RIR 210: MIGRATION AND DIASPORA

STUDIES

Introduction to the concept of migrations;

WEEK 1
 INTRODUCTION
• Migration is an ancient process, the movement of
people, has occurred as long as mankind has existed.
• Humans as a species have constantly moved,
constantly migrated from place to place.
• Migration has been a constant and influential feature
of human history.
• It has supported the growth of the world economy;
contributed to the evolution of states and societies,
and enriched many cultures and civilizations.
• Migration studies cuts across several different disciplines and
fields of study -geography, sociology, anthropology, political
and social theory, economics, and cultural studies
• Within IR, the key issues of analysis that emerge are a focus
on international regulatory frameworks and regimes, issues of
governance, questions of cooperation, and the intersections
between migration and security.
• though IR is seen as Eurocentric, important alternative voices
emerge within migration studies, and they are represented
particularly in scholarship that focuses on refugees and
asylum issues.
• The study of immigration/migration in international
relations (IR) is relatively a new entry to the discipline.
• migration is a function of the international system of
states - without states, there are no borders to cross
• it is the crossing of borders that remains at the heart of
the politics of migration:
– who crosses, how, where, and why, are the operative
issues at the heart of policymaking, debate, and
practice in migration.
• This places the state at the heart of much of the
analysis;
– the ability to control borders is at the core of
questions of state sovereignty.
• It is state action, regulation, and law, therefore, that
shape and determine much international migration.
• however, migrants themselves also have agency and
autonomy; their movements are not simply reactive
to state policy and practice, but determine its
direction.
• This contributes to the foundational debates of world
politics:
– which actors have power, and how that power is
understood.
• International migration by its very definition involves
more than one state, calling attention to interstate
relations, and to questions of bilateral and multilateral
cooperation.
• The emergence of key international institutions, such as
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration
(IOM), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
also brings us questions of institutional power (often
versus state power), and of the development of
international regimes.
 Migration definition
• Migration is the movement of a person or a group of persons,
either across an international border or within a State.
• Migration is the movement of people from one place to
another with the intent to settle.
• It is a population movement, encompassing any kind of
movement of people, whatever its length, composition and
causes;
– it includes migration of refugees, displaced persons,
economic migrants and people moving for other purposes,
including family reunification.
• Human migration is the movement of people from one
place to another with the intention of settling in the
new location.
• International migration is the movement of individuals
and people from one country or region to another.
 Migrant definition
According to the International Organization for Migration
(IOM),
• a migrant is a “person who is moving or has moved
across an international border or within a State away
from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of
– the person’s legal status;
– whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary;
– what the causes for the movement are; or
– what the length of the stay is
 Migrant vs refugee
• There are important differences between the terms
‘migrant' and ‘refugee', which cannot be used
interchangeably.
• Refugees are outside their own country because of a threat
to their lives or freedom.
– They are defined and protected by a specific
international legal framework.
• The term ‘migrant', on the other hand, is not defined under
international law, and is sometimes used differently by
different stakeholders.
• Traditionally, the word ‘migrant' has been used to designate
people who move by choice rather than to escape conflict
or persecution, usually across an international border
(‘international migrants'), for instance to join family
members already abroad, to search for a livelihood, or for a
range of other purposes.
• Today the term is generally used to refer to any person who
moves away from their usual place of residence, whether
internally or across a border, and regardless of whether the
movement is ‘forced' or voluntary (UNHCR).
 History of international migration
• The history of migration begins with the origins of
mankind in Africa and spread initially into Europe and
later into other continents.
• Probably the predominant migration event in the 18th
and 19th centuries was the forced transportation of
slaves.
– An estimated 12 million people were forced from
mainly western Africa to the New World, but also in
lesser numbers across the Indian Ocean and
Mediterranean.
• European expansion was also associated with large-scale
voluntary resettlement from Europe, particularly to the
colonies of settlement, the dominions, and the Americas.
– Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and France – all
promoted settlement of their nationals abroad, not just
of workers but also peasants, dissident soldiers,
convicts, and orphans.
• This came to an end with the rise of anti-colonial
movements towards the end of the 19th century, and
indeed over the next 50 years or so there were some
significant reverse flows back to Europe.
• This was followed by the rise of the United States of America
(USA) as an industrial power.
– Millions of workers from the stagnant economic regions
and repressive political regimes of Northern, Southern,
and Eastern Europe, those escaping the Irish famine, went
to the USA from the 1850s until the Great Depression of
the 1930s.
• next major period of migration was after the WWII when
labour was needed to sustain booming post-war economies in
Europe, North America, and Australia
– e.g. many Turkish migrants arrived to work in Germany and
North Africans in France and Belgium
• By the 1970s the international migrant labour boom
was over in Europe, although it continued into the
early 1990s in the USA.
• The engine-room of the global economy begun to shift
decisively to Asia, where labour migration is, in
contrast, still growing.
 Why do people migrate
There are two categories of factors that influence people’s
decisions to migrate. Migration usually happens as a result of a
combination of push and pull factors.
• Push factors are the reasons why people leave an area and
are associated with the area of origin.
• occur where someone is currently living and make
continuing to live there less attractive.
• A push factor could be political unrest, a lack of job
opportunities, overcrowding, lack of services, lack of safety,
high crime, crop failure, drought, flooding, poverty, war.
• Pull factors are the reasons why people move to a
particular area and are associated with the area of
destination.
• occur in a potential destination and make it an attractive
place to migrate to.
• A pull factor could be better job opportunities, having
relatives or friends who have already moved to this
location, higher employment, more wealth, better
services, good climate, safer, less crime, political stability,
more fertile land, lower risk from natural hazards
• Some people choose to migrate, eg someone who
moves to another country to enhance their career
opportunities while some are forced to migrate, eg
someone who moves due to war or famine.
• People migrate for many different reasons.
– Individuals migrate because they think that they can
improve their own lives or those of their families by
doing so.
• These reasons can be classified as economic, social,
political or environmental
 Economic migration
• Economic migration has to do with moving to find work or follow a
particular career path
• Economic migration is triggered by the knowledge (or belief) that
better economic opportunities exist in some other place.
• where regional and local economic inequality is extensive, people
are likely to migrate.
• Factors such as poverty, lack of economic opportunity, land
shortage and low living standards at home function as push factors,
while prosperity, opportunity, available employment and higher
living standards in the place of destination are pull factors.
• The individual's decision to migrate involves a process of weighing
up potential costs and benefits.
 Social migration
• social migration has to do with moving somewhere for a
better quality of life or to be closer to family or friends
• many developed countries provide a social network that
makes those countries attractive for people from less
developed countries.
• By moving to a different nation, people are looking for a
higher standard of living - Not just about money but
cleaner, healthier, and a better quality of life.
 Political migration
• political migration - moving (to escape
cultural/political/religious persecution or war.
• Many people are forced to migrate because of a war, civil
war or state policies which discriminate against particular
categories of its citizens or the political opponents of
those in power.
• These people are unable to return home because they
have well founded fears of being persecuted and are
unlikely to receive any protection from their government.
 Environmental
• environmental causes of migration include natural
disasters such as flooding
• Climate change also has a responsibility for
immigration, sometimes nature strikes back
rendering man homeless and helpless.
• Due to sudden storms, floods, tsunamis, and several
other natural disasters people need to flee and seek
asylum in another relatively safer environment.