Key Idea 1.a: Global migration involves dynamic flow of people between countries,
regions and continents
Migration definition: according to the UN = a change of residence lasting more than
one year
Types of migrants:
• Economic Migrant: A person who moves from one place to another in order to improve
their standard of living, typically for employment or better economic opportunities. This
migration is often voluntary.
• Illegal Migrant: A person who moves to a country or region without legal authorization,
typically without the proper visa or immigration status. This can happen through border
crossings, overstaying visas, or entering without being inspected.
• Forced Migrant: A person who is compelled to migrate due to factors beyond their control,
such as war, persecution, or natural disasters. This is often a result of conditions that make
life unbearable in their place of origin.
• Domestic Migrant: A person who moves within the same country but from one region to
another, usually for work, family, or safety reasons. This type of migration does not cross
international borders.
• Internally Displaced Person (IDP): A person who has been forced to leave their home due
to conflict, violence, or disaster, but has not crossed an international border. They remain
within their own country.
• Voluntary Migrant: A person who chooses to move to a new location for reasons such as
better employment, education, or quality of life, as opposed to being forced or fleeing from
danger.
• International Migrant: A person who moves across national borders, typically for reasons
such as work, study, or refuge, whether voluntary or forced.
• Immigrant: A person who moves into a foreign country to live permanently or for an
extended period. Immigrants may seek better opportunities, family reunification, or safety.
• Emigrant: A person who leaves their home country to settle permanently or temporarily in
another country. The focus is on the departure from the origin country.
• Refugee: A person who has been forced to flee their home country due to fear of
persecution, war, or violence. Refugees seek safety in another country under international
protection.
• Asylum Seeker: A person who has left their home country and is seeking international
protection but has not yet been granted refugee status. Asylum seekers request asylum in
another country due to fear of persecution.
Remittances: money sent home by migrants
Simple Migration Model: globalization inextricably linked to migration
Push factors Pull factors
o Unemployment o jobs
o Poverty o family
o Political instability o higher wages
o Poor services o safety
o Natural disasters o education
, o Conflict and lack of opportunities o health care
o political freedoms
o better living conditions
o existing diaspora networks
Obstacles to this:
o distance + dangerous terrains
o cost
o visa restrictions + border controls
o language barriers
o lack of networks + misinformation
Migration changes over time (temporal patterns) + spatial patterns (regional vs across
the globe migration)
Example: Inter-regional Africa and Middle East →Europe
Push Factors (forced migration) Pull Factors (voluntary migration)
• Syrian civil war • better housing
• Racial discrimination • Employment with higher
• Unemployment and hyperinflation wages
• ISIS land grabs in the Middle East • Political stability
• Natural disasters • Better lifestyle
• Poverty and starvation on poor • Entertainment and technology
farmland • To be with friends and
• Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone relatives
• Persecution of girls by Boko Haram • Better healthcare and
• overpopulation education
• Improved prospects
• A more stable climate
Routes into Europe: mainly through boats
o Large volumes into Niger and then moving from there
o Arrive in Europe into Spain and Malta some through Ceuta and Melilla, the Canary
Islands and Bengasi (EU joint border controls)
o UN counts 1 million Syrian refugees have sought asylum in Europe between 2011
and 2017 (15 football fields)
o UN has registered over 5 million of Syrian refugees living in camps along the border
,Where are they going to?:
o 41% to Germany
o 16% to Sweden
o Strong economies, with large job opportunities + policies for asylum = more
lenient
Where are they coming from?:
o 45% from Syria
o Brutal civil war – displacement of a million people
o 25% from Afghanistan
o Human rights abuses
LEES MIGRATION MODEL:
Example: Intra-regional migration (EU)
Key facts:
• In 2023 1.5 million people resident in an EU country migrated to another EU country.
• 1.5 million people moved from EU to outside EU.
• 4.3 million people moved from non EU country to an EU country.
• Largest numbers of intra-EU migrants are found in the Germany at 5.33million and
UK at 2.88 million
, • Western European countries tend to be wealthier explaining the higher levels of
migrants due to their pull factor
• In contrast Eastern European states such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Croatia
have very small numbers of migrants from within the EU with the lowest being
30,000 in Lativia
• Overall, there is a West and North concentration of migrants
• More central and western Europe are all part of the G7 therefore more politically,
economically stable and safe
2012: the size of migration is explained by:
1. The Schengen Agreement signed in 1985:
o Established world’s largest free-travel area = abolishing internal border checks
covering 30 countries (26 of 27 EU members) = passport free movement
2. Recent EU expansion:
o 2004 Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland etc…
o 2007 Romania + Bulgaria
o 2013 Croatia
regions and continents
Migration definition: according to the UN = a change of residence lasting more than
one year
Types of migrants:
• Economic Migrant: A person who moves from one place to another in order to improve
their standard of living, typically for employment or better economic opportunities. This
migration is often voluntary.
• Illegal Migrant: A person who moves to a country or region without legal authorization,
typically without the proper visa or immigration status. This can happen through border
crossings, overstaying visas, or entering without being inspected.
• Forced Migrant: A person who is compelled to migrate due to factors beyond their control,
such as war, persecution, or natural disasters. This is often a result of conditions that make
life unbearable in their place of origin.
• Domestic Migrant: A person who moves within the same country but from one region to
another, usually for work, family, or safety reasons. This type of migration does not cross
international borders.
• Internally Displaced Person (IDP): A person who has been forced to leave their home due
to conflict, violence, or disaster, but has not crossed an international border. They remain
within their own country.
• Voluntary Migrant: A person who chooses to move to a new location for reasons such as
better employment, education, or quality of life, as opposed to being forced or fleeing from
danger.
• International Migrant: A person who moves across national borders, typically for reasons
such as work, study, or refuge, whether voluntary or forced.
• Immigrant: A person who moves into a foreign country to live permanently or for an
extended period. Immigrants may seek better opportunities, family reunification, or safety.
• Emigrant: A person who leaves their home country to settle permanently or temporarily in
another country. The focus is on the departure from the origin country.
• Refugee: A person who has been forced to flee their home country due to fear of
persecution, war, or violence. Refugees seek safety in another country under international
protection.
• Asylum Seeker: A person who has left their home country and is seeking international
protection but has not yet been granted refugee status. Asylum seekers request asylum in
another country due to fear of persecution.
Remittances: money sent home by migrants
Simple Migration Model: globalization inextricably linked to migration
Push factors Pull factors
o Unemployment o jobs
o Poverty o family
o Political instability o higher wages
o Poor services o safety
o Natural disasters o education
, o Conflict and lack of opportunities o health care
o political freedoms
o better living conditions
o existing diaspora networks
Obstacles to this:
o distance + dangerous terrains
o cost
o visa restrictions + border controls
o language barriers
o lack of networks + misinformation
Migration changes over time (temporal patterns) + spatial patterns (regional vs across
the globe migration)
Example: Inter-regional Africa and Middle East →Europe
Push Factors (forced migration) Pull Factors (voluntary migration)
• Syrian civil war • better housing
• Racial discrimination • Employment with higher
• Unemployment and hyperinflation wages
• ISIS land grabs in the Middle East • Political stability
• Natural disasters • Better lifestyle
• Poverty and starvation on poor • Entertainment and technology
farmland • To be with friends and
• Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone relatives
• Persecution of girls by Boko Haram • Better healthcare and
• overpopulation education
• Improved prospects
• A more stable climate
Routes into Europe: mainly through boats
o Large volumes into Niger and then moving from there
o Arrive in Europe into Spain and Malta some through Ceuta and Melilla, the Canary
Islands and Bengasi (EU joint border controls)
o UN counts 1 million Syrian refugees have sought asylum in Europe between 2011
and 2017 (15 football fields)
o UN has registered over 5 million of Syrian refugees living in camps along the border
,Where are they going to?:
o 41% to Germany
o 16% to Sweden
o Strong economies, with large job opportunities + policies for asylum = more
lenient
Where are they coming from?:
o 45% from Syria
o Brutal civil war – displacement of a million people
o 25% from Afghanistan
o Human rights abuses
LEES MIGRATION MODEL:
Example: Intra-regional migration (EU)
Key facts:
• In 2023 1.5 million people resident in an EU country migrated to another EU country.
• 1.5 million people moved from EU to outside EU.
• 4.3 million people moved from non EU country to an EU country.
• Largest numbers of intra-EU migrants are found in the Germany at 5.33million and
UK at 2.88 million
, • Western European countries tend to be wealthier explaining the higher levels of
migrants due to their pull factor
• In contrast Eastern European states such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Croatia
have very small numbers of migrants from within the EU with the lowest being
30,000 in Lativia
• Overall, there is a West and North concentration of migrants
• More central and western Europe are all part of the G7 therefore more politically,
economically stable and safe
2012: the size of migration is explained by:
1. The Schengen Agreement signed in 1985:
o Established world’s largest free-travel area = abolishing internal border checks
covering 30 countries (26 of 27 EU members) = passport free movement
2. Recent EU expansion:
o 2004 Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland etc…
o 2007 Romania + Bulgaria
o 2013 Croatia
