Migration

Migration

Key Terms:
Migration – the movement of people across a specify boundary – national or
international and live there for a year or more.

Voluntary migration is the movement of people usually voluntary and often involves
looking, and hoping for, a better quality of life and standard of living at the new
destination.
Involuntary migration is the forced migration of the people or individuals usually do not
know where their destination will be what their quality and standard of living will be like.

Internal migration – the movement of people within a country which may be from rural
to urban or from urban to rural.

International migration – the movement of the people from a country to another

country to live and work for a year or more.

Immigration – moving in to a country from another country

Emigration – leaving (moving out) one’s own country

Net migration – the difference between the immigration and emigration is known as net
migration

Asylum seeker – a person who has left their country of origin for fear of persecution.
They have asked for permission to stay in another country and are waiting for a decision
on this. Example: people leaving conflict in South-East Asia arriving by boat from
Indonesia to seek asylum in Australia.

Refugee – a person who has been forced to leave their country of origin in fear of their
lives. They run away often with no idea where they will end up and with no permission
to stay in another country. Example: Palestine- Israel, Sri Lankan LTTE, Iraq civil war,
Afghanistan terrorism.

International migrant – a person who moves to live and work in a different country for
at least a year. If they move for better work they are called economic migrants.

National migrant – a person who move to live and work in another place within the
same country

Illegal migrant – a person who enters a country to live and work there without
permission

Push and Pull factors:

Push factors are negative conditions at the point of origin which encourage or force
people to move.

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Pull factors are positive condition at the point of destination which encourage people to
migrate. The nature of pull and push factors varies from country to country (and from
person to person) and changes over time.

Forced migration and voluntary migration – In voluntary migration the individual has
a free choice about whether to migrate or not. In forced migrations, people are made to
move against their will. The abduction and transport of Africans to the Americas as
slaves was the largest force migration in history.

Push factors:
 Adverse climatic conditions
 Natural disasters (drought, famines)
 Social upheaval
 Poor employment
 Low income
 Intolerance
 Housing shortages
 Poor educational opportunities
 War with another country
 Civil war

Pull factors:
 Amenities
 Attractive environment
 High standard of living
 Job prospects
 High wages
 Improved housing
 Tolerance
 Better medical facilities
 Chance of better education
 Family or friend may have already moved
 Safety

Barriers or problems in international migration

 Cost of travel can be high
 High cost of Visa
 There are legal restrictions
 Cultural differences – language, way of life

Most people prefer their own country:

 Existing job and work contacts
 Family and friends are near
 Familiar surrounding and culture
 Living costs may be lower

Migrants may return home:

 With capital to starts a business
 With new skills and qualifications
 If they have difficulty in setting overseas

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  When they retire
 If they are forced to return for legal reasons

Advantage of emigration – the source (origin) country

 Reduced unemployment
 Benefits from the remittance (payments) sent back
 Returning migrants bring new skills to the country
 Returning migrants increase the social expectations
 Returning migrants are with high purchasing power
 Increased investments in projects like buildings

Disadvantages of emigration (move out from a country)

 There are disproportionate number of females left behind
 The non-return migrants cause imbalance on population pyramid
 Departure of youth cause a loss of cultural leadership
 The loss of people with businesses and political skills

Advantages of immigration (destination) (moving in to a country)

 Economic migrants tend to take up less desirable jobs
 Gain skilled people at low cost
 Can pay low wages
 Will work long hours
 Cost of retirement transferred back to the home country
 Creation of multi-cultured society (life style, dress, tradition, food)
 Fresh ideas and intelligent people in research and development institutions
 Young talents in the field of sports, culture etc

Disadvantages:
 The cost of education to migrants children
 Fewer jobs for unskilled workers
 May move back once earned money
 Amenities problems – hospitals, schools etc with extra number of people
 There is an overdependence of some industries on migrant labour
 Discrimination against ethnic groups may lead to civil war (Indonesia – 1997-98)
 The loss of aspects of cultural identity particularly among the second generation
migrants
 Segregated areas of similar ethnic groups are created (Singapore – little India)
 Problems of illegal migration

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Case study:

International Migration from Mexico to California, USA

California was, until the mid-nineteenth century, sparsely populated mainly by Native
Americans. The first migrants did not arrive in any large numbers until the mid-
nineteenth century.

The first settlers came from Spain by sea in 16th and 17th centuries. The European
settlers came to California in mid-19th century. In early 20th century, the people from
eastern and southern Europe and Eastern Asia came to California. They are the
voluntary migrants.

Since 1950s, many people have immigrated to California from north and east of USA.
The Mexicans (Hispanics) who were the voluntary migrants were initially seasonal
migrated and increasingly permanent migrants.

There is a 2000 km border between USA and Mexico. Estimates suggest that 1-2
million Mexicans try each year to cross into the USA, mainly illegally. Illegal migration is
a problem for the US border patrol guard, 850000 illegal migrants were caught in 1995
and deported.

Push factors in Mexico:

Due to poor medical facilities (1800/doctor), low paid jobs, adult literacy rate (55%), life
expectancy (72 years) and unemployed (40%).

Pull factors:
Excellent medical facilities (400/doctor), well paid jobs, adult literacy rate (99%), life
expectancy (76yrs) and availability of many low paid jobs.

Negative impact on the USA:

 Illegal migration costs the US millions of dollars for border patrol and prisons
 Migrants workers keep wages low which affects American workers
 May move back once earned money
 Problems in cities due to cultural and racial issues
 Services such as hospitals and schools cannot cope with extra numbers
 Mexican culture has enriched the US border states with food, language and
music
 Mexicans are considered as a drain of wealthy by the US
 The incidents of TB has been increasing greatly due to migration

Positive impacts
 The migrants take the harder, dirtier, seasonal, more monotonous, more
dangerous, less skilled and less well-paid jobs.
 The migrants can accept low wages
 They are willing to work for long hours
 Increased population will spend more in local economy.

Negative impact on Mexico:

 The Mexican country side affects a shortage of economically active people

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  Woman are in trouble for finding partners
 Young people migrate leaving the old and kids
 Immigrants send 6 Billions dollar a year to Mexico
 Certain villages like Santa Ines have lots 2/3 of its inhabitants
Positive impacts:
 Chance of a job
 Better pay than in Mexico
 Can save money and return to improve life in Mexico
 The remittance send by the migrants will improve their family and standard of
living.

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Revisions Questions

1. What are the main reasons for rapid growth of population in Niger – an LEDC in West
Africa?

2. What are the main reasons for population decline in Russia?

3. What are the main causes and problems of overpopulation in Nigeria?

4. What are the main causes and problems of under-population in Australia?

5. What are the main consequences of the ‘One Child’ policy of China?

6. What are the main reasons for increasing population in Singapore?

7. Explain why it will be difficult to persuade people in Niger to have smaller families?

8. Describe how birth rates and death rates changed in Russia between 1980 and
2008?

9. Suggest the possible impacts on LEDC of a large amount of emigration.

Ideas such as: loss of working population/loss of young population/jobs not filled/loss of
economically active/less pressure of jobs; under-population; increase in wages;
shortage of skills or example/lack of innovation; decline in economy/production is
lower/GNP reduced; hard to produce enough food; families split up; declining birth rate;
loss of traditional culture; money /remittances sent home by migrants; less pressure on
services/housing; resources wasted/less demand for resources; less taxes paid/taxes
increases/less government money e.g. for pensions; ageing population/increased
dependency ratio; gender imbalance; closure of businesses/businesses make less
profit/less spending power; closure of amenities or services or example such as schools
or hospitals; less traffic congestion; less specified pollution.

10. Explain the reasons for internal migration of a counry.

Content Guide: employment, health care, education, drought, food supplies, political
issues,war, wages, standard of living etc.

11. Suggest reasons why there are many high rise buildings in the city in CBD.
Ideas such as: lack of space/to save space/there is not much room/little land; high
demand for land/lots of government buildings /shops /businesses locate here/many
people work in the CBD; expensive land/to reduce costs/it is cheaper;

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