Migration
I. Vocabulary:
- Migration: permanent change of residence of an individual/group of
individuals for one year or more
- International migration: movement of one country to another for the
minimum of one year
- Emigrant: leaving a country
- Immigrant: moving into a country
- Internal migration: move from one place to another within a country for
minimum of one year
- Out migration: movement of internal migrants out of a region of a
country
- In migration: movement of internal migrants into a region of a country
- Net migration: balance between people moving into a region/country
and people moving out
- Source area: place where migrants have come from
- Destination area: place where migrants are going to
- Host country: receiving areas for international migrants
- Push factors: negative things that migrants want to escape from that
force them to leave an area
- Pull factors: advantages that an area offers drawing migrants to an area
- Barriers to movement: difficulties that a migrant will face when making a
journey
- Distance decay: when number of migrants declines as distance between
source and destination increases
- Remittances: money sent home by the migrants
- Migration stream: migrants that share a common source and destination
area, forma chain of people moving in the same direction
- Voluntary migration: when migrants choose to move from one area to
another
- Refugee: people who are forced to migrate
- Economic migrants: people who move to gain better standard of living
usually for work
- Forced migration: when people have no alternative than to move
- Asylum seeker: people who seek protection from persecution in another
country but has yet to be recognized as a refugee
- Illegal immigrant: person that moves without permission and has no
legal status in that country
,- Rural-urban migration: someone moving from the countryside to a
town/city
- Chain migration: when the movement of people from an area causes
more people (family) to follow that area via word of mouth
- Step migration: when a move from a rural village to a large city is done
in stages
- Counter-urbanisation: moves from town/city to the countryside
- Inter-urban migration: when people move between different urban
areas
- Intra-urban migration: when people move within an urban area
,II. Content
1. Historical causes of migration
- Nomadic pastoralism and shifting cultivation, practised by traditional
societies, are examples of primitive migration.
- The slave trade, which involved the relocation of 15 million people from
Africa to the Americas, was the largest case of forced migration in
history.
- Recent examples of forced migration include:
+) ‘Ethnic cleansing’ policies seen in Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar
to Bangladesh
+) The expulsion of Asians from Uganda in the 1970s under the rule of Idi
Amin.
+) The persecution of Bosnians by Serbian forces during the Bosnian War
(1992-1995).
2. Why do people migrate?
- E.S. Lee’s ‘Principles of Migration’ (1966) set out four categories of
factors that influence the decision to migrate:
+) Those associated with the place of origin.
+) Those associated with the place of destination.
+) Intervening obstacles which lie between the two places.
+) Personal factors that moderate the above.
- Intervening obstacles may include distance, means and cost of
transportation and legal restraints (immigration and visa laws).
- Positive and negative factors at origin and destination may vary
considerably between individuals (e.g. hot climate).
- Factors may also be influenced by age, health and financial status.
3. The challenges of urban growth and housing provision in urban areas
- As more and more of the world’s population lives in urban areas, access
to housing has become a growing concern.
, - This is not because housing is necessarily difficult to find in urban areas,
but because the rates of urbanisation and the availability of appropriate
housing do not match.
- The majority of people living in the cities of the Global South (where
rates of urban growth are highest) are poor. Governments are unable or
unwilling to provide sufficient housing, and private sector housing
provision is too expensive for most households.
- Given this housing gap, poor urban households have developed their
own solutions. These often include what have been termed ‘squatter
settlements’ where households occupy land and build their own houses.
- While housing quality and access to services may be limited, such
opportunities are key in providing millions of people shelter.
4. Different studies of migration
- The Harris-Todaro Model
+) Aims to explain rural-urban migration in developing countries.
+) The model highlights the importance of individuals using a ‘cost-
benefit’ method when making their decision to migrate.
+) The expected income a migrant can earn in urban areas is the key
influence.
- Stark’s ‘New Economics of Migration’ Model
+) Emphasises the role of the ‘household’ or family in the decision
making.
+) Family obligations are crucial for internal and international migration.
+) Remittances (money sent home by migrants) is a key aspect.
- Marxist theories of migration
+) Explores migration driven by the need for cheap labour within
capitalist economies driven by states and institutions.
- Structuralist theories of migration
I. Vocabulary:
- Migration: permanent change of residence of an individual/group of
individuals for one year or more
- International migration: movement of one country to another for the
minimum of one year
- Emigrant: leaving a country
- Immigrant: moving into a country
- Internal migration: move from one place to another within a country for
minimum of one year
- Out migration: movement of internal migrants out of a region of a
country
- In migration: movement of internal migrants into a region of a country
- Net migration: balance between people moving into a region/country
and people moving out
- Source area: place where migrants have come from
- Destination area: place where migrants are going to
- Host country: receiving areas for international migrants
- Push factors: negative things that migrants want to escape from that
force them to leave an area
- Pull factors: advantages that an area offers drawing migrants to an area
- Barriers to movement: difficulties that a migrant will face when making a
journey
- Distance decay: when number of migrants declines as distance between
source and destination increases
- Remittances: money sent home by the migrants
- Migration stream: migrants that share a common source and destination
area, forma chain of people moving in the same direction
- Voluntary migration: when migrants choose to move from one area to
another
- Refugee: people who are forced to migrate
- Economic migrants: people who move to gain better standard of living
usually for work
- Forced migration: when people have no alternative than to move
- Asylum seeker: people who seek protection from persecution in another
country but has yet to be recognized as a refugee
- Illegal immigrant: person that moves without permission and has no
legal status in that country
,- Rural-urban migration: someone moving from the countryside to a
town/city
- Chain migration: when the movement of people from an area causes
more people (family) to follow that area via word of mouth
- Step migration: when a move from a rural village to a large city is done
in stages
- Counter-urbanisation: moves from town/city to the countryside
- Inter-urban migration: when people move between different urban
areas
- Intra-urban migration: when people move within an urban area
,II. Content
1. Historical causes of migration
- Nomadic pastoralism and shifting cultivation, practised by traditional
societies, are examples of primitive migration.
- The slave trade, which involved the relocation of 15 million people from
Africa to the Americas, was the largest case of forced migration in
history.
- Recent examples of forced migration include:
+) ‘Ethnic cleansing’ policies seen in Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar
to Bangladesh
+) The expulsion of Asians from Uganda in the 1970s under the rule of Idi
Amin.
+) The persecution of Bosnians by Serbian forces during the Bosnian War
(1992-1995).
2. Why do people migrate?
- E.S. Lee’s ‘Principles of Migration’ (1966) set out four categories of
factors that influence the decision to migrate:
+) Those associated with the place of origin.
+) Those associated with the place of destination.
+) Intervening obstacles which lie between the two places.
+) Personal factors that moderate the above.
- Intervening obstacles may include distance, means and cost of
transportation and legal restraints (immigration and visa laws).
- Positive and negative factors at origin and destination may vary
considerably between individuals (e.g. hot climate).
- Factors may also be influenced by age, health and financial status.
3. The challenges of urban growth and housing provision in urban areas
- As more and more of the world’s population lives in urban areas, access
to housing has become a growing concern.
, - This is not because housing is necessarily difficult to find in urban areas,
but because the rates of urbanisation and the availability of appropriate
housing do not match.
- The majority of people living in the cities of the Global South (where
rates of urban growth are highest) are poor. Governments are unable or
unwilling to provide sufficient housing, and private sector housing
provision is too expensive for most households.
- Given this housing gap, poor urban households have developed their
own solutions. These often include what have been termed ‘squatter
settlements’ where households occupy land and build their own houses.
- While housing quality and access to services may be limited, such
opportunities are key in providing millions of people shelter.
4. Different studies of migration
- The Harris-Todaro Model
+) Aims to explain rural-urban migration in developing countries.
+) The model highlights the importance of individuals using a ‘cost-
benefit’ method when making their decision to migrate.
+) The expected income a migrant can earn in urban areas is the key
influence.
- Stark’s ‘New Economics of Migration’ Model
+) Emphasises the role of the ‘household’ or family in the decision
making.
+) Family obligations are crucial for internal and international migration.
+) Remittances (money sent home by migrants) is a key aspect.
- Marxist theories of migration
+) Explores migration driven by the need for cheap labour within
capitalist economies driven by states and institutions.
- Structuralist theories of migration
