"Impact of emigration on the emigrantand on the host countryEmigration is a complex global phenomenon and a fact of life in the 21st century. It is acquiringmonstrous proportions with each passing day as people emigrate for various reasons rangingfrom economic scarcity, political strife, natural disasters, lack of educational and growthopportunities, and a slowing job market in their countries of origin and the basic human desire tobring about a qualitative transformation in conditions of life. The civil war in Syria and thegeneral political turmoil in the Middle East are only exacerbating the situation. Emigration is largely a one-way movement from the developing and under-developed countriesto the developed economies. It has traditionally been a gateway to a better standard of living,especially in light of the huge disparity of incomes between the developed and developing world.Countries such as the USA, Argentina and Brazil have a large chunk of immigrant populationsfor historical reasons. There has been a recent spike in the wave of emigrants heading westwardsand northwards in wake of the Syrian crisis, with many European countries, including Britain,Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Sweden having to bear the brunt. st Every 1 world country, whether it is the USA or its European counterparts, is intent on eitherdeporting migrants, making the asylum laws more difficult, or shutting down the borders a laMexican border proposed by the Trump regime in the United States. There have been horrorstories of people dying in the desert or at sea and evoking absolutely no concern on the part ofthe international community. One shudders to recollect the sight of the lifeless body of a young boy washed up on the beach as the Syrian family was attempting to escape the horrors of warback home and reach Canadian shores. Emigration is a double-edged sword as it impacts both the emigrant and the host country.Emigrants largely belong to the lower strata of society and this causes a strain on the economiesof the receiving countries. Due to the inflow of immigrants, the host countries are facing myriadproblems ranging from a surge in their population to pressure on their social security andemployment systems. Unemployment could rise as the incomers would compete with thedomestic population for jobs. There could be an increase in organized crime and peopletrafficking. Increasing radicalization of some members of the immigrant population is alsoposing a threat to national security of the host countries. The cultural differences also lead to anundeniable rift in the social fabric. No matter, the European street has been gripped in recenttimes by a climate of strong opposition bordering on open hostility towards the emigrants andthis has in fact has become a central issue in their domestic elections.The impact of emigration on the emigrants is far bleaker. The emigrants have to often leave theirkith and kin, and broken families in their wake, in the hope of a better times in an uncertainfuture. In the country of their adoption, they are subjected to racial slurs on the social front andexploitation by opportunistic employers. The challenges of adjusting to an alien culture andlifestyle can even be daunting for the most courageous and well equipped. The fact that many ofthe emigrants do not have the privilege of education can only make the socio-culturalacclimatization and access to job opportunities so much the more difficult. Very often, they areunable to integrate themselves in their new societies and are thus relegated to the margins ofsociety. The international community is attempting to tackle the migration conundrum. The 2006 High- level Dialogue on International Migration and Development and the subsequent creation of theGlobal Forum on Migration and Development have been steps in the right direction. The SecondGeneral Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in 2013,the preparations for the post-2015 United Nations Development Agenda as well as the 2014special session of the General Assembly on the implementation of the Programme of Action ofthe International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014 also constituteimportant milestones in addressing the migration challenges. The International Convention onthe Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which cameinto force in July 2003 is aimed at protecting the migrant workers and their families fromexploitation. The journey has only begun and a lot still needs to be done to counter the impact ofemigration both on the emigrant and on the host country."