The Economical, Social and Political Impacts of Foreign Immigration in Tulkarem Governorate

This study addresses the issue of the economical, social and political impacts of foreign immigration in Tulkarem governorate, and has relied on a stratified, random sample that has been distributed on the migrants' families in Tulkarem. The size of the sample was 500 families, and the governorate itself has been divided into three parts (City and suburbs, villages and refugee camps). To achieve the goals of this study, the researcher used the statistical analysis in order to reach a quantitative measurement of the variables. The study consisted of six chapters each of which addressed one aspect of that phenomenon in order to understand it as a whole. The purpose of the study was to recognize the characteristics of the migrants regarding their demographic, economic, and social aspects, and the relationship of all that to the migration decision on one hand, and the impact of that on the population composition in the governorate on the other. The study also aimed to identify the reasons and motives behind the foreign migration in Tulkarem, in addition to the results of such migration, as well as to set visions that aim to reduce the foreign migration and its negative impacts on the region considering that the West Bank and Gaza were among the areas that contributed to the exportation of a lot of man power to the Arab and Gulf countries. Additionally, the man power migration phenomenon from the West Bank and Gaza has gone through two stages: The first one extends from 1948 until the June War of 1967, whereas the second one extends from the time when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 war to date. Through studying the characteristics of the migrants themselves, the study showed that the highest rate of migrants has been from the villages (54.2%) of the total population. The study also showed that the migrants fall into the age category ranging between 15-64 years old with a percentage of 72.2% of the population. The percentage of men to women ratio was close to 147.5 men for every 100 women. Regarding the educational level, the study showed that there is an increase in the percentage of migrants who hold university degrees (44.72%); most of the migrants work in the private sector and the governmental professions. Moreover, the study indicated that there are a number of impacts of foreign migration on the migrant himself, most notably the increase in the income of the migrant's family which has been ranked first among the most important economical impacts of such kind of migration. The acquisition of self-confidence and self-reliance were among the major social impacts of foreign migration on the migrant. However, the most notable of the political impacts on the migrant was his loss of the Palestinian identity, and the percentage of migrants who did not possess a Palestinian identity was close to 30.1%. Regarding the implications of foreign migration on the residence conditions in Tulkarem, the remittances from the migrants has helped their families improve their living conditions. Stone has constituted 28.08% of the materials used in construction before migration, whereas after migration the use of stones in construction has increased to reach 40.1%. Additionally, the different supplies and services have been provided to the migrants' families. Based on the results, the researcher presented a number of recommendations including: The necessity to develop the interest of research institutions in migration issues through conducting migration-related studies and surveys. It is also important to give the governmental and public institutions a chance to cooperate and activate their role to reduce foreign migration through making important decisions that would help achieve that goal, and by connecting education with development as well.