Religion and human migration

Last updated

Religion and human migration have been intertwined throughout history. [1] Religious demography changes are often the consequences, and sometimes the goals, resulting from mass migration to other territories. Often, political migration aims to establish a territory and governments biased towards and welcoming of sect members. Religious beliefs and practices have served as significant motivations for migration, with people seeking religious freedom or fleeing persecution. [2] This interaction of religion and migration has led to the spread and diversity of religions around the world, as well as the emergence of new religious practices and beliefs as people adapt to new environments and interact with different cultures.

Contents

Examples

Aliyah to Israel

Following Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl's call for Jewish settlement in Israel (at the time known as Palestine), thousands, and later millions, of Jews migrated to the then-Ottoman-ruled territory and established communal settlements called kibbutzim. [3] While the majority of early settlers who migrated were secular socialists, a larger segment of later settlers from Europe after the turnover of the territory to British occupation would be more religiously observant and would be driven by increasingly violent and state-supported antisemitism. During and after World War II, Jewish migrants fled to the territory en masse, despite British crackdowns on illegal immigration. Following independence in 1948, Israel has encouraged Jewish migration to the territory under the Law of Return.

Plymouth Colony

The Plymouth Colony was established in 1620 by a sect of English Dissenters. They fled first to the Netherlands following persecution by the English monarchy before moving to North America by boat. The migration, settlement and interaction with the Native peoples of Massachusetts would be celebrated in the present-day United States as Thanksgiving and a watershed moment for religious liberty on the continent.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established eight years after the Plymouth Colony by Puritans. One leader of the movement, John Winthrop, sought to establish a "city upon a hill" as an example for other colonies to follow, and Puritanism was enforced, at the expense of other religious movements, as the favored religion of the colony for the majority of its history until its merger with Plymouth and other nearby settlements in 1691 into the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Mormon migration to Utah

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were motivated to migrate from Nauvoo, Illinois to Utah due to both violent persecutions directed against the sect by Protestant citizens and government officials as well as a desire by Brigham Young to establish a Mormon majority territory that would be governed according to Mormon sensibilities and divine law. The Mormon population migrated to Utah in the late 19th century and established settlements, eventually drawing the ire of the United States government for some time, before the territory (also referred to colloquially as "Deseret") was integrated into the Territory of Utah.

Pakistan-India

In 1947, upon the Partition of India, large populations moved from India to Pakistan and vice versa, depending on their religious beliefs. The partition was promulgated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 as a result of the dissolution of the British Indian Empire. The partition displaced up to 12.5 million people in the former British Indian Empire, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million. [4] Muslim residents of the former British India migrated to Pakistan (including East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh), whilst Hindu and Sikh residents of Pakistan and Hindu residents of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) moved in the opposite direction.

In modern India, estimates based on industry sectors mainly employing migrants suggest that there are around 100 million circular migrants in India. Caste, social networks and historical precedents play a powerful role in shaping patterns of migration. Migration for the poor is mainly circular, as despite moving temporarily to urban areas, they lack the social security which might keep them there more permanently. They are also keen to maintain a foothold in home areas during the agricultural season.

Research by the Overseas Development Institute identifies a rapid movement of labour from slower- to faster-growing parts of the economy. Migrants can often find themselves excluded by urban housing policies, and migrant support initiatives are needed to give workers improved access to market information, certification of identity, housing and education. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of religion</span> Human right to practice, or not, a religion without conflict from governing powers

Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom to change one's religion or beliefs, "the right not to profess any religion or belief", or "not to practise a religion".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution</span> Systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, imprisonment, internment, fear or pain are all factors that may establish persecution, but not all suffering will necessarily establish persecution. The threshold of severity has been a source of much debate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Bay Colony</span> 1630–1691 English colony in North America

The Massachusetts Bay Colony, more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were in southern New England, with initial settlements on two natural harbors and surrounding land about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around Salem and Boston, north of the previously established Plymouth Colony. The territory nominally administered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony covered much of central New England, including portions of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partition of India</span> 1947 division of British India into independent India and Pakistan

The Partition of India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in Indian Subcontinent and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. The Dominion of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan—which at the time comprised two regions lying on either side of India—is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The partition was outlined in the Indian Independence Act 1947. The change of political borders notably included the division of two provinces of British India, Bengal and Punjab. The majority Muslim districts in these provinces were awarded to Pakistan and the majority non-Muslim to India. The other assets that were divided included the British Indian Army, the Royal Indian Navy, the Royal Indian Air Force, the Indian Civil Service, the railways, and the central treasury. Self-governing independent Pakistan and India legally came into existence at midnight on 14 and 15 August 1947 respectively.

Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated unequally due to their particular beliefs, either by the law or in institutional settings, such as employment or housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Pakistan</span> History and development of religion in Pakistan

The official religion of Pakistan is Islam, as enshrined by Article 2 of the Constitution, and is practised by approximately 96.47% of the country's population. The remaining less than 4% practice Hinduism, Christianity, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Sikhism and other religions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punjabi Hindus</span> Ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent

Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis and are natives of the Punjab region of the Indian Subcontinent. While Punjabi Hindus are mostly found in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh today, many have ancestry across the greater Punjab region, which was partitioned between India and Pakistan in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bihari Muslims</span> Adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Biharis

Bihari Muslims are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Biharis. They are geographically native to the region comprising the Bihar state of India, although there are significantly large communities of Bihari Muslims living elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent due to the Partition of British India in 1947, which prompted the community to migrate en masse from Bihar to East Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass migration</span>

Mass migration refers to the migration of large groups of people from one geographical area to another. Mass migration is distinguished from individual or small-scale migration; and also from seasonal migration, which may occur on a regular basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugees in India</span> Overview of legally registered refugees residing in India

Since its independence in 1947, India has accepted various groups of refugees from neighbouring countries, including partition refugees from former British Indian territories that now constitute Pakistan and Bangladesh, Tibetan refugees that arrived in 1959, Chakma refugees from present day Bangladesh in early 1960s, other Bangladeshi refugees in 1965 and 1971, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from the 1980s and most recently Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. In 1992, India was seen to be hosting 400,000 refugees from eight countries. According to records with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, as on January 1,2021, there were 58,843 Sri Lankan refugees staying in 108 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and 54 in Odisha and 72,312 Tibetan refugees have been living in India.

East Bengali Refugees are people who left East Bengal following the Partition of Bengal, which was part of the Independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. An overwhelming majority of these refugees and immigrants were Bengali Hindus. During the Bangladesh liberation war with West Pakistan, an estimated 10 million people of East Pakistan fled the country and took refuge in India particularly in the Indian states of West Bengal and Indian North East region, especially Tripura and Assam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640)</span> 1620-40 movement of English Puritans to the North American and Caribbean colonies

The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects from 1620 to 1640, declining sharply afterwards. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in the period of English Puritans to the New England colonies, starting with Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony. They came in family groups rather than as isolated individuals and were mainly motivated for freedom to practice their beliefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in the Thirteen Colonies</span> American religious persecution

The situation of the Catholic Church in the Thirteen Colonies was characterized by an extensive religious persecution originating from Protestant sects, which would barely allow religious toleration to Catholics living on American territory. Nonetheless, Catholics were a part of America's history from the beginning, especially in Maryland, a colony founded by Catholics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Puritans in North America</span> Aspect of history

In the early 17th century, thousands of English Puritans colonized North America, almost all in New England. Puritans were intensely devout members of the Church of England who believed that the Church of England was insufficiently reformed, retaining too much of its Roman Catholic doctrinal roots, and who therefore opposed royal ecclesiastical policy. Most Puritans were "non-separating Puritans" who did not advocate setting up separate congregations distinct from the Church of England; these were later called Nonconformists. A small minority of Puritans were "separating Puritans" who advocated setting up congregations outside the Church. The Pilgrims were a Separatist group, and they established the Plymouth Colony in 1620. Puritans went chiefly to New England, but small numbers went to other English colonies up and down the Atlantic.

Sindhis in India refer to a socio-ethnic group of people living in the republic of India, originating from Sindh. After the 1947 Partition of India into the dominions of new Muslim-majority Pakistan and remaining Hindu-majority India, a million non-Muslim Sindhis migrated to independent India. As per the 2011 census of India, there are 2,772,364 Sindhi speakers in India. However, this number does not include ethnic Sindhis who no longer speak the language.

Antisemitism in Pakistan is the presence of hostility and discrimination against Jews in Pakistan based on prejudices against the Jewish people and/or the religion of Judaism. Alongside the prevalence of general stereotypes, Jews are commonly subjected to negative views, feelings and rhetoric in Pakistan, most of which overlap with and are directly related to the antisemitic views prevalent throughout the Islamic world. Widely regarded as miserly within Pakistani Muslim circles, Jews residing in Pakistan have also faced periodic intolerance by the state, which has intensified since the Islamization period of the 1980s under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who propelled Pakistan towards the adoption of strict and highly-conservative Islamic practices and laws. The Jewish population of Pakistan has rapidly decreased since the state's founding and separation from neighbouring India in August 1947, and as of 2019 estimates, stands at less than 200 people amidst Pakistan's total population of over 200 million, the majority of whom are Muslims.

The Mirpuri diaspora constitutes individuals with an origin in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, now living outside that district. Migration from Mirpur started occurring in the 1920s, when many Mirpuris left for Bombay to work on merchant ships. During the partition of British India in 1947, many Mirpuri Hindus and Mirpuri Sikhs were forced to flee to cities in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. The construction of the Mangla Dam by the Pakistani Government in the 1960s caused many of Mirpuri Muslims to migrate to the United Kingdom to work as labourers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of human migration</span> Movement by people from one place to another over the course of history

Human migration is the movement by people from one place to another, particularly different countries, with the intention of settling temporarily or permanently in the new location. It typically involves movements over long distances and from one country or region to another.

Punjabi Christians are adherents of Christianity who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. They are one of the four main ethnoreligious communities of the historical Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent—split between India and Pakistan since 1947—with the others being Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus. Punjabi Christians are traditionally divided into various castes, and are largely descendants of Hindus who converted to Christianity during European colonial India, with the majority having converted during the British Raj.

References

  1. Condon, Stéphanie; Portes, Alejandro; DeWind, Josh (2007-01-01). "Rethinking migration. New theoretical and empirical perspectives". Population (French Edition). 62 (4): 861. doi:10.2307/20451057. ISSN   0032-4663.
  2. "Accommodating and Limiting Religion in the Military", Military Chaplains and Religious Diversity, Palgrave Macmillan, retrieved 2023-04-11
  3. Tal, Alon (2008-04-01). "Enduring Technological Optimism: Zionism's Environmental Ethic and Its Influence on Israel's Environmental History". Environmental History. 13 (2): 275–305. doi:10.1093/envhis/13.2.275. ISSN   1084-5453.
  4. Metcalf, Barbara; Metcalf, Thomas R. (2006), A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise Histories), Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xxxiii, 372, ISBN   0-521-68225-8.
  5. "Support for migrant workers: the missing link in India's development?". Overseas Development Institute. September 2008.