Migration

The movement of people from one location to another

Migration

The UN defines permanent as lasting more than one year. Migration for the purposes of this syllabus is limited to movements lasting more than one year; e.g. holidays

and commuting are correctly termed circulatory movements, rather than migration.

Migration is defined as “the movement of people across a specified boundary, national (i.e. internal) or

international, to establish a new permanent place of residence”

Types of Migration• Internal: Migration within the borders of one nation.

• International: Migration across international borders.

• Chain migration: Process that occurs after a small number of pioneering groups lead the way somewhere else and others from the same rural community follow. Chain migration results in migration fields—the clustering of people from a specific region into certain neighbourhoods or small towns

• Relay Migration: Is a phenomenon that occurs when families at different stages of the family life cycle take responsible for migration in order to improve the financial position of the family.

• Impelled Migration (also called "reluctant" or "imposed" migration): Individuals are not forced out of their country, but leave because of unfavourable situations such as warfare, political problems, or religious persecution.

• Step Migration: Is a process where migration initially heads for a small town and then after a period of time moves onto a large settlement, over many years taking a number of steps up the urban hierarchy.

Forced Migration

• Is involuntary. The migrant has little or no choice to move, due to environmental and human factors. These include….

• Refugees: A person who can’t return home because of fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political association, social grouping, fleeing from war, armed conflict, civil war, disasters, famine etc.

• Internally Displaced Person (IDP): A person who is forced to leave his or her home region because of unfavourable conditions (political, social, environmental, etc.) but does not cross any boundaries.

• Asylum seekers: People who claim to be refugees. They usually have to undergo legal procedure in which the host country decides whether they qualify for refugee status.

Voluntary migration

• Migrants who choose to move for reasons such as retirement, education, relaxed lifestyles etc.

• Emigrants: People who leave a country .

• Immigrants: People who enter a country.

Definitions

• Migrations start at an origin and completed

at an area of destination. A number of migrants sharing a common origin and

destination form a migration stream. For every stream there is a reverse

counterstream. Migrants in between

origin and destination are known as en-route.

More definitions

Rural-urban migrants are also internal migrants; they move from outside urban areas (countryside) to within urban areas (towns and cities). Linked to the processes of urbanistion.

Urban-rural migration is the opposite of rural-urban. Linked to the process of counter-urbanisition.

Intra-urban migrants internally within the same urban area.

Inter-urban migrants move between urban areas.

Major international migration flows

People migrate because of push and pull factors….

Push factors: things that make people want to move out of a place • Unemployment • Lack of safety • Lack of services • Poverty • Crop failure • Drought • War, civil unrest • Hazards • Isolation

Pull factors: the attractions to a new place • Job opportunities • Safer atmosphere • Better service provision • Greater wealth • Fertile land • Good food supplies • Political security • Less risk of natural hazards • Friends and family

Important: push / pull factors (and barriers to a certain extent) are often perceived.

Consequences Of Migration On The Country Of Origin

• Economic Impacts

• Positive

• The area benefits from remittances sent home.

• Upon return, migrants bring new skills to the country such as the ability to speak foreign languages.T hese new skills can help to improve the economy in the country of origin.

• There is less pressure on resources such as food and social services such as health care.

• Negative

• Loss of young workforce; those with skills and those with entrepreneurial talents move, slowing economic development.

• Loss of labour may reduce inward investment by private companies, increasing dependencies on government initiatives.

• Social Impacts

• Positives

• Population density is reduced and birth rate falls as it’s the younger population who migrates. This can help ease overpopulation.

• Remittances sent home by economic migrants can be used to finance improved education & health service.

• Returning migrants increase social expectations for communities, for example, increasing demand for better leisure facilities.

• Negatives

• Marriage rates fall and family structures break down as men migrate producing a generation of single mums.

• Lots of young people migrating out of the country can increase the dependency ratio.

• Returning retired migrants may increase social costs on the community as support mechanisms aren’t in place for them.

• Migration of men and young families can cause a loss of cultural leadership and traditions.

• Political Impacts

• Policies to encourage natural increase can be developed.

• Policies to encourage immigration to counteract outflow.

• Requests for international aid.

Consequences Of Migration On The Host Country

• Economic Impacts

• Positive

• Migrants take up less desirable, menial jobs which natives would not take but need filling.

• The host country can gain skilled labour for cheap.

• There is a labour surplus; those with skills and education fuel the economy.

• The “skill gap” in many host countries can be filled by migrants.

• Costs of retirement can be transferred to the country of origin.

• Negatives

• Migrant children must be educated, they won’t necessarily speak the native language of the host country.

• There is an over dependency in some industries on migrant labour, leading to a lack of jobs for people native to the host country.

• Much of the money earned by the migrants isn’t spent in the host country and is instead sent back to the country of origin.

• More people increase the pressure on resources and services such as health care systems.

• Social Impacts

• Positive

• The creation of a multiethnic society increases understanding and tolerance of other cultures.

• There is an influx of new or revitalised services e.g. Kebab shops & Turkish baths.

• People from other countries can encourage the learning of new languages, helping people develop skills for working internationally.

• Negatives

• The dominance of males is reinforced (due to the large number of male migrants), especially in cultures where women already have a low status.

• Aspects of cultural identity are lost, especially in second generation children.

• Segregated ethnic areas are created e.g. China Town. Schools become dominated by migrant children.

• Political Impacts

• Discrimination agains ethnic groups & minorities which can lead to civil unrest and extremism.

• Calls for control on immigration.

• Entrenchment of attitudes which may encourage fundamentalism.

Causes of Migration• In 1958, W. Peterson noted the following five migratory types… 1. Primitive2. Forced3. Impelled4. Free 5. Mass

• Primitive: The nomadic pastoralism (livestock herded to find fresh pastures to graze) and shifting cultivation practiced by traditional societies are examples of primitive migration. They are physical factors, such as seasonal rainfall and the limits of soil fertility that govern such migratory practices.

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.

W. Petersons 5 migratory types continued…

• 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: The abduction and transport of Africans to the Americas as slaves.

• Example 2: 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.

W. Petersons 5 migratory types continued…

• Impelled migration: 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.

W. Petersons 5 migratory types continued…

• Free: 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• When 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.

W. Petersons 5 migratory types continued…

• Mass- Mass migration is free migration, but on a large scale when a mass of people move in a common migration route.

• Example: 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.

Why Do people migrate? Lees Push and Pull model

Lee’s Model 1966 continued..

• Lee produced a series of principles of migration attempting to bring together all aspects of migration theories at the time. He suggested there were four factors influencing the decision to migrate such as…

• Those associated with the place of origin

• Those associated with the place of destination

• Intervening obstacles that lie between the places of origin and destination

• A variety of personal factors

Ravenstein’s Migration Theory 1885

Recent approaches to migration• 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. A typical net income stream.

‘Stark’s new economics of migration’

• 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.

Starks model

Marxist/Structuralist Theory Model:

• 3) 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

The roles of constraints, obstacles and barriers in migration

Migration Data

Government data:

• Records of immigrants and emigrants passing through official border control points, but only if the passport is scanned and data captured. Such data will only include details of the migrant (name, age, sex, nationality)

• Records of migrants with asylum seeker or refugee status

• Records of those migrants officially deported or repatriated

Migration Data

Population censuses:

• Important sources - taken at regular intervals and cover ‘whole countries’

• Provide birth place information but not movement between birth and present residence

• Provide period migration figures (movement over a particular period of time) – if census asks for previous places of residence. But many movements may go unrecorded

Migration data

Population registers:

• Japan and number of European countries require registration of an address with the police of civic authority and notification of all changes

• This aims to record every move

• Opposition to this in UK has focused on infringement of civil liberties

Migration Data

Social Surveys:

• International Passenger Survey (UK) carried out at seaports and airports

• General Household Survey (UK) of 15,000 homes provides useful information

• Questionnaire based surveys perhaps the only means to assess attitudes and migration behaviour

Conclusions of Migration data

Conclusions:

• A large proportion of migration movements go entirely unrecorded

• The impact of migration is economic, social, cultural, political and environmental

• We can only speculate on the locations and causes of future migrations

• Futures causes may include continuing socio-economic disparity between countries, global warming, nuclear catastrophe, civil war and pandemics due to current and new diseases

Internal Migration

• These movements could be …….

• -Rural to rural

• - Urban to Urban

• - Rural to Urban (Urbanisation)

• -Urban to Rural (Counter urbanisation)

• - Stepped migration

• Remember- A rural area is the countryside (villages). An urban area is a large town or city.

DISTANCE

Parnwell states “Distance provides a useful basis for differentiating between types of movement, types of mover because the distance over which a person travels can also be used as a proxy for other important variables”

i.e. cost is a significant factor in the distance over which migration takes place; the relative distance may have a filtering effect upon the kinds of people that are moving

Distance may also relate to social/cultural change; such change may make the migrant an obvious ‘outsider’ and hence influence migrability decisions

DIRECTION

• Most common within LEDC’s are rural-urban and periphery-core movements

• Main migration streams are taking place from culturally traditional areas where rapid change may be taking place

• Socio-cultural differences between rural and urban areas in LEDC’s is much greater than in MEDC’s; thus requiring significant forms of adaption for rural migrants in order to cope with differences

PATTERNS

• Step migration is common in LEDC’s –whereby a rural migrant initially heads for a familiar small town for a period of time, before moving on to a larger urban settlement

i.e. working up the settlement hierarchy over many years

STEP MIGRATION

• During initial move from rural to a small urban area, the migrant will develop skills, increase their knowledge and confidence to ‘cope’ with urban life.

• Migrants may gain further knowledge of employment opportunities in larger urban areas and develop personal contacts in the process

• Migrants working in the formal sector; promotion may result in moving up the urban hierarchy

Rural to Urban Migration

• One of the most significant events affecting the geography of the developing world in the last 50 years has been the large-scale migration of people from the countryside to the towns and cities. Rural–urban migration has resulted in the rapid growth of large cities and the increased urbanisation of many LEDCs.

Most rural-urban migrants in LEDC’s tend to be:• single males, in Asia and Africa, where it is less common for

single women to migrate, especially in Muslim areas where females have a more restricted lifestyle

• single women, in certain more developed parts of Asia and Latin America, where women have a greater social standing.

Rural to Urban Migration continued

• Mainly between the ages of 16 and 35, as people in this age group generally have fewer family commitments

• Likely those more educated than other rural dwellers and more informed about the outside world

Push Factors:(a) Farm size(b) Farming methods(c) Shortage of land(d) Farming improvements(e) Lack of food(f) Natural disasters(g) Poor living conditions(h) Financial – lack of rural investment

Pull Factors:(a) Employment(b) Wages

The Causes of internal migration: Macro-Level (Large scale)

• Macro = national scale & generally top-down (caused from above by government policies etc). So in LEDCs there is huge urban-rural migration because of the way the capitalism has concentrated jobs and money in the cities The dimension highlights socio-economic differences at the national scale focusing particularly on the core-periphery concept.

• The Macro-level perspective provides a general explanation of migration patterns in LEDCs. However it has two weaknesses.

1. It fails to explain why some people migrate and others stay put when faced with very similar circumstances in peripheral areas.

2. It offers no explanation as to why not all forms of migration occur in the direction of economic core regions.

The Causes of internal migration: Meso level (Medium scale)

• Meso = a more complex view that is similar to macro (people moving to cities for jobs) but takes into account more regional factors such as employment, health, education etc. in rural/home area and urban/destination areas. Also focus on perception more than facts (not whether there are better wages, but does the migrant think there will be better wages).

• E.S. Lee’s origin-intervening obstacles destination model, is useful at understanding this approach.

The Causes of internal migration: Micro level (Small scale)

• Micro = Local/individual scale factors also have a major influence on whether migration takes place. Does the person know anyone there? How confident do they feel? How secure financially is their particular family?

• Criticisms of meso level explanations of migration...

1. They view migration as a passive response to a variety of stimuli

2. They tend to view rural source areas as an undifferentiated entity.

Causes for migration in an LEDC…• There are factors affecting migration at a range of scales. At

the macro national scale, it depends how economically developed the main urban areas are compared to the surrounding countryside, the bigger the difference the more likely migration will take place. At the meso regional scale, it will depend on how developed each home region is and whether it has the resources to keep it’s population, such as good farmland, schools, jobs etc. At the micro individual scale, each migrant will make their own decision based on personal circumstances such as…. Family, income, education etc. Migration is most likely to actually occur for an individual if there are push/pull factors at all levels. Pull factors include rich capital city (macro), knows previous migrants (micro). Push factors include underdeveloped rural areas (macro), lack of schools in home region (meso) and loss of the family farm (micro)

The impacts of internal migration.

• Socio-economic impact:

Remittances from internal migration are even more difficult to estimate than those arising from international migration. Here are some conclusions. 1. Williamson (1988) put urban-

rural remittances at 10-13%^of urban incomes in Africa.

2. Reardon (1997) noted that in rural areas in Africa not close to major cities, migrant earnings accounted for only 20% of total non-farm earnings. Whereas it reached as high as 75% of total non-farm earnings in areas close to major cities.

3. Adepoju and Mbugua (1997) note that migrants often remit up to 60% of their income.

The impacts of internal migration

• However, it is important to note that the flow of money and support in general is not always one-way. Some studies have highlighted village-to-town remittances to support education or search for employment.

1. Helweg (1983) studied that changing use of remittances over time, noting three stages: initially they are spent on family maintenance and improving land productivity; in the following stage spending tends to be on conspicuous' consumption; in the third and final stage remittances are also invested to start commercial, non-agricultural activities.

• The relationship between migration and development is complex and still the subject of much debate. The four questions that have been the subject of such research are:

1. How does development in areas of destination affect migration?2. How does development in the area of origin affect migration?3. How does migration affect development in areas of destination? 4. How does migration affect development in areas of origin?

The impacts of internal migration • Political impact Internal migration at a significant scale can have considerable political repercussions. For

e.g..

• Where migration results in depopulation, the reduced number of people in a region can reduce the ‘political voice’ of the community. A lower population can also result in decreased funding from central government. Such as downward spiral may result in a region becoming more and more peripheral to its country as a whole.

• In contrast, where population is growing rapidly, partly at least as a result of in-migration, the political voice of such regions will become more important. In some LEDCs in particular, capital cities have grown rapidly, attaining and increasingly dominant political and economic role. Such primacy may he of considerable benefit to the residents of the capital city, but to the detriment of the rest of that country.

• Internal migration can significantly change the ethnic composition of a region or urban area, which may result in tension. In the Niger Delta many local people feel that most jobs go to members of the country’s majority ethnic groups, who traditionally come from elsewhere in Nigeria. The local ethnic groups, whose numbers are small in national terms, feel that they have been largely overlooked by the government. This has resulted in a high level of resentment and is certainly on cause of the development of armed groups which have become a major threat to the large oil industry of the region.

The impacts of internal migration

• Environmental impact: Large scale rural-urban migration has led to massive expansion of many urban areas in LEDCs which has swallowed up farmland, forests, floodplains and other areas of ecological important. In turn, the increased impact of these enlarged urban areas is affecting environments even further afield, in a variety of ways including…

1. Deforestation due to the increasing demand for firewood2. Increasing demands on regional water supplies and other resources3. The expansion of landfill sites4. Air and water pollution from factors, households, power stations,

transportation and other sources. • IDP (internally displaced people) and refugees can have a considerable

impact on the environment. They often concentrate in marginal and vulnerable environment where the potential for environmental degradation is high. Apart from immediate problems concerning sanitation and the disposal of waste, long-term environmental damage may result from deforestation associated with the need for firewood and building materials. Increased pressure on land can result in serious soil degradation.

The impacts of internal migration

Impact on population structures: The age selective nature of migration can be a very significant impact on both areas of origin and destination. This is no more so than in rural areas of heavy migration and urban areas where heavy in-migration is evident. Population pyramids for rural areas in LEDCs frequently show the loss of young adults (and their children) and may also show a distinct different between the number of males and females in the young adult age group, due to a higher number of male than females leaving rural areas for urban destinations. However in some rural areas female out-migration may be at a higher level. In contrast urban population pyramids show a reverse impact with age-selective in migration.

Stepped migration and urban-urban movements:

• A number of analyses of internal migration, for example in Nigeria, have recognised a stepped structure to such movements, with migrants from rural areas often moving to a local town before later making a move further up the urban hierarchy.

During the initial move from a rural environment to a relatively small urban area, migrants may develop skills and increase their knowledge. They may become aware of better employment opportunities and develop the personal contacts, that are so important in the migration process. For those working in the formal sector, a move up the urban hierarchy may be linked to a promotion within the company in which they work, or a transfer linked to public sector employment. Another important form of urban-urban migration is from towns and cities in economic periphery areas to urban areas in economic core.

Causes and impacts of intra-urban movements

• Demographic analysis shows that movement of population within cities are closely related to stages in the family life cycle, with the available housing stock being a major determinant of where people live at different stages of their life. Young adults frequently choose housing close to the CBD, while older families occupy the next ring out. Middle-aged families are more likely to reside at a greater distance from the central area, and father out still, in the newest suburban areas, young families dominate.

Counter urbanisation • According to D.J. Lewis counter urbanisation involved a series of fundamental changes in the

redistribution of population including a population shift out of core industrial regions and into the peripheral regions as well as movements down the urban hierarchy. Changes in telecommunications in particular have helped to diversify many non-metropolitan economies so that they are now viable locations for employers and residents in search of less congestion, lower costs and a better quality of life. The causes of counter urbanisation are as follows.

1. The ‘period’ explanation emphasises the role of the peculiar economic and demographic circumstances of the 1970s. The energy crisis, periods of recession, the sharp growth in retirees and the impact of the post war baby boom combined to weaken metropolitan growth. In metropolitan areas push factors had never been stronger, while – perhaps for the first time –rural location was a viable alternative for many. This perspective viewed counter urbanisation as a very temporary phenomenon which would subside once economic and demographic conditions returned to ‘normal’

2. The ‘regional restructuring' explanation emphasises the role of the new organisation of production, the changing spatial division of labour and the increasing importance of service industries. All these factors stimulated a greater spread of activities and population towards smaller places and rural periphery.

3. The ‘de-concentration’ explanation highlights the lowering of institutional and technological barriers to rural location. Long-standing preferences for lower density environments now much less constrained than in the past and an increased number of businesses and households have felt free to leave their metropolitan areas, confident that their prospects were more likely to improve rather than diminish. The key factor here is the convergence, across size and place, in the availability of amenities that were previously accessible only in large places.

International migration

Voluntary migration included independent and dependent movements. The latter being a collective household decision so an individual within that household may have little or no say in the matter. Independent migrants make an individual decision to move.

Currently 1 in 35 people live outside their country of birth – about 175m people world wide; higher than ever before

Recent migration data shows…

• Migration increasingly temporary and circular due to growth in labour related migration and international students

• The spatial impact is spreading with increasing numbers of countries affected

• Many traditional migration streams remain strong but significant new streams have developed

• The proportion of female migrants has steadily increased – now nearly 50% of all migrants (women make the majority of contract workers / migrants from The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia)

Recent migration data shows…

• The majority of international migrants from MEDCs go to other affluent nations

• International migration from LEDCs is more or less equally spit between LEDC and MEDC destinations

• Movement from LEDC to LEDC is usually to a relatively stronger destination

• MEDCs have reinforced controls, partly in response to security fears/issues but also to deal with illegal immigration and related human trafficking

Globalisation in its entirety has lead to increased awareness of opportunities in other countries. International migration

is perhaps in some cases easier than ever before

Impacts of international migration

• The Socio-economic impact: Recent reports show an increase in migration to the richest countries for work; for both temporary and permanent across all employment categories

• Skilled migrants remains a priority for MEDCs whilst some countries also welcome less skilled migrants, particularly for agricultural work (e.g. USA, Australia, Spain), construction, care for elderly and household services (e.g. UK, Italy, Portugal)

The socio-economic impact

Factors influencing regional destination of immigrants:• Extent of economic opportunities• Presence of family members or other of same ethnic

origin• Point of entry into the country

Immigrants more likely to:• Be unemployed compared to nationals• Have 3D jobs (dirty, dangerous and dull/difficult)• Be overrepresented in construction, hospitality,

catering and household services

Socio-economic impact

• World Bank estimates that international remittances totalled $397b in 2008, 77% of which went to LEDCs

• Remittances have increased significantly since 1990• Top recipients of remittances by total money are India,

China and Mexico and by % of GDP are Tajikistan, Moldova and Tonga

• Research in some countries has linked rising remittance payments with reduced levels of poverty

e.g. Nepal 1995-2004 - % households receiving remittances increased 9% and poverty headcount rate decreased 11%

Socio-economic impact

• Remittances can exceed amount of aid received by LEDCs• Major sources of remittances are USA, W. Europe and the Gulf• The Indian state of Kerala has nearly 1 million ‘Gulf wives’ living

apart from their husbands, who migrated to the Middle EastApart from the money migrants send directly to their families, their home communities and countries also benefit from: Donations by migrants to community projects The purchase of goods/services produced in the home country by

migrants working abroad Increased foreign exchange reserves

All of these combine to form a positive multiplier effect

Socio-economic impact

• A possible disadvantage of emigration is the ‘brain drain’, so called because areas/countries can lose their best workers

• However, the positive effects of remittances may compensate for this

• For some countries the % of graduates overseas can be high; Iran – 25%, Ghana – 26%

• Thus LEDC investment in tertiary / higher education is not too cost effective

• However, some LEDCs do have more graduates in certain areas than actually needed

Socio-economic impact

• Social assimilation is related to socio-political maturity of the host nation as well the degree of difference between the host and source societies

• Racial differences create the greatest barrier to assimilation

• As social barriers decline, the benefits the benefits of a multi-cultural society become more apparent

• The society of the source nation may initially suffer through loss of its most dynamic individuals. Later, once a return flow initiates, new idea/ways of live infiltrate society which may create a clash of traditions

Cultural impact

• Old colonial powers have relatively cosmopolitan populations compared to non-colonial nations –e.g. Afro-Caribbean and Aisia elements within the British population

• In such countries there is also a significant different between the ethnic composition between urban and rural areas

• Significant diaspora populations have established in many MEDCs (i.e. migrants spread out of wide area but sharing common origin), resulting is cultural hybridity

Cultural Impact

e.g. 2004 EU expanded to include eastern European countries such as Poland

• In London and Reading shops providing goods and services to expanding Polish community opened

• A number of Catholic Churches began offering services in Polish

• Large numbers of immigrants from Poland and elsewhere increases BR’s and placed considerable demands upon local education authorities to cope with 2nd language English speakers

Political impact

• In many countries with high numbers of established / legal immigrants – they are more likely to vote for political parties sympathetic to their beliefs/needs

• Over time immigrants gradually assimilate into the host society – firstly economically, then socially and finally politically

• Large immigrant groups of good social standing may start forming and voting for their own politicians, rather than those from there host nation

Political impact

High levels of international migration can lead to political tension

• high level of tension between US and Mexican Governments. In recent years US has increased border controls with Mexico, almost militarising it, at a cost of $3b to the US tax payer

• In a number of EU countries, immigration over the past 50 years from Islamic countries has lead to large Muslim communities; with some politicians worried about the ‘Islamisation of Europe’

Environmental impact

• Not limiting immigration may lead to reduce the achievement of environmental goals

• If population change is significantly influenced by net migration the population may increase, putting more pressure on resources and the environment

• However some would say that these arguments are not valid and merely an attempt to reduce immigration

RECAP

• Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

• Ravenstein came up with his "laws" of migration in the 1880s based on studies carried out in the UK.

• The laws are as follows

– The greatest body of migrants travel short distances.

– This produces currents directed towards great commercial centers.

– Each current has a compensating counter-current in the opposite direction.

– Both currents display similar characteristics

– Long distance movements are directed towards great commercial centers.

– People in urban areas migrate less than people in urban areas.

– Males migrate more over long distances and females migrate more over short distances.

• Additions to These Laws

– Most migrants are between 20-34 years of age.

– People mainly move for economic reasons.

– Urban housing development is inadequate for the influx of migrants so ghettos/shanties are formed.

RECAP

• Zipf's Inverse Distance Law

• The volume of migrants decreases with distance from the origin.

•

• Stouffer's Law of Intervening Distances

• The number of migrants moving from one town (i) to another (j) is directly related to the opportunities available at j but inversely proportional to the number of intervening opportunities between i and j.

•

• Push-Pull Theory

• Any migration is as a result of push forces at the origin and pull forces at the destination. Examples of push forces are famine, war and poverty. Examples of pull forces are availability of food, peace and wealth.

•

• Gravity Model

• This theory states that larger towns are more attractive to immigrants than smaller towns