Global migration Flashcards
Lee’s principals of migration
Lee’s principals of migration uses push and pull factors and intervening obstacles to show the decision that migrants make
Todaro Model
Todaro Model shows that income is the most important factor in a migration decision
Stark’s ‘new economics of migration’
Stark’s ‘new economics of migration’ emphasises the idea of household migration over individuals
Overall net increase in migration due to globalisation
Over the last 20 years there has been a net increase in migration
- In 2015, according to the UNFPA, 244 million people were living outside their country of origin
- Migration is inextricably linked with globalisation, and as places are increasingly interconnected it is unsurprising that that the magnitude, complexity and impact of global migration make it a priority issue for most nations
Changing patterns of recent migration - large scale
- South Asia: 1990-95 it had mainly internal migration but 2005-10 many people emigrated to West Asia, North America and Europe (from South to West Asia, numbers increased from 356,000 to 4.5 million) and (from South Asia to America, numbers have risen to 1.5 million, triple earlier figures)
- Large number of migrants from Latin America to Europe, there wasn’t before (from 393,000 to over 1.5 million)
- High intra-regional migration in Africa
Changing patterns of recent migration - smaller scale
Between 2005 and 2010:
- 18 million migrants from Mexico to USA
- 10 million migrants from India to UAE
- 6 million migrants from Bangladesh to India
Key features of current migration patterns
- It’s not the poorest countries sending people to the richest countries, it’s countries in transition - still poor, but with some education and mobility - that are the highest migratory contributors
- The largest inter-regional migration is from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. This is largely driven by the huge, oil driven construction booms happening on the Arabian Peninsula
- The biggest flow between individual countries is the steady stream from Mexico to the US (which is the largest single migrant destination).
- There’s intra-regional flows of migrants among sub-Saharan African countries. This migration is much higher than the number leaving Africa, but the media pay more attention to the latter because of the immigration debates in Europe
Recent changes in migration patterns
- The Arab Spring began in 2011 and caused a civil war in Syria against the Assad family which has led Syria since the 1960s.
- This has made Syria the largest source of refugees, contributing a massive 4.9 million in 2015.
- Although their final destination is often Europe, Syrian refugees have placed huge pressure on their neighbouring countries - Turkey hosted 2.5 million refugees in 2015 and Lebanon 1.1 million.
- Along with Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia sourced 54% of worldwide refugees.
- Somalia has an incredibly unstable government along with extreme poverty
- Afghanistan has been subjected to many wars and has numerous radical groups within it such as Al Qaeda.
Migration across the Mediterranean - top 5 sea arrivals in 2016
- Syria - 28%
- Afghanistan - 14%
Migration across the Mediterranean - numbers of sea arrivals
- 2014 - 216,054
- 2015 - 1,015,078
- 2016 - 361,709
Migration across the Mediterranean - numbers dead (including missing)
- 2014 - 3,500
- 2015 - 3,771
- 2016 - 5,098
Migration across the Mediterranean - composition
- 28% children
- 18% women
- 54% men
Migration across the Mediterranean - country of arrival (2016)
- Greece - 173,447
- Italy - 181,436
- Spain - 6,826
The Dublin Regulation means that a refugee must stay in the first EU state they arrive in
Reasons for increased intra-regional migration in the EU
- Free movement - the Schengen Agreement (started with 5 members in 1985) allows freedom of movement within most of the EU (26 countries)
- EU expansion - 2004 - Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, etc. 2007 - Romania and Bulgaria. Much poorer states started migration process.
Patterns of intra-regional migration in the EU
- More Western European countries like the UK and Spain have higher numbers of immigrants, whilst more easterly countries have lower numbers
- This is because there are greater opportunities for immigrants in places like the UK ($40,000 GDP per capita) compared to Estonia ($18,000 GDP per capita)
Highest and lowest EU countries for immigration
- Highest and lowest countries in terms of immigrants from other EU states in 2013
- High: UK - 192,495, Spain - 85,020, Germany - 345,692.
- Low - Estonia - 385, Latvia - 1,517, Lithuania - 1,728.
Remittances definition
Remittances - money sent back by migrants to their home country.
HDI definition
HDI - the human development index is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.
How does development impact migration?
- At very low stages of development (GDP of under $1000 per capita), migration will be low as people do not have enough money to afford transport in order to migrate
- In the early stages of development, mortality rates fall but birth rates remain high.
- Rapid population growth follows and along with it comes rising unemployment.
- This unemployment means that people begin to migrate from the country on a greater scale.
- Rapid population growth follows and along with it comes rising unemployment.
- The levels of migration soar as development continues, not only because rising income finances migration, but also because previous migrants help finance the cost of family and friends and feed back information to potential migrants. Higher income earners are also more likely to obtain visas, increasing the ease of migration.
- However, soon after the country surpasses a GDP of around $10,000 per capita, migration will decrease and migrants will be more likely to return home as it is more worthwhile to live in their home country.
Flows of people and money through migration
- Flows of people - movement of migrants
- Flows of money - remittances (more monetary value than foreign aid), mobile cash transfers
- These flows of money have been made easier, more efficient and more secure by the use of technology