From Schengen to Lisbon

Abstract

The complex phenomenon of migration has always accompanied human existence, concerning movements of entire populations or tribes migrating to different regions in the hope of finding better living conditions. Precarious living standards, a climate of violence and wars, environmental degradation, economic prospects of misery, and a growing gap between poorer and richer countries form the basis of the complexity that characterizes this phenomenon. Migratory movements involve the movement of millions of people every year from one place to another around the world; according to the UNHCR, as many as 5% of the world's population are migrants, with millions of people uprooted from their places of residence and life, including millions of refugees outside their country of origin, as well as millions of internally displaced people who have fled war and persecution including several million asylum seekers.