Global Migration

As a result of social, economic and political changes migration as a worldwide issue has brought
about 80 million migrants and 20 million of them are refugees. Movement of people from one
region or society to another for the purpose of settlement.
• Migration is the movement of people from one region to another for the purpose of
settlement.
• Immigration is the movement of people into a country to settle.
• Emigration is the process by which people leave a country to settle in another country.
• Emigration- migration from a location
• Immigration- migration to a location
• Net migration- the difference b/w the # of immigrants and the # of emigrants
 If # of immigrants is higher, net migration is positive—known as net in-migration
 If # of emigrants is higher, net migration is negative– net out-migration

Reasons for Migrating

Push factor- induces people to move out of their current location
Pull factor- induces people to move into a new location
Both factors usually play a role
3 major kinds of push and pull factors
1.Economic
2.Cultural
3.Environmental

Economic Push and Pull Factors

 Most common reason for migrating
 Move to places that seem to have opportunity and out of places that have very little
 US and Canada historically have had many immigrants come for opportunity
 Relative attractiveness of a region can shift with economic change
Cultural Push and Pull Factors
 Forced international migration is a cultural push factor– ex.’s slavery and political
instability
 Ethnic segregation and wars cause people to migrate
 Refugees- people who have been forced to migrate from their homes and cannot return
for fear of prosecution due to their race, religion, nationality, or political opinion
 Refugees have no home unless another country agrees to take them in
 2 largest refugee groups are Palestinians and Afghans
 Palestinians left Israel after it was created in 1948 or after it expanded in 1967
 2 largest groups of internal refugees are the Sudanese (civil war) and the Columbians
(drug lords and guerrillas)
 Political conditions can also be a pull factor
 Lure of freedom

Environmental Push and Pull Factors

 Pushed out of hazardous regions– pulled into attractive ones
 Attractive areas would include: mountains, beach, and warm climates
 Too little or too much water is a major push factor
 Drought and floodplains
 An area subject to flooding during a specific number of
years

History
European expansion and its effects brought migration into world’s agenda. After 2nd World War
and especially in the last decades migration became an important political issue. Migration on
the one hand make a country’s population ethnically and culturally colorful, creates hostility
towards outsiders on the other. Movement of people towards the 2st World forced European
countries’ to examine their citizenship regulations.
 Four model of Migration
• Classic Model: Immigration is encouraged by the countries of destination like USA,
Canada and Australia. The only restriction is annual quotas.
• Colonial Model: Countries are more tolerant to immigration coming from their ex-
colonies than other countries of origin. (i.e. immigration to England from the former
British colonies)
• Worker Model: Immigrants are accepted temporarily as guests workers to fulfil the
demand within the labour market without citizenship.
• Illegal Model: Entering an industrialized country secretly and work without legal
permission.

Forces Behind Migration

• Push Factors are the dinamics within the country of origin which force people to emigrate
such as war, famine, political oppression or population pressures.
• Pull Factors are characteristics of destination countries that attract immigrant wish to get
better living and working conditions.
• Macro Level Processes: Overcharging issues such as political situations, laws and
regulations between the countries to control migration. Changes in global economy can
be counted as a macro factor for example.
• Micro Level Processes: Resources knowledge and understandings that migrant
population has and activate.

Four Tendencies in Global Migration

(by Stephen Castles and Mark Miller, 1993)
• Acceleration: Increase in the number of migrants.
• Diversification: Types of migrants have changed. Labourforce, refugees…
• Globalization: In terms of sender or receivers migration become global in nature.
• Feminization: Women’s number in migrants are increasing. They are generally hired as
cheap labourforce like domestic labour or sexual slaves.
 Global Diasporas
Diaspora is dispersal of an ethnic population from an original homeland into foreign areas by
force because of traumatic reasons.
First known diasporas African-American people who migrated to the new world as slaves and
Jews people who had to migrate and got citizenship in the West today after the 2nd world war.

Characteristics of Diasporas
• Sharing the same history and ancestors,
• Sharing a common reserved ethnic identity,
• Sharing a collective memory of original homeland,
• A degree of tension towards the host country,
• Sharing the belief in return,
• Sharing a sense of solidarity,
• A potential to contribute to the host culture.

Five Historical Diasporas

Robin Cohen (1997) defines five historical categories of diasporas and notes that diasporas are
formed as a result of persecution and violence.
Victim (Jewish),
Imperial (British),
Labour (Indian),
Trade (Chinese),
Cultural (Caribbean).