Research Methodology

Analysis
By
Group-8
Sithara
ShriHari
Thlilak Babu
Meghana Bhagavan
Naveen Kumar Reddy
Faraz Mohammed Ismail

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 MIGRATON

Introduction

Increasing flows of goods and capital are the drivers of globalization,

made possible by the gradual lowering of barriers to their movement
across borders. With regard to the flow of people, however, similar
deregulatory trends are being firmly resisted. 

As noted by the World Bank in its report, "Globalization, Growth, and

Poverty," while countries have sought to promote integrated markets
through liberalization of trade and investment, they have largely
resisted liberalizing migration policies. Many countries have
extensive legal barriers preventing foreigners from entering for
purposes of seeking work or residency. In fact, immigration policies
across the world are getting tighter as governments attempt to limit
the economic, cultural, and security impact of large movements of
people from one country to another.

The definition of migration is “the movement of people from one

place to another"

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Migration (human) is the movement of people from one place in the
world to another for the purpose of taking up permanent or semi
permanent residence, usually across a political boundary. An example
of "semi permanent residence" would be the seasonal movements of
migrant farm labourers. People can either choose to move ("voluntary
migration") or be forced to move ("involuntary migration").
Migrations have occurred throughout human history, beginning with
the movements of the first human groups from their origins in East
Africa to their current location in the world.
Migration occurs at a variety of scales: intercontinental (between
continents), Intracontinental (between countries on a given
continent), and interregional (within countries). One of the most
significant migration patterns has been rural to urban migration—
the movement of people from the countryside to cities in search of
opportunities.

BRIEF HISTORY OF MIGRATION:

Migration in an Earlier Era of Globalization

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The most recent era of mass voluntary migration was between 1850
and 1914. Over one million people a year were drawn to the new
world by the turn of the 20th century. A World Bank report,
International Migration and the Global Economic Order, estimates
that 10 percent of the world's population was migrating in this time
period, whereas migration today is about three percent. Growing
prosperity, falling transport costs relative to wages, and lower risk all
helped to facilitate this era of mass migration. (A situation not unlike
that of today.) It was also at this earlier time that states developed a
formal and regulated system of passports and visas to control the flow
of people across national borders.

The effects of the first era of migration can be seen in the composition
of many countries in the Western Hemisphere. In the latter part of the
19th century, for example, nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population
was foreign born, with the overwhelming majority of these
immigrants arriving from Europe. Irish and Italian immigrants came
in particularly large numbers, as did Russian and East European Jews,
as well as Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Germans. Most current U.S.
citizens of European decent are a product of this period of
immigration. 

Post-World War II Migration

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As the countries of Europe recovered from World War II, they again
became attractive destinations for potential migrants and opened their
doors to immigrants to help rebuild their economies. Furthermore,
during the post-war period, technological improvements in land and
air travel decreased the cost of migration. Emigration from developing
countries to Western countries expanded rapidly as incomes in the
developing world rose enough to make emigration feasible, but not
enough to make it moot.

Most noticeable were immigrants

to Germany from Turkey, who
were brought into the country as
“Gastarbeiter” or "guest workers"
in the 1950s and 1960s as the
country's post-war "economic
miracle" demanded labour. They
were never intended to stay permanently, however, and the German
government never granted them citizenship or tried to integrate them
into German society, creating social conflict that has lasted until
today. 

Approximately 23 percent of Turkish citizens living in Germany do

not possess German nationality despite being born there.In 2000,
legislation was passed, which now grants German-born children of
foreigners, German citizenship

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Likewise, many workers from former colonies of European powers
migrated to Europe in search of work, facilitated by still-existing ties
between the colonial home countries and their colonies, such as
Indians, Pakistanis, and West Indians who moved to England, and
Vietnamese, Cambodians, Algerians, Tunisians, Moroccans, and other
Africans who moved to France. 

Thus, the previous pattern of migration was reversed. This stirred

major social changes in European countries that were not used to
multicultural societies. At the same time, immigration to the United
States, opened up after the restrictive policies prior to World War II,
came not from Europe but primarily from Latin America and Asia.

Migration Today

The Economist magazine states that today, "The economic conditions

now seem propitious for an enormous further expansion of
migration." According to The Economist, the growing divide between
rich and poor nations has created both push and pulls factors that
encourage an increase in movement. If such an increase in migration
does occur, it is clear that it will be different from that of previous
eras, however. 

First, as The Economist points out, opportunities for unskilled workers

are dwindling and receiving countries are trying to restrict
immigration of unskilled workers and give preference to workers with

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skills. 

Second, immigrants today are more likely to demand stronger legal

rights and formal recognition than those previous waves of
immigration, raising their profile in the receiving countries and
heightening social tension. 

Third, the receiving countries are today more likely to offer social
welfare services to immigrants than in the past, straining resources
and often pitting native citizens against immigrants in a competition
for government funds. 

There has been a slowing of the absolute number of international

migrants, from 41 million between 1975 and 1990, to 36 million
between 1990 and 2005. Of the 36 million who migrated between
1990 and 2005, 33 million migrated to industrialized countries. About
75 percent of all migrants live in only 28 countries. One out of every
four migrants live in the U.S. and one of every three live in Europe.
The United Nations’ State of the World Population 2006 Report noted
that this slowing may be due to a drop in the number of refugees.

The 2010 Human Development Report notes that 37 percent of the

world’s migrants move from developing countries to developed
countries. Most migrants, (60 percent) move within countries of the
same category of development. Only three percent of migrants moved

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from developed countries to developing countries. Half of all
migrants moved within their own region, while 40 percent moved to
a neighbouring country.

Types of Migration

Internal Migration: Moving to a new home within a state, country,

or continent.
External Migration: Moving to a new home in a different state,
country, or continent.
Emigration: Leaving one country to move to another (e.g., the
Pilgrims emigrated from
England).
Immigration: Moving into a new country (e.g., the Pilgrims
immigrated to America).
Population Transfer: When a government forces a large group of
people out of a region,
usually based on ethnicity or religion. This is also known as an
involuntary or forced
migration.
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.

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Step Migration: A series of shorter, less extreme migrations from a
person's place of origin to final destination—such as moving from a
farm, to a village, to a town, and finally to a city.
Chain Migration: A series of migrations within a family or defined
group of people. A chain migration often begins with one family
member who sends money to bring other family members to the new
location. Chain migration results in migration fields—the clustering
of people from a specific region into certain neighbourhoods or small
towns.
Return Migration: The voluntary movements of immigrants back to
their place of origin.
This is also known as circular migration.
Seasonal Migration: The process of moving for a period of time in
response to labour or
Climate conditions (e.g., farm workers following crop harvests or
working in cities off-season; "snowbirds" moving to the southern and
south-western United States during winter).

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People Who Migrate

Emigrant: A person who is leaving a country to reside in another.

Immigrant: A person who is entering a country from another to take
up new residence.
Refugee: A person who is residing outside the country of his or her
origin due to fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political
opinion.
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.
Migration Stream: A group migration from a particular country,
region, or city to a certain destination.

Why Does Migration Happen?

People move for a variety of reasons. They consider the advantages

and disadvantages of staying versus moving, as well as factors such as
distance, travel costs, travel time, modes of transportation, terrain, and
cultural barriers.
Push Factors: Reasons for emigrating (leaving a place) because of a
difficulty (such as a food shortage, war, flood, etc.).
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Pull Factors: Reasons for immigrating (moving into a place) because
of something desirable
(Such as a nicer climate, better food supply, freedom, etc.).
Several types of push and pull factors may influence people in their
movements (sometimes at the same time), including:
1. Environmental (e.g., climate, natural disasters)
2. Political (e.g., war)
3. Economic (e.g., work)
4. Cultural (e.g., religious freedom, education)
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Place Utility: The desirability of a place based on its social,
economic, or environmental situation, often used to compare the value
of living in different locations. An individual’s idea of place utility
may or may not reflect the actual conditions of that location.
Intervening Opportunities: Opportunities nearby are usually
considered more attractive than equal or slightly better opportunities
farther away, so migrants tend to settle in a location closer to their
point of origin if other factors are equal.
Distance Decay: As distance from a given location increases,
understanding of that location decreases. People are more likely to
settle in a (closer) place about which they have more knowledge than
in a (farther) place about which they know and understand little.

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Sociologists have long analyzed migration in terms of the "push-pull"
model. This model differentiates between push factors that drive
people to leave home, from pull factors that attract migrants to a new
location. Push factors occur within sending states, that is, those that
send migrants abroad, while pull factors occur within receiving states,
that is, states that receive immigrants from sending states abroad. 

Push factors are negative aspects of the sending country, while pull
factors are positive aspects of the receiving country. In fact, these
differentiating factors are really two sides of the same coin. In moving
migrants must not only see a lack of benefits at home (push factors)
but also a surplus of benefits abroad (pull factors), otherwise the
move would not be worthwhile.

There are also more ambiguous factors, called network factors that

can either facilitate or deter migration. As mentioned above, network
factors include cost of travel, the ease of communication, and
international business trends. These factors are not related to a
specific country, but still have a profound effect on international
migration.

Environmental Refugees

In recent years, the concept of “environmental refugees” has gained

new importance, as global climate change and desertification have
threatened the livelihoods of millions of people, causing many to

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leave home in search of new opportunities. “Environmental refugee”,
a term coined by Essam El-Hinnawi, designates “people who have
been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or
permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural
and/or triggered by people) that jeopardizes their existence and/or
seriously effects the quality of their life.”

As of 1995, the last date where a thorough assessment was

undertaken, the number of environmental refugees had reached 25
million, with this number expected to double by 2010. In Morocco,
Libya, and Tunisia, for example, over 1,000 square kilometres of
productive land is lost annually to desertification, which has led to a
wave of North African migrants fleeing to Western Europe in order to
escape crop failure and water shortage.17  
Although many environmental refugees would like to make it to
Western Europe, in reality, the vast majority end up migrating to
neighbouring countries, which tend to be some of the poorest in the
world (with the top 20 refugee migration destination having an
average annual per-capita income of only $850). In many of these
places, environmental refugees are seen as unwelcome guests, putting
further strain on already scarce water and land supplies, with this
social mistrust and competition escalating to conflict and violence in
some cases.18 

According to Oxford-based environmental migration expert Norman

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Myers, when global climate change takes hold, “there could be as
many as 200 million people overtaken by disruptions of monsoon
systems and other rainfall regimes, by droughts of unprecedented
severity and duration, and by sea-level rise and coastal flooding.”
This exposure to the negative effects of global climate change will, in
many cases, lead to massive waves of migration, with a striking
example being the small island of Kiribati, whose 94,000 inhabitants
risk being totally submerged in water by 2070 as sea levels continue
to rise. In preparation for this outcome, the President of Kiribati,
Anote Tong, has proposed a gradual resettlement program, which
would see the population of Kiribati slowly relocated to neighbouring
islands such as New Zealand.

What makes environmental refugees such a difficult problem for

governments and policy-makers to cope with is the fact that there are
a variety of different types of environmental disaster that can have a
dramatic impact on the forced migration of people. In Bangladesh, it
is the rising sea-levels that have caused many people to flee across the
border to India, as mass flooding has caused many coastal areas of
Bangladesh to become uninhabitable. On the other hand, in the Sudan,
droughts and increasing rates of evaporation have made access to
water for consumption and traditional agricultural and pastoral much
more difficult, leaving many people without sufficient access to food
or water, thus increasing conflict over these resources.

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Economic Effects of Migration

The economic effects of migration vary widely. Sending countries

may experience both gains and losses in the short term but may stand
to gain over the longer term. For receiving countries temporary
programs help to address skills shortages but may decrease domestic
wages and add to public welfare burden. "While every mouth brings a
pair of hands, these hands sometimes make more than they eat and
sometimes less," noted a writer in the Financial Times. 

Nevertheless, most commentators argue that the net effects of

migration are generally positive. The Economist magazine, for
example, claimed that loosening restrictions on labour migration
"would be one of the fastest ways to boost global economic growth."
The positive effects, they say, would be significantly greater than
removal of any trade barriers.

For sending countries, the short-term economic benefit of emigration

is found in remittances. According to the World Bank, remittances
worldwide were estimated at $414 billion in 2009, a decrease of six
percent from 2008.

Meanwhile, for developed countries, the positive gains from

immigration are a result of the infusion of cheap and eager labour into
the economy. In the United States and Canada migrant workers often

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fill low-wage jobs for which there is not enough local supply of
labour, such as farm labour. Just as cheap imports of industrial goods
benefit the American economy, so too does the import of cheap
labour. Economists who support the notion of these positive gains
claim that immigration has little impact on wages or job availability
for domestic workers.

On the other hand, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) discounts
the positive gains of immigration. One CIS study states that Mexican
immigrants have a generally negative economic effect on the United
States. It claims that Mexican immigrants have caused a five percent
reduction in wages for the poorest ten percent of the American
workforce. At the same time, impoverished immigrant households use
social services at twice the rate of native-born Americans (31 percent
vs. 15 percent) the study says. 

Migration and the Economic Crisis

In the global economy’s current state of financial crisis, the three

economically and culturally divisive aspects of migration
discussed before will most likely been further intensified by
drastically changing labour market conditions. According to the
Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and
Poverty, declining GDP in most developed countries has already led
to a decreased demand for labour, with migrants bearing the brunt of
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job loss in areas such as construction, manufacturing, and services. 

With trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) severely faltering over
the past year, many migrants in the export sector have lost their jobs
and have been forced to return home, while many potential migrants
from developing countries have been deterred from making the trip
across borders. 

Although it is still too early to gauge the true impact of the crisis thus
far, many economists believe that this turnaround in migration flows
is potentially the biggest since the Great Depression.

With many migrants losing their jobs and returning home, the
financial crisis thus may have an indirect effect on economies in
developing countries through its impact on migration remittances.
Many countries, such as Mexico and Tajikistan, rely heavily on
money sent home from compatriots working abroad to increase their
domestic GDP and spur on economic development. As the global
economic slowdown forces many of these remittance-sending
migrants out of a job, it is the families and communities who rely on
these payments as a major source of income who suffer the most. 

Challenges Ahead

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While specific events are unpredictable, most experts expect to see a
continued rise in migration for the coming decade. In addition to the
economic and cultural issues facing countries dealing with mass
migration, the coming years will then bring other, newer problems,
such as illegal immigration. Dealing with the terrorist attacks of 9/11
and EU enlargement will also pose significant challenges to migration
policy. Meanwhile, growing world economic disparity will serve to
intensify push and pull factors. 

In response, both developed and developing countries will be forced

to craft migration policies that address security, economic, and
humanitarian concerns. Some commentators have therefore called for
a worldwide coordinated effort, including a new international
migration agency.

Laws of Migration

Geographer E.G. Ravenstein developed a series of migration 'laws' in

the 1880s that form the basis for modern migration theory. In simple
language, these principles state:
• Most migrants travel only a short distance.
• Migrants travelling long distances usually settle in urban areas.
• Most migration occurs in steps.
• Most migration is rural to urban.
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• Each migration flow produces a movement in the opposite direction
("counter flow").
• Most migrants are adults.
• Most international migrants are young males, while more internal
migrants are female.

Impacts of Migration

Human migration affects population patterns and characteristics,

social and cultural patterns
and processes, economies, and physical environments. As people
move, their cultural traits and ideas diffuse along with them, creating
and modifying cultural landscapes.
Diffusion: The process through which certain characteristics (e.g.,
cultural traits, ideas, disease) spread over space and through time.
Relocation Diffusion: Ideas, cultural traits, etc. that move with
people from one place to another and do not remain in the point of
origin.
Expansion Diffusion: Ideas, cultural traits, etc., that move with
people from one place to another but are not lost at the point of origin,
such as language.
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Cultural markers: Structures or artifacts (e.g., buildings, spiritual
places, architectural styles, signs, etc.) that reflects the cultures and
histories of those who constructed or occupy them.

Measuring Migration

In-migration: people moving into one place from another place

within a nation (internal migration).
Out-migration: people moving out of one place to another place
within a nation (internal migration).
Gross migration: total number of in-migrants and out-migrants
(internal migration).
Net internal migration: the difference between in-migration and out-
migration.
Movers from abroad: people coming into a nation from another
country or part of the world.
Net migration: the difference between net internal migration and
movers from abroad

Conclusion

The wide-scale movement of people is as much a defining feature of

globalization as the movement of goods, services, and capital. And

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countries are just as reluctant—if not more so—to open their borders
to people as to those items. As with trade and capital, citizens fear that
their culture and their jobs are susceptible to being eliminated by
uncontrolled immigration. At the same time—again, as with free trade
and investment—economies and societies need input from outside
their borders in order to continue economic growth. 

Furthermore, some countries, most importantly the United States, are

ideologically committed to open borders because of the nature of their
national identity as a mix of different immigrant groups. European
countries are less open to immigration and significant social conflict
has developed between native citizens and new arrivals, particularly
those from Africa and the Middle East. Even countries that send
migrants to other countries and benefit from the remittances they send
back are concerned about "brain drain" that may limit their
development.

Nevertheless, migration will be a major, unstoppable fact of global

life until the economic disparities between sending and receiving
states are eliminated, if ever. Even when goods, services, or capital
can be blocked by government action, the smuggling of human beings
and the resulting population of illegal immigrants in host countries is
a common feature of developed countries. Dealing with both legal and
illegal immigration, then, is one of the pressing issues facing
governments and societies across the world.

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