Why Do People Migrate?

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Why Do People Migrate?
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Why do People Migrate?

• Forced Migration (Involuntary)- imposing
  authority or power producing involuntary
  migration that cannot be understood based on
  theories
• Voluntary Migration

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Forced Migration

• Atlantic Slave Trade (1500s)
• Tens of millions of Africans carried from their
  homes to South America, the Caribbean and North
  America to be sold as slaves and work on
  plantations. The slave trade did huge amounts of
  damage to the African societies and communities
  changing the cultural and ethnic geography of
  Brazil, Middle Americas, and the United States

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Forced Migration
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Slaves Reaching British North America, 1601-1867
(in 1,000s)

• Slide graphic courtesy of Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue,
  Hofstra University

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Forced Migration

• The Trail of Tears, 1838 In the 1800s the U. S.
  government took lands from thousands of Native
  Americans and forcibly moved them to other areas
  of the country, far from their homelands.

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Does forced migration still exist today?

• In the form of countermigration
• Governments send back migrants caught entering
  their countries illegally
• Ex in the 1990s U. S. sent back Haitian arrivals
  from Florida

Haitian Refugees
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Voluntary Migration

• When a migrant weighs his options and choices in
  response to a perceived opportunity, and the
  result is movement
• When a person, family or group of people make a
  voluntary decision to migrate, push and pull
  factors come into play.
• Push factors- negative conditions and perceptions
  that cause people to want to leave a place
• Pull factors- positive conditions and perceptions
  that attract people to a new place

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Ravensteins Laws of Migration

• Ernst Ravenstein
• - Answered the question- Why do people volunteer
  to migrate?

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1st Law of Migration

• Every migration flow generates a return or
  countermigration
• In other words every outflow of migration
  produces an inflow.
• Migration is not just the number of people
  leaving the area but also those coming in.
• Therefore net migration is the number of
  immigrants minus the number of emigrants.
• By considering both factors of the net
  migration equation you see the actual growth of
  the city or suburban area.

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2nd Migration Law

• The Majority of migrants move a short distance
• A relatively self-explanatory law of migration.
  Migrating from small city to yet another small
  city, such as from Coppell to Austin, is more
  common than moving internationally.
• Since migration typically infers crossing of
  state and/or political boundaries this law is
  extremely helpful to the understanding of
  migration patterns.

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3rd Migration Law

• Migrants who move longer distances tend to
  choose big-city destinations
• Another law that is fairly obvious It is far
  more plausible for someone to move to France for
  the purpose of living and working in Paris than
  it is for them to move to France solely to enjoy
  the French countryside.
• Typically when people move longer distances their
  destinations are in or near an urban area.

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4th Migration law

• Urban residents are less migratory than
  inhabitants of rural areas
• Those located in heavy industrial or urban areas
  are more likely to stay there.
• This migration law is closely related to the
  costs advantages/disadvantages of urban residents
  compared to those of rural ones.

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5th Migration Law

• Families are less likely to make international
  moves than young adults
• Young adults have less obligations and
  transportation costs to worry about when compared
  to those of a small family.
• It is much easier for them to pick up and leave
  the U.S. on a work permit than it would be for a
  family to do so.
• Aside from the problem of cost it takes more time
  and effort to move say four people to a new
  country than it does to move just one.

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Migration Factors

• Also known as push and pull factors these are
  the reasons for the international migration of
  thousand the world over.
• These factors include Economic conditions,
  political factors, heated conflict and/or civil
  war, environmental conditions, culture and
  traditions, and technological advances.
• In some situations people will migrate, not for
  just one, but for a combination of those reasons.

Net Migration of the UK
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Economic Conditions

• The most common reason for international
  migration in the past few decades has been to
  escape poverty.
• Recently America has seen a great deal of illegal
  immigration from the Mexican border.
• Most of these immigrants are people trying to
  escape the poverty and get better-paying jobs in
  America.

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Atlanta

• Economic factors can also affect the migration
  patterns within developed states.
• Within the U.S. the still growing information
  sectors of Atlanta has attracted many New
  Yorkers to the city for job-related(economic)
  reasons.
• Another reason for this influx of migration to
  Atlanta over the past decade is the cheaper cost
  of living.

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Political Circumstances

• As a citizen of the U.S. its easy to
  underestimate the benefits of an unimpressive
  government but many people migrate for that very
  reason.
• In recent decades thousands have fled their home
  counties to escape the growing influence of
  communism.
• Most of the time their destination is that of the
  U.S. and because of this their history has become
  linked with our own.

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• Vietnam and Cuba serve as classic examples of how
  political changes affect migration flows.
• During the 80s more than a hundred thousand
  Cubans left their island nation in order to
  escape the dictatorship of a Communist leader.
• In what is today known as the Mariel Boat Lift
  this mass migration of Cubans now accounts for
  the little Havana and large populations
  clusters of Cubans in Miami and south Florida.

Mariel Boat lift
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Armed Conflict and Civil War

• People living in war torn countries are known to
  migrate elsewhere to escape the violence and
  political instability.
• This is especially true when the instability of
  the country leads to armed conflict that can
  bring injury and/or death to its citizens.
• Such examples of forced migration can be found
  numerous times throughout history.

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• During the 90s civil war erupted in Rwanda
  between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes resulting what
  was essentially a genocide.
• This complete massacre was not acknowledged as
  genocide by the UN until too late in the
  conflict.
• The hostilities here created an enormous outflow
  of migration into the neighboring countries of
  Zaire and Tanzania.

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Environmental Conditions

• Of all the reasons for international migration
  the environment is rarely a reason for traveling
  such extreme distances.
• Generally this type of migration is limited to
  certain events in history as well as specific
  areas around the globe.
• The most common example today is among
  populations located around the Pacific Ring of
  Fire where earthquakes and Volcanic eruptions are
  frequent.

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• As stated before very rarely is the environment
  viewed as so hazardous to their family and
  personal welfare that they should move but
  occasionally this does occur.
• The best example is the Irish Potato famine of
  the 1840s which forced thousands to move because
  the environment would no longer provide them with
  food.

• Potato Famine Memorial in Dublin, Ireland

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Culture and Traditions

• When people fear that their way of life is being
  threatened they will move to a location they
  view as invulnerable.
• This may also exemplify certain groups who keep
  themselves separate of mainstream society.
• The Amish in particular can be seen as a people
  who migrate to certain areas to avoid outside
  influence that may threaten their well preserved
  lifestyle.

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• There are several international examples of this
  phenomenon throughout history.
• The movement of Jews from the former Soviet Union
  into Israel.
• The mass migration of the Muslims of India into
  Pakistan once it was declared an Islamic State.
• Any movement by a group of people whos culture
  or lifestyle is not one which is globally(or
  universally) accepted by society

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Power Relationships

• Gender, ethnicity, race and money are all factors
  in the decision to migrate.
• Employers who hire migrant workers often have
  perceptions of what kinds of migrants would best
  work for them.
• Women in the Middle East hire Southeast Asian
  women to work as domestic servants, housekeepers,
  and nannies. Hiring different ethnicities from
  abroad establishes a power relationship between
  the female head of house hold and employee.

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Technological Advances

• The technological advances that have been made in
  the past century make migration no where near as
  hazardous as it once was.
• Such advances in technology actually have
  stimulated migration worldwide.
• The invention of the airplane for example has
  made many areas of the world more accessible than
  they once were.

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Chain Migration
Chinatown in San Francisco

• A series of migrations within a family or defined
  group of people.
• Often begins with one family member who sends
  money to bring other family members to the new
  location.
• Results in the clustering of people from a
  specific region into certain neighborhoods or
  small towns.

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Step Migration

• A series of shorter, less extreme migrations from
  a persons place of origin to final destination
• Moving from a farm to a village, to a town, and
  finally to a city

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Sources

• Internet Sources
• http//www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/migrat/xp/mgra
  ven.htm
• http//www.csiss.org/classics/content/90
• http//www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/171.html
• http//family.jrank.org/pages/1170/Migration-Theo
  ries-Migration.html
• APHG Textbook Seventh Edition
• http//compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2007/09/
  28/sexual-harassment-hate-speech-and-jena-6/
• http//oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05fire/
  background/volcanism/media/tectonics_world_map.htm
  l
• http//thunderations.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/the-
  irish-did-save-civilization-then-civilization-grou
  nd-them-down/
• http//www.thegeminiweb.com/babyboomer/?cat8
• http//educononline.com/2008/11/07/ict-futureschoo
  lssingapore-the-moe-and-the-amish/
• http//abagond.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/the-transa
  tlantic-slave-trade/
• http//cubaninlondon.blogspot.com/2009/01/lattenta
  t-yasmina-khadra-review.html
• De Blij, H. J, Erin Fouberg, and Alexander
  Murphy. Human Geography People, Place, and
  Culture 9th Edition. New Jersey Wiley, 2009

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Forced Migration

• A refugee is a person who has well-founded fear
  of being persecuted for reasons of race,
  religion, nationality, membership of a particular
  social group, or political opinion.
• However despite this widely accepted definition
  the line between voluntary migrant and an
  involuntary one is often hard to read.
• For this reason it was necessary to catalogue 3
  distinguishing factors that set the involuntary
  migrants apart from others.

The Atlantic Slave Trade was a form of Forced
Migration
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• Most refugees make their first step on foot, by
  bicycle, wagon, or open boat
• In this scenario the effects of technological
  advances have no precedence.
• Those making their way to an area of safety are
  most likely to use these means of transportation.
• This is because(or should be because)
  circumstances at the time prevent them from using
  anything better.

Refugees via boat
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• Most refugees move without any more tangible
  property than they can carry or transport with
  them
• Due to the urgent circumstances of their
  situation a refugee would only have time to bring
  what they absolutely need(food, money, and the
  close on they are wearing most likely nothing
  more).
• Anything else would slow them down and prevent
  them from making it to an area of safety.
• Migrants with moving vans and a great deal of
  personal belongings on them are clearly not going
  to be considered refugees.

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• Refugees move without the official documents
  that accompany channeled migration.
• Chances are a refugee would not be carrying a
  passport or ID of any kind .
• Lack of identification is taken as a sign of
  being a refugee, or displaced person.

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The Refugee Problem

• Across the globe refugees have generated major
  social problems, ethnic strife, and even
  environmental problems
• Countries unprepared to take on the inflow of
  migrants suffer because they dont have the
  resources to take care of the extra people.
• It is problem that grows every year and the UN is
  unsure of a solution.

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Sub-Saharan Africa

• This portion of the world not only contains the
  most third world countries of any region of the
  earth but also the most refugees.
• Ethnic borderlines run through many of the
  African countries in this region causing clashes
  between the Islam Arabs of the North and the
  Christian/Traditional South.
• The most notable conflict in the region is the
  one raging in Sudan, which has recently started
  to get attention from American media.
• The introduction of the Lost Boys, Sudanese
  refugees trying to make a better life in America,
  has shed some light on the issues pertaining to
  that region of the world.

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North Africa SW Asia

• This region in particular is known for its
  religious conflict and hordes of displaced Arab
  populations including Palestinians and Kurds.
• In fact the high numbers of refugees here has
  left a deep impressions on the American mental
  map and cultural perception of the region as a
  whole.
• Although the region has somewhat stabilized over
  the years it will probably never end to due its
  deep roots in the regions history and culture.
• Geographers should expect the region to forever
  be a source of refugees.

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South Asia

• The most influential refugee problem of the
  region lies among the conflict between the Tamil
  and Sinhalese of Sri Lanka.
• The Tamil demand for autonomy separate from the
  Sinhalese has meant death for many and an
  eviction of sorts for those alive.
• There are those within the Tamil minority that
  choose to remain peaceful but because the
  situation has escalated feel its safer to move
  elsewhere than stay in Sri Lanka.

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SE Asia

• Unlike other regions of the world SE Asia does
  not have a consistent flow of refugees coming
  from any one place.
• As time changes apparently so does the country
  with the most political turmoil(something like a
  game of hot potato with refugee turnout)
• Vietnam had an exodus of boat people after the
  war in the 70s.
• However later on Cambodia had internal conflict
  which resulted in refugee flood of over 300,000.

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Europe

• The break-up of Yugoslavia was one of the
  greatest refugee problems of the 20th century.
• As Yugoslavia was in and of itself a country of
  refugees the world hoped that it would become a
  utopia of sorts or rather a European us.
• Unfortunately it could not overcome its many
  inner conflicts and different ethnic clashes .
• It failed to create a permanent home for the
  stateless nations of Europe.

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Elsewhere

• Outside of these realms relatively few places
  have had problems with refugees.
• The only recent example is the intranational
  refugee problem of Columbia in the late 90s.
• Columbia, known for its frequent production of
  narcotics, had areas within the country which
  were attacked by paramilitary units also known
  as narcoterrorists.
• Areas which were attacked were places especially
  vulnerable because of their out-of reach
  location from government protection.

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Closing

• In summary although Ravensteins basic laws are
  helpful to understanding migration patterns
  there are many other factors that must be taken
  into account.
• Types of migration and the reasons behind it
  depend on the region of the world the influx is
  coming from as well as the history of migration
  within that region. (Example The Middle East has
  a history of forced Migration)
• When assessing individual countries it can also
  depend upon that countries political
  relationship with surrounding states.