MIGRATION

9696 AS GEOGRAPHY

 Migrants are people who change their usual place of residence (Ravenstein 1980)
 Migration involves relocation within geographical space, characterised by a permanent
or semi-permanent change of residence - “Process with time and space dimensions”
(Skeldon 1990:12).
 UN (1997) defines migration as the movement of people across a geo-political
boundary for a period of 12 months.
 According to United Nations Tourism (1994), “a person is considered to be a
resident in a country if the person:
 Has lived for most of the past year (12 months) in that country, or
 Has lived in that country for a shorter period and intends to return within 12
months to live in that country (para. 24)”.

Migration is defined as the movement of people across a specified boundary to

establish a new permanent place of residence (lasting more than one year).

Migration can be split into many sub groups, but it can be classified simply into

either internal (within a country) or international (across international boundaries).

 If an international migrant moves in to a country this is called immigration


 If an international migrant leaves a country this is called emigration

 If an internal migrant moves into a new area within their country this is
called in-migration

 If an internal migrant moves out of their area within a country this is
called out-migration
 International migration more difficult to accomplish than
internal migration, thus, motivation to move has to be
stronger.
 Crossing of an international border is more likely to involve
a change of language, customs, lifestyle etc than a move
within a country.

Migration Selectivity

 Demographic factors
 Age
 Young adults (20-29) are more likely to migrate than other age groups.
 Sex
 In traditional societies, men more likely to migrate than women.
 Because of gender roles – women are at home, caring for the children and
family etc.
 Life Cycle
 Single, divorced, widowed are more likely to migrate than the married.
  The smaller the family size, the younger the children, the greater the
probability to migrate.

Why People Migrate

 Most people migrate in search of three objectives:

– Economic opportunity,
– Cultural freedom, and
– Environmental comfort.

 People will move from one place to another for many reasons. Often they
have negative thoughts about the area they live in (push factors) or have
positive thoughts about the destination they are moving to (pull factors)
 A push factor is something perceived to be negative about the origin area of
a migrant (where they are leaving)
 A pull factor is something perceived to be positive about the destination area
of a migrant ( where they are moving to)
 Intervening obstacles are barriers which may stop a flow of migrants
reaching their destination (could also be opportunities)

Push and pull factors- Some examples

Intervening obstacles ,barriers or constraints

REMEMBER…Intervening obstacles are barriers which may stop a flow of migrants reaching
their destination (could also be opportunities).

Listed below are some of the main intervening obstacles, barriers or constraints.
W Peterson’s five migratory types

In 1958, W.Peterson noted the following 5 migratory types

1.Primitive- only really refers to nomadic pastoralism and shifting cultivation

practices by the world’s most traditional societies-
Example: Mongolia- most of the country’s 2.5 million citizens live rurally as
nomadic pastoralist moving to find pasture for their cattle, sheep, goats and yaks.
Rainfall is unreliable so movement is frequent. Nomadic herding camps composed
of a few households, move within a large territory.
2.Forced- This refers to a migration where people have little choice but to leave their country
or area. This could be for political reasons, persecution, natural disasters or environmental
catastrophe.
Example: Indonesian forced migration- 1900-1950

Indonesia’s population is very unevenly distributed , with most people living on just four of
the many islands (Bali, Java, Madura and Lombok). Between 1900 and 1950 over 500,000
Indonesian’s were moved from over populated islands to less populated ones. They were offered
land and equipment to get started. However, conflict with locals already living on those islands
has lead to violence and resentment.

3.Impelled- These migrations are often also called forced migrations. They take placed
under a perceived threat , either human or physical, all though there is more of a choice than in
forced migrations.
Example: Libya 2011– An uprising began in Libya in 2011 when many people tried to overthrow
the leader Colonel Gaddafi after 41 years in power. He was determined to hang onto power and
so a civil war erupted. Many people were impelled to leave the country to escape the war.
4.Free- This refers to migration in which the individuals have chosen to migrate of their own
free will. This might be for many reasons, such as economic reasons ( to find work) or to join
family in another country.
Example: Botswansa 1960’s-1980’s

hen Botswana became an independent country in 1966 , it was one of the poorest countries in
the world and less than 1% of its population lived in urban areas. With a GDP of only US$300,
the standard of living was low. Many men migrated to neighbouring South Africa to work in gold
mines. As many as 40,000 Botswanan men worked in South African gold mines between 1970
and 1980. During the 1980’s South Africa reduced the number of migrant workers it allowed and
this migration route was reduced.
5.Mass- Mass migration is free migration, but on a large scale when a mass of people move
in a common migration route.

E xa
mple: Formation of Israel 1948-1951
On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, the
head of the Jewish Agency, declared “the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be
known as the State of Israel”.
Between the years of 1948-1951 688,000 Jewish immigrants moved to Israel which meant a
doubling of the number of Jews in this region at this time. The first people to
reach this state were survivors of the holocaust , many from camps in Germany, Austria and
Italy.
Internal migration
Remember- Internal migration is moving within a country.

These movemements could be …….

-Rural to rural
– Urban to Urban
– Rural to Urban (Urbanisation)
-Urban to Rural (Counterurbanisation)
– Stepped migration
Remember- A rural area is the countryside (villages). An urban area is a large town or city.
Internal migration 1: Rural to urban migration in China (Urbanisation)
Urbanisation: The growth in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
(LEDC- rural to urban migration) . This is happening on a very large scale in China.
Internal migration2: Urban to rural migration: Counterurbanisation
Counterurbanisation is the process of people moving away from urban areas to rural
areas (mainly in MEDCs)

Who is moving?

 Middle Class Families

 Young Professionals
 Young Families
 Affluent people moving of their own accord.

It is also important to remember that this does also occur in LEDCs! In some cities in LEDCs
people are returning to the countryside also.
Why are people migrating from urban to rural areas in MEDCs such as the UK?

Mini case study- movement of people from London to more rural SE areas of England

Reasons for urban to rural migration

 Air pollution in London had risen with the increase in road vehicles
 The rural areas outside London seemed peaceful and unpolluted
 They felt London had become an unfriendly place and villages would have the
community spirit that was lacking in inner city areas.
 Even though their work places were still in London, transport to commute from some
villages around London has improved, meaning you can live outside London but still work
in it.
 The growth in ICT (email, fax, video calls), means that some work can be done from a
village outside London without the need for commuting.

Consequences on source area (London)

 As a large percentage of the migrants will be commuting to work traffic congestion

increases. The problem is accentuated by the fact that they will be driving on narrow
country roads.
 In London, many affluent people have moved out of the inner city to rural areas, leaving
just the poorest groups and their social problems behind.
 Areas in inner city London are now in decline- with increase in crime and derelict
buildings

Consequences on receiving area (rural SE village)

  House prices are pushed up in their villages as migrants from London sell expensive city
properties and earn higher city wages. This can force young people to leave the village
because they cannot afford a house.
 Traditional rural services have started to close in the village as the new population relies
on services of the urban environment such as the supermarket. The closures of village
stores and post offices have caused major problems in many rural areas.
 Those shops and services that have survived in rural areas often find that they have to
change to meet the needs of the new population. So the pub becomes a restaurant, the
blacksmith now makes garden furniture and the butcher a delicatessen.
 As a large percentage of the migrants will be commuting to work traffic congestion
increases. The problem is accentuated by the fact that they will be driving on narrow
country roads.
 Often commuter villages just outside London grow in size, and start to become more
urban in their nature- this area can be called the urban-rural fringe.

Internal migration 3: Stepped migration

Stepped migration is essentially , a migrant/s migrating from a rural area to a large urban
area, but splitting this into smaller steps at a time. It was initially studied in Nigeria, as migrants
moved from smaller villages in steps to the large city of Lagos

E.g. Where rural migrants initially head for a familiar small town and then after a period of time
moves on to a larger urban settlement.
Internal migration 4: Intra urban movements
An intra-urban movement is different from urban to urban migration. Urban to urban
migration is when someone moves from one urban area to another urban area. An intra-urban
movement is when someone moves inside one urban area (e.g. from one area of Kota
Kinabalu to another)

These intra-urban movements are often linked to life cycles (different stages of someone’s life).
Or to how much income they have.

Mini case study of Intra Urban Movements in London

Studies in the UK have shown that the average person living in London will often move around
the city in a set pattern depending on their income and where they are in their life cycle.

Middle Income Life Cycle Movements

  Children will often begin their life in a semi-detached house in the suburbs.
 Once they are old enough to leave home, they often wish to move further into the city to
be close to work, entertainment and night life.
 When they have made a decision to settle down and have children, the city centre often
lacks space and the safety they wish for, so they move out to the suburbs again into a
smalls tarter home, as this is often all they can afford.
 As their income increases, with pay rises and job promotions, they can move into larger
houses as their children are growing older
 Once their children have left home and they have retired , they have little need for a large
house, so may often move into a retirement smaller home.

Low- Income Life Cycle Movements

 Children in a lower income family, may begin their life in a council house just outside the
city centre as their families will not be able to afford a house in the suburbs
 Once they have left home they too wish to move further into the city to be closer to
entertainment and nightlife, so move into a rented room in the city centre
 If their income has remained low, when they have children they will not be able to afford
to move out to the suburbs, so will get a smaller council flat to live in
 As they get older and have older children, and need more space, the council may move
them onto a semi-detached council house, further out of the city
 Once their children have left home and they have retired, they may need to move into a
council owned retirement home.

Chain Migration

Chain migration occurs when one or a small number of pioneering migrants have led the
way in rural–urban migration, and others from the same rural community follow

This level stresses that the specific circumstances of individual families and
communities in terms of urban contact are of crucial importance in the decision to
move, particularly when long distances are involved.

International Migration: Forced or Voluntary?

International and Internal Migration can be forced or voluntary. Have a look at the definitions
below of some key migrant types.

An economic migrant = Is someone who migrates voluntarily for the purposes of finding
work or making money

An asylum seeker = Is someone who has left their home country have applied to another
country for recognition as a refugee and are awaiting a decision on their application

A refugee = is a person who has been forced to leave home and country because of ‘a well
founded fear of persecution’ on account of race, religion, social group or political opinion.

An internally displaced person = is someone who has been forced to leave his / her
home for reasons similar to a refugee but who remains in the same country.
Voluntary Migration: Case study of economic migration
Filipino migration movement to Malaysia

Watch the following clip and jot down why the Filipino’s have moved to Malaysia, what impacts it
https://youtu.be/20RHzHPjoYY has had on them and on Malaysia

Look at the table below to see the impacts this economic migration
has had on

– The Filipino Migrants

– The receiving country (Malaysia)

– The source country (Philippines)

Forced Migration: Case study of a refugee movement

Rwandan refugees flee to the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries
surrounding Rwanda

In 1994- 2 million people left Rwanda- and most ended up living in refugee
camps for up to 2 years in neighbouring countries
Cramped, crowded conditions in one of the refugee camps in
eastern The Democratic Republic of Congo led to the rapid spread
of cholera, causing the death of more than 50,000 within a few
weeks
But why did this happen??

The history of Rwanda is complicated, but a very simplified history

leading up to this refugee movement can be viewed below

https://youtu.be/vwT9aTrAfQE RWANDA HISTORY

A brief summary of what happened

 There are two major ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutu and the Tutsi.
 They lived in the same areas and spoke the same language but there had been tension
between these two groups for a long time.
 When the country was colonised by the Belgians in 1916 they claimed that the Tutsi were
superior to the Hutu because they had lighter skin.
 The Belgians made the Tutsi the ruling class, giving them better jobs, housing and
educational opportunities and charging them with keeping the Hutu ‘in their place’.
 Anger built up in the Hutus and in 1959 – 20,000 Tutsi were killed in a series of riots.
 Many Tutsi’s then fled to neighbouring Uganda where the children of these refugees
formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
 Their aim was to overthrow the President of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana (who was a
Hutu) and return to their homeland.
 In April 1994 the Hutu President’s plane was shot down, sparking a campaign of violence
from the Hutu’s against the Tutsi

 Over 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days as the Hutu’s seized their
opportunity to redress years of repression and began massacring the Tutsi’s
 An unofficial Hutu militia group called the Interahamwe (‘those who attack together’) were
responsible for much of the violence
 But soldiers and police officers were also to blame.

 What did the rest of the world do to help?

 News reports of the slaughter reached the West via the TV crews covering the unstable
political situation before the outbreak.
 But little was done to help the Tutsi.
  Whilst foreign governments evacuated their nationals they did not send military help to
Rwanda
 The United Nations peace-keeping force stationed there at the time of the outbreak were
ordered to remain neutral.
 The UN withdrew their forces after ten soldiers were killed.

So where did the refugees come from?

A refugee camp in D. R of Congo

 Many of the refugees in the camps were tutsi’s who fled the violence against them
 But also, In July the Tutsi-led rebel RPF captured Kigali, the Rwandan capital and the
government collapsed.
 Over two million Hutu fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo fearing a genocide on
them in return

Final case study: Your own big case study of Mexican Migration
to the USA

 The movement of Mexicans to the USA has been one of the largest migration streams
over the last 40 years, due to the rare example where an MEDC has such a large border
with an LEDC.

 It is thought that around 500,000 people make the journey from

Mexico to the USA each year, some legally and some illegally.
 Many of the USA population are of Mexican origin as can be
seen from the US Census of 2000
A brief history of the immigration movement
● In the early part of the twentieth century the American government allowed the recruitment of
Mexican workers as guest workers. Young Mexican men called Braceros were invited to work on
US farms when there was a labour shortage during the World Wars
● There was very little illegal migration from Mexico to the USA until the early 1980s, which was
stimulated by a combination of high population growth in Mexico and the economic crisis of the
early 1980s.
● Mexican workers have found employment mainly in agriculture, construction, various
manufacturing industries and in low paid service jobs.
● As attitudes in the USA hardened against illegal immigrants, Congress passed the Immigration
Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986.
● Labour migration continued at a high rate even after economic and employment growth in
Mexico improved in the late 1990s.
● By 2006 there were an estimated 12 million Mexican-born people living in the US. This
amounted to around 11 per cent of living people born in Mexico.
● There is a very strong concentration of the US-Mexican population in the four states along the
Mexican border; California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The concentration is particularly
strong in California and Texas.
● Mexican culture has had a sustained impact on many areas in the US, particularly urban areas
close to the border.
● The Mexican population in the United States has undergone a process of assimilation over
time (become integrated into main stream society)

● A migrant culture has become established in many Mexican

communities ( this means people expect to migrate at a certain age)
Below is a very brief summary of the push and pull factors and
consequences

Patterns of Migration

You need to be able to use graphs and other resources in the exam, and you also need to
recognise major patterns of international migration.

Migration patterns = Common trends that can be seen in the way in which people migrate and
the direction they travel in

Use the graphs below to describe the patterns of migration you can see. Remember the
following tips for describing a pattern of migration:

1) Look for the overriding pattern first and state what it is – e.g. Largest migratory movement
shown is from Mexico to the USA …

2) Next add any data you can from the resource e.g. 1 million people move per year

3) Describe any smaller patterns you can see in the same way
4) Look for any anomalies to this pattern.

Resource 1: Some of the world’s most current migration routes

2.Resource 2 :net migration per country

Resource 3 :number 1 country of origin for migrants of each major religion

MIGRATION MODELS / THEORIES
A migration model is created when someone comes up with a common pattern in migration
which could be represented visually or explained.
1) The Todaro Model: About how an individual’s income changes as
they migrate from rural to urban areas in LEDCs

An American economist called Michael Todaro suggested a common pattern for the income that
a migrant will experience if they move from a rural area to an urban area in an LEDC.

He suggested that not only would they experience this pattern but that they would be aware of it,
from previous friends or family that had migrated before them. They therefore would weigh up the
costs and benefits of moving

They were well aware that would have to spend money to get to the urban area and would
maybe not make money there for a while , but the long term benefits would be better than staying
in the rural area

The graph below shows the Todaro Model

2) Stark’s new economies of migration model: About how a families
economic situation may change as a child migrates from a rural to an
urban area in LEDCs
 Stark argues that Todaro’s model only considers the individual migrating, but that most
migrants think of their family as well.
 Their families act together to spread the cost and all benefit eventually.

Stark’s model is shown below as a flow diagram to suggest how the family helps the migrant and
what they get back in return.
3) Marxist/ Structuralist Theory Model: About how migration occurs in LEDCs for
purposes of jobs in production for large capitalist companies in MEDCs to the
detriment of the LEDC workers.

 This theory suggests that capitalism is the cause of most migration within LEDCs or from
LEDCs to MEDCs
 Cheap migrant labour from LEDCs is used to aid production for large capitalist MEDC
companies
 The MEDC companies benefit more from this arrangement than the migrants themselves

QUESTIONS