LETTERS: Market functionality demands unimpeded cross-border movement of goods and services, as well as capital and labour.
Labour mobility, in particular, has always been a subject of increasing study for economists, geographers, historians, scientists, politicians and town planners, among others.
Migrant workers contribute to the growth and development in their countries of destination. Their countries of origin also benefit greatly from the remittances and skills acquired during their migration experience.
Though the pattern of development and social structures influence most labour migration, uneven development seems to be the main reason underlying migration, as well as other factors such as poverty, lack of employment opportunities, large family size, natural calamities and fragmentations of land.
Migration is defined as the permanent or semi-permanent change of place of residence from one administrative unit (district, state, province and country) to another.
The search for a new geographical area and location to satisfy subsistent needs is an essential part of mankind's history, from the trek of nomadic tribes to the mobility of corporate managers.
Today, in search of a better life, many illegal migrations have ended up in disaster.
One such case involved Indonesian migrants who drowned after their vessel capsized due to bad weather near Tanjung Balau, Kota Tinggi, Johor on Dec 15, last year.
Meanwhile, the cross from Africa to Europe through what has been dubbed the "deadliest border in the world" — the Mediterranean Sea — is also an eyesore.
Despite the risks and dangers, the International Organisation for Migration says the number of people crossing has doubled in the first half of last year to an estimated 77,000.
One is tempted to ask: Should migration be a do-or-die affair?
Nearly every part of the illegal journey a migrant makes across the Mediterranean Sea or the Sahara Desert is filled with peril.
All over the world, the present conditions of modern industrial life suggests that considerable population mobility of people will continue because of bad economic conditions in some countries.
Unfortunately, these desperate migrants are transported across borders through a vast illegal network. Their smugglers and agents carry out roll calls at regular intervals during a long-convoluted itinerary to confirm every migrant's journey has been fully paid.
Findings also show that most migrants pay "agents", the shady middlemen who make all the initial travel arrangements at the start of their journey to Europe and other destinations.
The agents, however, do not always pay the smugglers the full amount, so when migrants are duped by agents and become stranded along the way, things turn ugly.
There is this popular saying: "The stranger is blind even if his two eyes are widely open."
This always makes me ask, is migration a do-or-die affair?
DR IBRAHEEM MIKAIL ABIOLA
International Islamic, University Malaysia, Research Fellow, Centre for Migration Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times