oceans or as seed on bird feathers,

some arrived on islands and evolved diverse traits to match their new habitats.

For example, it is estimated that some Galapagos Island animals

once migrated 600 miles over water from South America.

A similar isolated geographical location is the Hawaiian Islands.

Botanists note that the Hawaiian Violet (Viola langsdorfii) DNA 

is so close to the Alaskan species.

They believe there is a connection to the 50+ bird species that migrate

to Hawaii every year to escape the Artic winter.

But the specialized traits developed for the habitats of these isolated species

make their ability to compete for survival weak,

and today, invasive species threaten many of these species with extinction.

In fact, there are more endangered species in Hawaii than any other location on Earth:

"The Endangered Species Capital of the World."

There are 289 endangered plants in Hawaii.

The endangered crested honeycreeper is found only in the rainforest of East Maui.

It is dependent on the `ohia blossom nectar for food.

It is one of the birds studied and protected by The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.

An endangered Hawaiian plant:

Brighamia rockii. pua 'ala

The stem has a crown rosette of leaves.

Projects worldwide work hard to protect so many, many species.

Volunteer yourself and become a guardian.

Or maybe, take photos of the endangered species in your area

and donate them to ARKive.

Photo by Larry Etkin

Endangered Japanese cranes in a snow storm

portray the beauty of biodiversity.

The endangered Miami Blue butterfly.

Or maybe, get outside and do a butterfly count

for the North American Butterfly Association.

The Right to Migrate is supported

by the Right to Life for Humans and the Right to Food;

it is modified by the Right to Respect, the Right to Security,

and the Right to Cultural Heritage.

Biodiversity is supported by the Right to Life for all Species and the Right to Beauty.

Revision:  thanks to commenter Liz R.



The Right to Migrate

Migration is about survival.

Multitudes of birds migrate across the globe of Earth for food.

They prepare by adding fat and feathers,

 and they follow various "flyways"

using the sun and stars and magnetic fields as compass for direction.

Some fly high, some low, by day and night, some nonstop.
By season, annually.

Instead, the human species tries to stop other humans from migration.

It doesn't want to share land and food and jobs,

and it fears carried diseases.

Two different species.
Both migrate to survive.

I declare the Right to Migrate for all  beings.

The Right to Migrate

Every being shall have the right to migrate across the Earth.
I declare the Right to Migrate for all beings.

Migration happens.

But no international treaty asserts any right to migrate.

Voluntary migration happens when a being 

seeks a better life and/or to fulfill basic needs.

Involuntary migration happens to a being

due to evacuation, expulsion, and slavery.

Migration is so controversial because it is perceived

as having a direct impact on

the receiving country nationals'

Right to Security and Right to Work.

Some U.S. history:

The Immigration Reform Act of 1965

revised the 1921  system---70% of slots given to only 3 countries:

United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany---

 thus giving equal status to people of all nations,

based primarily on family reunification and needed skills.

International humanitarian work and globalization

are very related to the Right to Migrate,

especially in the case of refugees and migrating workers.

But many animals, birds, and insects migrate freely across the Earth.

Millions of monarch butterflies migrate

from Canada to central Mexico every year.