Migration

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MIGRATION

Requirements:

-Discuss the causes, processes, patterns and results of recent migratory flows

-Assess the consequences of economic migratory flows in LDCs and DCs

Recent = up to 40 years

Types of Migration

Voluntary and Involuntary migration

Voluntary migration:

-involves personal choice

Examples include employment opportunities, better climates (especially for retirees), personal relationships or social amenities

Involuntary migration:

Forced migration and impelled migration

E.g.s:

-Religious persecution: Christians being pushed out from Kano area in N.Nigeria by Muslims (majority)

-Wars that create refugees: Syrian conflict has displaced 3 million international refugees to neighbouring countries Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. (Also European countries such as Germany and Sweden)

-Racial discrimination: 60,000 Asians forced of Uganda by Idi Amin in the 1970s

-Famine: Irish potato famine 1841-1850: more than 1.3 million emigrated overseas.

-Natural disasters: e.g. eruption of Mount Soufriere in 1990s

Internal and International Migration

Temporary and permanent migration

-Temporary: can be classified as seasonal (employment, agricultural work) or periodic (holiday travel)

-Permanent: motivated by search for employment, retirement location, etc

Migration is a movement that usually refers to a permanent or temporary change in home. It includes movement between countries and within a country. (Waugh)

*note that natural increase of a country does NOT include migration. However, migrants do contribute to natural increase.

Net migration:

Difference between immigration and emigration

Major International Migration Patterns

South-south migration is as common as South-North migration

Growing percentage of migrants migrate from North-South

Majority of international migrants originate in the South (71%) but have to take into account that population in the South is much larger than the North

main driver of global migration trends

from 1990-2013, South-North migration doubled

South-North Migration

Prominent Migration Flows 2013

South-North

-Mexico to America is the world's largest corridor of international migration. In 2013 US hosted 13 mil migrants from Mexico

-Turkey - Germany and Algeria (former French colony) - France

-China, Philippines and India to US

South-South

-Ukraine to Russian Federation (bilateral flow)

-Bangladesh to Bhutan

-Afghanistan to Pakistan and Iran

North-South

-US to Mexico and South Africa

-Germany to Turkey

-Portugal to Brazil

-Italy to Argentina

North-North

-Germany to the US

-UK to Australia

-Canada, Korea and UK to the US

Afghanistan - Pakistan and Iran

Southern Asia (India) to oil-producing countries in Western Asia (India - UAE 2.9mil, India - Saudi Arabia 1.8mil)

South-South context, informal movements are likely to be more common and unrecorded

Causes of Migration

Top five remittance corridors

South-North migration:

-US > Mexico

-UAE > India

-US > China

-US > Philippines

(US is the top remittance-sending country)

North-North:

-France > Belgium

-France >Spain (vice-versa)

-US >Germany

Australia>UK

South-South:

-India Bangladesh

-Malaysia > Indonesia

-Russia Ukraine

North-South:

-Turkey > Germany

-Argentina > Spain

-Mexico > USA

-Belarus > Poland

-Kazakhstan > Germany

PULL FACTORS

Economic Opportunity

-growing demand for skilled labour in emerging economies in the South

emerging African and Latin American economies

BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa

Incomes in sending and host country converge:

2001 study initially estimated 335,000 to move west each year but numbers are expected to drop below 150,000 after 10 years as incomes converge

North-South Migration

in the South

PUSH FACTORS

Economic

-Financial and economic crisis in the North

2008 Financial Crisis

-1/2 of 1.3 million East Europeans returned home from Britain by end 2008 due to unemployment

-Sharp drop in immigrant flow to America, figures in 2008 were 1/2 of that in 2000

Reasons for return migration to North:

-e.g. Polish currency strengthened against the pound

-Government in Spain offered lump-sum advances of unemployment benefits to encourage migrant workers to return home

Expansion of Global Companies

-Part of the offshoring process of many manufacturing and service activities

China is fast becoming the leading destination for international placements

Other BRIC economies also increasing in popularity

Return Migration

-In response to financial crisis

-Increased levels of return in several countries experiencing strong growth e.g. Brazil, China

Retirement Migration

In search of warmer climates and cheaper living

America and Canada > Mexico, Latin America, Carribean

Europe > Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey (around the black sea)

Europe > Southern Europe, Mediterranean

Colonial ties; movement of British to South Africa

Asia:

Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines as emerging retirement locations.

South-North Migration

Migration Policies

Japan:

-Long cherished ethnic homogeneity

-Koreans composed the largest group (607,000), followed by Chinese (488,000), Brazilians (287,000), and Filipinos (199,000).

-Well over 90 percent of resident foreigners came from either Asia (74 percent) or South America (18 percent)

-Perception that migrants contribute to rising crime rate and deterioration of public security

-Ageing population (and population decline in 2005) are causing labour shortages and fiscal burdens.

-Business community called for relaxation of foreign labour controls

cultural foundations, social fabric and national identity

Italy:

-Liberal policy towards immigrants mostly from Italy's ex-colonies in North Africa in the 1970s

-Under pressure to tighten immigration policies to ensure

that illegal immigrants will not be able to travel throughout the EU once

internal border controls are abolished

Tackling illegal immigrants:

-1990: introduced visa requirements for visitors from the Maghreb and Turkey

-2008: criminalised unauthorized entry into Italy, discriminatory sentencing

for illegals, draconian penalties on Italians who provide accommodation to

migrants without papers

France:

-Many immigrants are Muslims - highest Muslim minority in European countries

-Countries of origin mainly from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mali

-Marseille has been a model for successful integration of immigrants, but racial tensions have been rising these few years

-Introduced a stricter French language test in 2012, which reduced the no. of acquisitions of citizenship.

Internal Migration

US

highest internal migration rates in the world.

Other advanced economies e.g. New Zealand, Finland and Norway

Syria - Syrian conflict

Malawi - environmental factors causing internal displacement e.g. floods in 2012 displaced thousands

The demographics of global internal migration:

-Young (15-29) and Educated more likely to internally migrate

China:

increased demand for labor in the urban areas

due to growing investment in the manufacturing sector within the developed regions, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou

and an aging population and lower fertility rates in these cities.

mistreatment and discontent amongst rural-urban migrant workers as they are denied legal residence in a city

mid-1980s, Hukou System — a system to record and control internal migration and which hindered rural-to-urban movements

— loosened in response to the demands of both the market and rural residents wishing to seek greater economic opportunity in cities.

Intervening obstacles

Capital (illegal immigrants from Mali bribe drivers and policemen to aid their crossing)

Government regulation laws

Language, religion

Political differences

Misinformation

Impact of Labour Migration

Labour Migration

people seeking work on a global scale (international division of labour)

increased mobility in the future

Trends in Labour Migration

-Greater attention given to highly-skilled professionals.

-Increasing proportion of women in international migration

-Labour migration policies increasingly employer-driven

-Clandestine movement and employment of unskilled or semi-skilled labour migrants continue to rise BUT dwindling acceptance rate of these migrants

Led by Australia and Canada. DCs redesigning policies to attract highly skilled immigrants

anti-immigration policies tackling illegal immigration

Attracting skilled migrants

-Britain allows highly-skilled immigrants to enter the country without a job offer

-Germany and Netherlands institute fast-track visas and "green card" systems to attract highly-skilled migrants

-Indonesia, Singapore

-2000 Germany introduced 20,000 visas for information-technology staff

Globalisation:

-Creates linkages and connections to MEDC's labour markets

-Globalisation of trade --> global movement of people

(Chinese labourers in Australia's blue-collar industry)

Types of migration

Migration patterns

push-pull factors

migration policies

migration issues