Ani Amiryan Geography 102 September 27, 2013

Push and Pull factors of migration

Have you ever wondered why humans like you and I live at the locations that we live in today? Why millions of people around the world continue to make a perilous journey across thousands of kilometers of ocean? It’s actually quite fascinating to understand and learn the reasons behind why humans travel all around the world, permanently changing their place of residency including where they sleep, store their possessions, and receive legal documents. I found the idea of migration so interesting that I decided to interview both of my parents about their own personal story behind them migrating to the United States from their homeland, Armenia. And I must say, the more I learned about why we are where we are as a family, got me to ask more and more questions about why we left Armenia in the first place. As I began to interview my parents about their migration from Armenia to the Unites States I learned that due to many, many other reasons, the absence of economic opportunity was the number one reason why they chose to leave Armenia and instead migrate here, to the US where, the promise of a better life, better future had no limitations.

“A lack of economic opportunity and jobs tend to push people to look out of their area of origin for their futures.”(Riley) Ever since I was a little girl, living in the US, my father used to alway tell me that his goal in life was to live in a world where his children and his family had a bright future. As I began asking my father why he migrated to California, he gave me that smirk and said “remember what I would always tell you, there is no reason why you and your brother can not go to school, become someone successful, and live a better future.”Boy, was my father right! “The United States and Canada have been especially prominent destinations for economic migrants.”(Rubenstein, 94) I personally love America and it’s endless opportunities given to individuals from different parts of the world, and I couldn’t have asked to live in any other country than America. My father came to the United States in the year 1996 from a small city in Armenia called Abovyan. In the late 1980’s, as the Soviet Union’s disintegration neared, Armenia gradually grew into an increasingly violent conflict between ethnic Armenians and ethnic Azerbaijanis, resulting in claims of ethnic cleansing by both sides. The circumstances of the dissolution of the Soviet Union facilitated an Armenian separatist movement in Azerbaijan. Manly problems started to arise during this time, causing the country to not only become smaller in size and in population but it also created a lot of problems financially and economically. For example, the use of electricity, water, and gas became less fortunate to thousands of Armenians living in Armenia. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard my father explaining to me how living in a house full of 8 people, including my aunts and uncles and grandparents, we had to share taking showers because during this time, hot water was only turned on and given to the people living in Armenia only twice a day. One