Types of migration

1.1 Introduction
The history of humanity and development of human society is underpinned by migration (Philips, 2011).
Migration of people across administrative/political jurisdictions within a country, or across countries, has
been a crucial factor in changes in societies. For a better understanding of migration, it is necessary to
classify migration according to its types.

There are two major types of migration: a) internal migration, which takes place within a country; and b)
international migration that takes place across international boundaries (Bhende and Kanitkar, 2006). The
processes, causes and consequences of internal migration are very different from those in international
migration. The former is a response to the socioeconomic spatial situations within a country, while the
latter is related to international socioeconomic and political conditions, especially the immigration and
emigration laws and policies of these countries.

The relatively permanent movement of people across territorial boundaries is referred to as in-migration
and out-migration, or immigration and emigration when the boundaries crossed are international. The
place of in-migration or immigration is called the receiver population, and the place of out-migration or
emigration is called the sender population. There are two basic types of migration studied by
demographers:

Internal migration. This refers to a change of residence within national boundaries, such as between
states, provinces, cities, or municipalities. An internal migrant is someone who moves to a different
administrative territory.

International migration. This refers to change of residence over national boundaries. An international
migrant is someone who moves to a different country. International migrants are further classified as legal
immigrants, illegal immigrants, and refugees. Legal immigrants are those who moved with the legal
permission of the receiver nation, illegal immigrants are those who moved without legal permission, and
refugees are those crossed an international boundary to escape persecution.

Jay Weinstein and Vijayan Pillai (2001) denote a third classification: forced migration. Forced migration
exists when a person is moved against their will (slaves), or when the move is initiated because of
external factors (natural disaster or civil war). The distinction between internal and international
migration is crucial because they happen for different reasons. Because structural barriers are more likely
to impede the mobility of a potential international migrant than an internal migrant—international
migration involves more administrative procedures, greater expense, and more difficulties associated with
obtaining employment, accessing state services, learning a new language, and the like—the motivations
behind international migration are usually stronger than those behind internal migration (Weeks 1999).

Therefore, the learning objective of this module is an understanding of the various classifications of
internal and international migration.

1.2 Internal Migration

Internal migration is the migration of people within the country. The characteristics and patterns of a
country’s internal migration are vital indicators of the pace and process of its development. For instance,
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the United States, is quite literally a nation on the move, and it always has been (Weeks, 2008), on the
other hand population of many developing countries is less mobile. However, the mobility of people
within national boundaries is very difficult to measure. For this reason, it is necessary to have a clear
understanding of the definition of internal migration. People constantly move from one place to another;
and these movements are diverse in nature. The distances covered vary from a few kilometers to several
kilometers. Moreover, the duration of stay involved in the new location may vary from a few hours to
several years. Many movements are casual, such as commuting to and from the place of work, shopping,
visiting, and travelling for business or for pleasure etc. Such movements do not involve a sustained or a
permanent change of residence and must, therefore, be distinguished from migration, which involves a
change of place of usual residence-a taking up of life in a new or different place.

Figure 1: Internal Migration

Source: Data above

An operational definition of internal migration is that it is a change of residence from one civil division to
another, or across the administrative boundary of a civil division. Thus, it may be said that a migrant is a
mover who changes her (or his) residence from the political area of her usual residence. It is obvious that
the civil division, as a migration-defining criterion, lacks uniformity, for divisions vary widely in size,
shape and length of the border. This criterion is, therefore, not suitable when comparisons of migration in
different countries are made. However, the United Nations has recommended that the areal unit should be
as small as possible (Bhende and Kanitkar, 2006). Internal migration therefore is classified based on
various criteria which are described in the following sections.

1.2.1 Based on direction of movement

Within internal migration, there is a four-way classification according to the direction of movements
within and between rural and urban areas, which are:
a) Rural to Rural migration
b) Rural to Urban migration
c) Urban to Rural migration
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Figure 2: Types of migration based on direction of movement
Source: Data above

d) Urban to Urban migration

Of these streams, it is rural to urban migration which is the most significant, because it contributes to the
transfer of labour force from the traditional agricultural sector to the urbanized industrial sector, and is
directly linked to urbanization. Rural-to urban migration is a response to diverse economic opportunities
across space (Mitra & Muruyama, 2011).

Income differentials between rural and urban areas is one of the main reasons for this type of migration,
since in developing economies like India, agriculture alone cannot sustain rural livelihoods. Deshingkar
(2006) argues that in India, the rate of job creation and real wage increases in agriculture have slowed
down. Moreover, urban areas attract the surplus labour of the countryside, which is characterized by
underemployment or unemployment. Factors that pull the high-income groups in rural areas are
availability of a better social infrastructure (education, health, etc.), better amenities and the quest for
independence from social, cultural religious and familial shackles.

Likewise, urban to urban migration is also related to the concentration of population in large towns and
cities which may be the result of step migration from rural areas to any small towns and then small towns
to large cities. However, in many developing countries like India, rural to rural migration is also
significant, especially among women who move primarily due to marriage, or familial reasons. Each
migration stream has distinct premises, causes and consequences.

1.2.2 Based on spatial dimensions

Internal migration stream based on spatial dimensions may be classified into following categories:
a) Intra-district migration, i.e., migration within the district.
b) Inter-district migration, i.e., migration from one district to another within the state.
c) Inter-state migration, i.e., migration from one state to another.

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It is important to note that migration within the district is called short-distance migration, migration
within the state across the district is called medium-distance migration, and migration across state
boundaries is called long-distance migration.

1.2.3 Based on the motive/reasons for migration

Internal migration takes place due to various motivations and reasons. These fall in the following main
categories:
a) Marriage migration
b) Labour migration or migration of people for work, employment, etc.
c) Migration due to natural calamities

Marriage migration is by far the largest form of migration in India; and it is close to universal for women
in rural areas (Fulford, 2013). In the last decade (2001-2011), around 217.8 million women in India
moved to live with their husbands’ families on marriage. Most of this has been rural to rural migration,
with the women migrating short distances.

Labour migration is the migration of people motivated by need of work or employment. Several economic
theories have been proposed to explain labour migration. For example, the neoclassical economic theory
has tried to frame motivation for migration in terms of the wage differentials between the origin and
destination, as well as the employment conditions and migration costs. The theory also argues that it is the
individuals alone who take the decision to migrate (Harris & Todaro, 1970; Massey et al., 1993; Todaro,
1976).

On the other hand, the theory of New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM) considers many
conditions, along with the wage differentials, in the labour market. According to NELM, the family or
household, rather than the individual, is the key decision-making unit on migration-related matters (Stark,
1991; Stark & Bloom, 1985). It views migration as a household decision taken to minimize risks by
diversifying sources of family income, or to overcome capital constraints on family production activities
(Stark, Taylor, & Yitzhaki, 1986). According to Census 2011, only 10.2 per cent of India’s population
was labour migrant during the decade of 2001-2011. This reflects a declining trend of labour migration
from the earlier census (2001) when it was 14.4 % (Census of India, 2001; Census of India, 2011).

Migration due to natural calamities is essentially a kind of forced migration due to extreme environmental
events like floods, tsunami, droughts, etc.

1.2.4 Based on duration of migration

Here, migration is classified into two kinds:
a) Permanent migration
b) Temporary migration

The migrant’s intention to permanently change his/her residence distinguishes permanent labour
migration from temporary migration (Zelinsky, 1971). In permanent labour migration, the usual place of
residence of the migrants changes and the chances of returning home are weak. In temporary migration,
however, migrants continue to remain a usual member of the household and tend to move circularly
between the places of origin and destination. In China, instead of the usual place of residence and

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duration of stay, a household registration system (Hukou) defines whether a person is temporary or
permanent labour migrant. Temporary labour migrants are those individuals whose place of residence
differs from their place of registration. Permanent migrants, on the other hand, are migrants who have
changed their registration to the place of residence (Goldstein & Goldstein, 1991).

1.3. International Migration

An international migration occurs when people cross the political boundary of their home country and
enter another. International migration is as old as human history, whether voluntary or forced upon people
by famines, conquests and diverse types of persecution. Unfortunately, because of lack of precise
information, the size and nature of such migrations are not exactly known. Today, statistics on
international migration are maintained by various countries for their own use and hence, comparisons
based on such statistics become difficult because of lack of uniformity.
Figure 3: Average annual rate of change in the number of international migrants by country or
area of destination, 2000 to 2015.

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Source: International Migration Report 2016 (UN)

International migrants change residence across national boundaries. An international migrant is a person
who moves to a different country. Every year, millions of people cross international borders for a variety
of reasons. Some do so for business, while some go on vacations. Still other people leave their homeland
with no intentions of moving back. No study of migration is complete without a study of international
migration, which has had an important bearing on the population growth of several countries, such as the
United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, Israel, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, and
many Latin American countries. International migrations can be classified into the following types:

1.3.1 Forced migration: According to IOM (2017), Forced migration is “…migratory movement in which
an element of coercion exists, including threats to life and livelihood, whether arising from natural or
man-made causes (e.g. movements of refugees and internally displaced persons as well as people
displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development
projects)”.
1.3.2 Circular migration: This is the fluid movement of people between countries, including temporary or
long-term movement, which may be beneficial to all involved, if occurring voluntarily, and is linked to
the labour needs of countries of origin and destination.
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1.3.3 Irregular/undocumented migration: Movement that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the
sending, transit and receiving countries. There is no clear or universally accepted definition of irregular
migration. From the perspective of the destination countries, it is entry, stay or work in a country without
the necessary authorization or documents required under immigration regulations. From the perspective
of the sending country, the migration is irregular if, for example, a person crosses an international
boundary without a valid passport or travel document, or does not fulfill the administrative requirements
for leaving the country. However, the term “illegal migration” is usually applied only to cases of
smuggling of migrants and people trafficking.

1.4. Summing up
In this module, we gained an understanding of the various kinds of migration. We learnt that migration
refers to the phenomenon of people crossing one administrative/political jurisdiction in a country to
another in the same country, or another.

Migration is as old as human civilization and has been a major contributor of social changes throughout
history. For this reason, there is a need to understanding the migration process and the factors that
motivate (or force) people to migrate. Thus, internal and international migration is classified into several
categories based on various criteria.

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D1D2D3.pdf
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