Migration

Migration

Migration means the movement of people from one place to the other. It is an important control of population growth after fertility and mortality. Migration of people into an area from outside is called immigration or in-migration while movement out of an area to other regions is called emigration or out-migration.

Immigration leads to an increased growth rate of population, emigration lowers the growth rate of population in the source region. Mexico’s emigration problem is a unique one, with more than 98% of all Mexican migrants living in the U.S.A, the country with which Mexico shares a border that runs 3110 km in length. The Mexican emigration rate increased substantially since the 1960s and, with more than 11% of Mexicans living abroad, Mexico is the country with the largest number of emigrants in the world. According to estimates from the UN 2015 report, in 2013, the United States, Germany and Russia had the largest number of immigrants of any country, while Tuvalu and Tokelau had the lowest immigrant.

Types of migration

1 Net Migration

Net Migration is the difference between immigration (in-migration) and emigration (out-migration).

Positive value of net migration is that more people coming in and population growth, for example, 44% of North America and 88% of Europe. Negative value of migration is more people going out and population decline.

2 International Migration

Emigration is an indicator of economic and or social failures of a society. It is a crossing of a national boundary. It is easier to control and monitor. There are laws to control or inhibit these movements. Between 2 million and 3 million people emigrate each year. Between 1965 and 2000, 175 million people have migrated: it accounts for 3% of the global population.

3 Internal Migration

It occurs within a country. It is crossing of population within domestic jurisdictional boundaries. It is the movement of people between states or provinces. There is little government control over internal migration

4 Local Migration

Local migration is the migration of the people within state or district. No state boundaries are crossed in the local migration. It happens for several reasons such as buying a new house in the same town or city, difficult to research since they are usually missed in census data. It is based on change of income or lifestyle. Americans change residence every 5 to 7 years.

5 Voluntary migration

Voluntary migration is where the migrant makes the decision to move. Most migration is voluntary.

6 Involuntary migration

It is a forced migration in which the migrant has no role in the decision-making process. It includes mostly slavery. It is estimated that about 11 million African slaves were brought to the Americas between 1519 and 1867. In 1860, there were close to 4 million slaves in the United States. People involve in the involuntary migration are refugees due to military conscription, children of migrants, people in the situations of divorce or separation.

Brain Drain

Brain drain is related to educationally specific selective migrations. Some countries are losing the most educated segment of their population. It can be both a benefit for the receiving country and a problem to the country of origin.

Receiving country: it is getting highly qualified labor which is contributing to the economy right away. It promotes economic growth in strategic sectors: science and technology. It does not have to pay education and health costs, for example, 30% of Mexicans with a PhD are in the US.

Country of origin: Education and health costs are not paid back to the country of origin. It is losing potential leaders and talent: Between 15 and 40% of a graduating class in Canada will move to the US. It has long term impact on economic growth. It has the possibility of getting remittances. Many brain drain migrants have skills which they can’t use at home: The resources and technology may not be available there. The specific labour market is not big enough.

Causes of Migration

We can divide factors causing migrations into two groups of factors as push and pull Factors.

Push and Pull factors

Push and pull factors are those factors which either forcefully push people into migration or attract them. A push factor is forceful, and a factor which relates to the country from which a person migrates. A pull factor is something concerning the country to which a person migrates. It is generally a benefit that attracts people to a certain place. Push and Pull factors are usually considered as north and south poles on a magnet.

Push Factors: Not enough jobs, few opportunities, desertification, famine/ drought, political fear/ persecution, poor medical care, loss of wealth, natural disasters, death threats, slavery, pollutions, poor housing, landlords, bullying and poor chances of finding courtship

Pull Factors: job opportunities, better living conditions, political and or religious freedom, enjoyment, education, better medical care, security, family links, industry, better chances of finding courtship.