Why do People Migrate?
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Introduction
As we already saw in the previous module, millions of people move worldwide. But why? In this module, we will explore the many reasons people migrate both internally and across borders. Through this module, you will be introduced to various ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that cause people to migrate and you will learn to reflect on these factors with a critical eye. The case studies will also provide you some real-life stories illustrating why people decide to migrate.
As we already saw in the previous module, millions of people move worldwide. But why? In this module, we will explore the many reasons people migrate both internally and across borders. Through this module, you will be introduced to various ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that cause people to migrate and you will learn to reflect on these factors with a critical eye. The case studies will also provide you some real-life stories illustrating why people decide to migrate.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this module is to:
The aim of this module is to:
- understand the main push and pull factors that cause people to migrate
- reflect on push and pull factors from a critical perspective
- understand the different forms of migration (labor migrants vs. illegal migrants vs. expats)
Why people migrate: The push and pull factors of migration
Since time immemorial, people have moved across the globe. Migration is an age-old social phenomenon rather than a novelty of the 21st century. People move for all sorts of reasons: to find better economic opportunities, for work or education reasons, to flee war, persecution or natural disasters.
In light of the current refugee crisis and given the global attention that this social phenomenon has drawn, it is important to explore the reasons why people migrate. Why do people move from their own country of origin?
To answer this question, many academics within neo-classical migration theory have tried to categorize these motives by dividing them into two large categories: push and pull factors.
Push factors are those that motivate people to move, either voluntarily or forced. Lack of jobs, poverty, high unemployment rates, a decline in opportunities in rural areas can be considered as important push factors. But migrants are not always motivated by economically-related reasons to start their journey: many are impelled to cross national or internal borders by war or persecution at home. These people may be considered refugees or asylum seekers in receiving countries.
Reasons for migration are often correlated: if there is conflict in an area, employment and economic opportunities will also be affected. Also, individuals fleeing violence and conflict due to social, political and economic instability are often willing to traverse dangerous and uncertain migration routes to seek safety. Environmental problems and natural disasters can also cause the loss of economic assets, homes, and jobs. More recently, the term “environmental refugee” has been adopted to describe migrants fleeing environmental disasters, flood, drought, soil degradation, and deforestation - all key factors that lead to starvation.
Pull factors, instead, are those that attract people to a certain location because of their technological and economic development. Examples of these push factors are job opportunities, better living conditions, religious freedom, better education, healthcare, and security.. Political conditions can also operate as pull factors. People may be attracted to democratic countries that encourage individual choice in education, career, and place of residence. Let us just think about how after Communists gained control of Eastern Europe in the late 1940s, many people in that region were pulled toward the democracies in Western Europe and North America.
Sources:
European Asylum Support Office: The push and pull factors of asylum-related migration - a Literature review, November 2016
IOM - Key Migration Terms
Since time immemorial, people have moved across the globe. Migration is an age-old social phenomenon rather than a novelty of the 21st century. People move for all sorts of reasons: to find better economic opportunities, for work or education reasons, to flee war, persecution or natural disasters.
In light of the current refugee crisis and given the global attention that this social phenomenon has drawn, it is important to explore the reasons why people migrate. Why do people move from their own country of origin?
To answer this question, many academics within neo-classical migration theory have tried to categorize these motives by dividing them into two large categories: push and pull factors.
Push factors are those that motivate people to move, either voluntarily or forced. Lack of jobs, poverty, high unemployment rates, a decline in opportunities in rural areas can be considered as important push factors. But migrants are not always motivated by economically-related reasons to start their journey: many are impelled to cross national or internal borders by war or persecution at home. These people may be considered refugees or asylum seekers in receiving countries.
Reasons for migration are often correlated: if there is conflict in an area, employment and economic opportunities will also be affected. Also, individuals fleeing violence and conflict due to social, political and economic instability are often willing to traverse dangerous and uncertain migration routes to seek safety. Environmental problems and natural disasters can also cause the loss of economic assets, homes, and jobs. More recently, the term “environmental refugee” has been adopted to describe migrants fleeing environmental disasters, flood, drought, soil degradation, and deforestation - all key factors that lead to starvation.
Pull factors, instead, are those that attract people to a certain location because of their technological and economic development. Examples of these push factors are job opportunities, better living conditions, religious freedom, better education, healthcare, and security.. Political conditions can also operate as pull factors. People may be attracted to democratic countries that encourage individual choice in education, career, and place of residence. Let us just think about how after Communists gained control of Eastern Europe in the late 1940s, many people in that region were pulled toward the democracies in Western Europe and North America.
Sources:
European Asylum Support Office: The push and pull factors of asylum-related migration - a Literature review, November 2016
IOM - Key Migration Terms
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Watch the Clip!
This video offers an overview of some of the above-mentioned reasons that can lie behind contemporary international migration. Before watching this video, think about the migrant communities in your own country. In your opinion which where their main push and pull factors to migrate? |
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Beyond the “Push and Pull” model
While the push and pull factors can give a first glimpse of the reasons why people migrate, this model has been criticized for simplifying what is in fact a very complex phenomenon.
This model implies that people migrate as a result of a disequilibrium between origin and destination countries and that people decide to move “pushed or pulled” merely by external factors (income opportunities, wellbeing, safety etc), While this can explain some of the reasons why people decide to migrate, this dichotomic model fails to grasp the social, economic and political complexities of migration as a process and falls short in recognizing migrants as active agents in their own lives.
In fact, this model cannot explain some migration phenomena we witness today, such as the fact that most migrants do not move from the poorest to the wealthiest countries, and that the poorest countries tend to have lower levels of emigration than middle-income and wealthier countries. For instance, important emigration countries such as Mexico, Morocco, Turkey and the Philippines are typically not among the poorest. Conversely, contrary to common perceptions, sub-Saharan Africa is the least migratory region of the world.
Sources:
Hein den Hass (2014), “What drives human migration?”, International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
Hein den Hass (2011), “The determinants of international migration”, Working Paper 32, International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
While the push and pull factors can give a first glimpse of the reasons why people migrate, this model has been criticized for simplifying what is in fact a very complex phenomenon.
This model implies that people migrate as a result of a disequilibrium between origin and destination countries and that people decide to move “pushed or pulled” merely by external factors (income opportunities, wellbeing, safety etc), While this can explain some of the reasons why people decide to migrate, this dichotomic model fails to grasp the social, economic and political complexities of migration as a process and falls short in recognizing migrants as active agents in their own lives.
In fact, this model cannot explain some migration phenomena we witness today, such as the fact that most migrants do not move from the poorest to the wealthiest countries, and that the poorest countries tend to have lower levels of emigration than middle-income and wealthier countries. For instance, important emigration countries such as Mexico, Morocco, Turkey and the Philippines are typically not among the poorest. Conversely, contrary to common perceptions, sub-Saharan Africa is the least migratory region of the world.
Sources:
Hein den Hass (2014), “What drives human migration?”, International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
Hein den Hass (2011), “The determinants of international migration”, Working Paper 32, International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
From motives to “labels”
For governments and institutions, the reasons why people migrate are extremely relevant. Their motives often define the type of protection and the legal status that people can acquire once they reach their host country.
Below you will find a list of terms that you may have heard often in relation to migration. They will help you clarify some important legal distinctions between the many existing labels and definitions.
Source: IOM – Key Migration Terms
For governments and institutions, the reasons why people migrate are extremely relevant. Their motives often define the type of protection and the legal status that people can acquire once they reach their host country.
Below you will find a list of terms that you may have heard often in relation to migration. They will help you clarify some important legal distinctions between the many existing labels and definitions.
- Asylum seekers - a person who seeks safety from persecution or serious harm in a country other than his or her own and awaits a decision on the application for refugee status under relevant international and national instruments
- Refugee - A person who, "owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinions, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country. (Art. 1(A)(2), Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Art. 1A(2), 1951 as modified by the 1967 Protocol). A refugee is an asylum seeker whose asylum request has been accepted by the recevieng country where he/she seeks refuge.
- Economic migrant - is not a legal classification, but rather an umbrella term for a wide array of people that move from one country to another to advance their economic and professional prospects.
- Labor migration - movement of persons from one State to another, or within their own country of residence, for the purpose of employment.
- Illegal migration - movement that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving countries. From the perspective of destination countries, it is entry, stay or work in a country without the necessary authorization or documents required under immigration regulations, while from the perspective of the sending country, the irregularity is for example seen in cases in which a person crosses an international boundary without a valid passport or travel document or does not fulfil the administrative requirements for leaving the country. There is, however, a tendency to restrict the use of the term "illegal migration" to cases of smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons
Source: IOM – Key Migration Terms
Beyond labels
Despite the definitions you read in the previous section may help to describe the migration phenomenon in simple terms, such clear-cut categories are often inaccurate to describe the complexities of real-life stories and trajectories.
Try to think about the following: fleeing from hunger in what is internationally considered a safe country, should it be considered forced or voluntary migration? How do we categorize a person who first went to Lybia to find better economic opportunities but was then forced to flee across the Mediterranean because of sexual abuses and torture? Would this person be considered as an economic migrant or an asylum seeker?
While you reflect on the porous borders between such labels, have a look at the video above. While it starts by describing the various categories of migrants mentioned above, it then leads you to reflect on the “grey areas” existing between such categorizations.
Despite the definitions you read in the previous section may help to describe the migration phenomenon in simple terms, such clear-cut categories are often inaccurate to describe the complexities of real-life stories and trajectories.
Try to think about the following: fleeing from hunger in what is internationally considered a safe country, should it be considered forced or voluntary migration? How do we categorize a person who first went to Lybia to find better economic opportunities but was then forced to flee across the Mediterranean because of sexual abuses and torture? Would this person be considered as an economic migrant or an asylum seeker?
While you reflect on the porous borders between such labels, have a look at the video above. While it starts by describing the various categories of migrants mentioned above, it then leads you to reflect on the “grey areas” existing between such categorizations.
Expats: the West and the Rest
Looking at the diverse causes of migration, we have encountered different definitions and labels that try to categorise people on the basis of their motivations to travel. As you have seen in the video, many are discussing the thin line between such categories and sometimes their overlapping nature. However, there is one term that is mostly absent from such debates: expatriates.
Expatriates (often simply called “Expats”) are usually defined as people who move abroad out of a life-choice for a certain period of time to pursue work opportunities. Despite expats’ motives to relocate abroad often overlap with those of so called “economic migrants”, the term “expat” is usually a term reserved exclusively for western white individuals going to work abroad, while Africans, Arabs, and Asians are mostly called migrants.
The term expat is thus quite a controversial one, criticized for its hierarchical connotation and for being mostly reserved to define individuals from a certain social class, country of origin and economic status. As Mawuna Remarque Koutonin asserts in this opinion piece in The Guardian, expats are Westerners working abroad, while everyone else is a considered migrant:
“Top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. “I work for multinational organisations both in the private and public sectors. And being black or colored doesn’t gain me the term “expat”. I’m a highly qualified immigrant, as they call me, to be politically correct,” says an African migrant worker.”
Today such terminology is highly debated, however it is still absent from the discourse on migration among policy makers.
Had you ever heard of the term expat before? What are your thoughts on this further distinction between “economic migrants” and “expats”?
For further insights into this topic, you can read the following articles:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/13/white-people-expats-immigrants-migration
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170119-who-should-be-called-an-expat
Looking at the diverse causes of migration, we have encountered different definitions and labels that try to categorise people on the basis of their motivations to travel. As you have seen in the video, many are discussing the thin line between such categories and sometimes their overlapping nature. However, there is one term that is mostly absent from such debates: expatriates.
Expatriates (often simply called “Expats”) are usually defined as people who move abroad out of a life-choice for a certain period of time to pursue work opportunities. Despite expats’ motives to relocate abroad often overlap with those of so called “economic migrants”, the term “expat” is usually a term reserved exclusively for western white individuals going to work abroad, while Africans, Arabs, and Asians are mostly called migrants.
The term expat is thus quite a controversial one, criticized for its hierarchical connotation and for being mostly reserved to define individuals from a certain social class, country of origin and economic status. As Mawuna Remarque Koutonin asserts in this opinion piece in The Guardian, expats are Westerners working abroad, while everyone else is a considered migrant:
“Top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. “I work for multinational organisations both in the private and public sectors. And being black or colored doesn’t gain me the term “expat”. I’m a highly qualified immigrant, as they call me, to be politically correct,” says an African migrant worker.”
Today such terminology is highly debated, however it is still absent from the discourse on migration among policy makers.
Had you ever heard of the term expat before? What are your thoughts on this further distinction between “economic migrants” and “expats”?
For further insights into this topic, you can read the following articles:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/13/white-people-expats-immigrants-migration
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170119-who-should-be-called-an-expat
Case Studies
You will now have the chance to explore some real-life stories illustrating the diverse motives behind people’s decision to migrate...
You will see that many people do not necessarily travel to far away countries – most will cross just into a neighboring country You’ll also notice that these paths are unpredictable, and people coming from almost every corner of the world do not always end up at the end of the journey where they had planned to go.
Case Study 1 -Farah Abdi: “I made the decision to be free or die”
This first link leads to an interview with a Somalian refugee, who was granted refugee status in Malta because of LGBT persecution. It gives you an idea of the types of journeys and risks refugees must make to reach safety and security.
Read the following for the full story: https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2014/06/20/lgbt-asylum-seekers/
Case Study 2 -Syrian Refugees Tell Us What They Miss About Home
This video focuses our attention to Syrian refugees, who left their country unwillingly. As we will see in their confessions, they had no intention of leaving their homes and moving to a foreign country, but they were forced to do so. After arriving in totally unknown countries like Lebanon, the USA, or Germany, with different cultural and societal norms and expectations, beside the challenges of integration, they are still struggling with homesickness, and fear for the ones left behind, fear for never seeing their homeland ever again.
Watch this video for the full story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhT-MmquMA
Case Study 3 -Women and migration
Besides war, poverty and inequality, sexual and gender based violence also uproots millions of people. Women and girls face specific risks and dangers they during their journeys. One in five displaced women experiences sexual violence. While all displaced children are vulnerable, in eastern Africa half as many displaced girls go to school as boys.
In Nigeria, displaced people are disproportionately female because men and boys are targeted to be killed and forced into fighting. But overall, displaced women and girls, particularly if unaccompanied, pregnant or elderly, are among the most vulnerable people in the world.
Sources:
OXFAM https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/bp-i-ask-the-world-to-empathize-150916-en_0.pdf
http://www.phschool.com/atschool/ap_misc/rubenstein_cultland/pdfs/Ch3_Issue1.pdf
You will now have the chance to explore some real-life stories illustrating the diverse motives behind people’s decision to migrate...
You will see that many people do not necessarily travel to far away countries – most will cross just into a neighboring country You’ll also notice that these paths are unpredictable, and people coming from almost every corner of the world do not always end up at the end of the journey where they had planned to go.
Case Study 1 -Farah Abdi: “I made the decision to be free or die”
This first link leads to an interview with a Somalian refugee, who was granted refugee status in Malta because of LGBT persecution. It gives you an idea of the types of journeys and risks refugees must make to reach safety and security.
Read the following for the full story: https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2014/06/20/lgbt-asylum-seekers/
Case Study 2 -Syrian Refugees Tell Us What They Miss About Home
This video focuses our attention to Syrian refugees, who left their country unwillingly. As we will see in their confessions, they had no intention of leaving their homes and moving to a foreign country, but they were forced to do so. After arriving in totally unknown countries like Lebanon, the USA, or Germany, with different cultural and societal norms and expectations, beside the challenges of integration, they are still struggling with homesickness, and fear for the ones left behind, fear for never seeing their homeland ever again.
Watch this video for the full story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhT-MmquMA
Case Study 3 -Women and migration
Besides war, poverty and inequality, sexual and gender based violence also uproots millions of people. Women and girls face specific risks and dangers they during their journeys. One in five displaced women experiences sexual violence. While all displaced children are vulnerable, in eastern Africa half as many displaced girls go to school as boys.
In Nigeria, displaced people are disproportionately female because men and boys are targeted to be killed and forced into fighting. But overall, displaced women and girls, particularly if unaccompanied, pregnant or elderly, are among the most vulnerable people in the world.
Sources:
OXFAM https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/bp-i-ask-the-world-to-empathize-150916-en_0.pdf
http://www.phschool.com/atschool/ap_misc/rubenstein_cultland/pdfs/Ch3_Issue1.pdf
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Creative Thinking Exercise
In your opinion, how important it is that your students understand not only the trends in migration, but also the reasons people migrate? Why? How would you explain the different categories of migrants to your students? How would you have them critically think about these categroies? What examples could you make? Personal stories make facts and figures associated with migration more real and immediate. How can you use the personal stories illustrated in the case studies to relate migration to your subject? |
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Summary
In this module, we have looked at some of the reasons why people migrate. We have talked about push and pull factors and illustrated the limitations in describing people’s decisions to migrate with such black and white terms. After reflecting on the relevance of people’s reasons to migrate from a legal perspective, we have also critically considered the use of words in the migration vocabulary (refugee, illegal migrant, expat etc). This module has helped you to understand the complexities of the migration phenomenon and to problematize the use of some words that you commonly hear in the media. Now it is your turn to use this knowledge with your students and encourage them to think critically about migration and make them conscious of the words they use.
Looking Ahead...
In the next module, we will take a closer look at migration in Malta, including how many and which people are moving in, out, and through Malta. We will think again about the reasons people come to Malta, considering the overlap between forced and voluntary migration, the push and pull factors that we covered in this module.
In this module, we have looked at some of the reasons why people migrate. We have talked about push and pull factors and illustrated the limitations in describing people’s decisions to migrate with such black and white terms. After reflecting on the relevance of people’s reasons to migrate from a legal perspective, we have also critically considered the use of words in the migration vocabulary (refugee, illegal migrant, expat etc). This module has helped you to understand the complexities of the migration phenomenon and to problematize the use of some words that you commonly hear in the media. Now it is your turn to use this knowledge with your students and encourage them to think critically about migration and make them conscious of the words they use.
Looking Ahead...
In the next module, we will take a closer look at migration in Malta, including how many and which people are moving in, out, and through Malta. We will think again about the reasons people come to Malta, considering the overlap between forced and voluntary migration, the push and pull factors that we covered in this module.
Additional Reading
- http://lewishistoricalsociety.com/wiki2011/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=28
- http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-difference-between-asylum-seekers-refugees-and-economic-migrants-45615
- http://www.unhcr.org/statistics/unhcrstats/576408cd7/unhcr-globaltrends-2015.html
- https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/mb-a-poor-welcome-refugees-180716-en_0.pdf
- https://publications.iom.int/system/files/fataljourneys_vol2.pdf
- http://www.unhcr.org/uk/women.html
- http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5881d4594.pdf
- IOM - Key Migration Terms
