This question can have many answers. The Get up and goals! Project has chosen four fundamental social and didactic reasons to address this issue at school.
First of all, it is necessary to provide students with the real data and figures on this phenomenon, and to remove it from the halo of negativity that accompanies it, also because of inappropriate political exploitation.
- Migrations have characterized the presence of homo sapiens on Earth since its appearance and constitute an ineluctable factor of transformation. The world as we know it today has been built through the movements of women and men, both in ancient times and in recent periods. These displacements are at the root of the constant evolutions of the global societies in which we live.
- In recent years, the media industry has contributed to a climate of suspicion, open hostility and conflict towards the migration phenomenon, often presented as an "invasion". By stimulating a critical reasoning, schools help correct these distortions and indicate more responsible and ethically objective sources of information.
- As European societies become more multicultural, the study of migratory phenomena becomes more important, considering the factors pushing people to leave their countries of origin, often marked by the European colonial presence, and the attraction factors of the countries of destination. Such understanding can help promote respect for diversity and strengthen social cohesion.
- Although migration causes problems in the countries of origin, such as the loss of qualified personnel, and causes feelings of insecurity in the countries of destination, often amplified by the media, it also produces benefits for the host countries, such as new ideas, more wealth, more workers... and implies benefits for the country of origin, such as remittances sent by those who emigrate.