Ch. 3 Migration

What is Migration?

• Movement of people across space• Speeds diffusion of ideas, intensifies

spatial interaction, is linked to environment

Types of Movement:• Cyclic Movement- involves shorter periods away

– begins at home and ends there as well• Activity Space movement is an example• Commuting to work is an example• (transportation has expanded activity

spaces greatly)• Seasonal Movement also (traveling to FL

for winter/summer and then back north)• Nomadism- takes place across familiar

landscapes year round

What is activity space?• The great majority of

people have a daily routine that takes them through a sequence of short moves that geographers call activity space.

• America is the world’s most mobile society.

• Technology has greatly expanded activity space, particularly in wealthier, more developed countries.

Periodic Movement- Longer period of time away, but still returning home

• Migrant Labor- (FL and California Fields)• Transhumance- pastoral farming where

ranchers move livestock to pastures from mountains

• In Switzerland, cattle are driven up the mountains in the summer and farm families take up residence in summer cottages.

• College and Military service as well require you to be away for long periods of time

Migration- Permanent relocation across significant distances

• International migration- movement across country borders

• Emigration (leaving country) Immigration (entering country)

• Internal Migration- within a single country’s borders– Today most people are leaving NE to move south and

west– US is most mobile population in the world– (5 mil state to state each year, 35 mil within state)

Why do People Migrate? Forced Migration- involves the imposition of authority or power to force another to move

• Atlantic Slave Trade was most devastating in history

• 12 million to 30 million moved from Africa to the Americas (p. 75 map)

• Convicts shipped from Britain to Australia in 1788

• Nazi Germany relocated millions of Jews from their homes in the 1930’s

Voluntary Migration- • Voluntary Migration- weigh

choices and make decision to migrate or not

Forced Slave Migration

Push and Pull Factors in Voluntary Migration:

Push Factor-• - conditions to cause a

person to want to LEAVE a place (high crime)

Pull Factor- • circumstances that

ATTRACT a person to a place (close to work, good yard)

What are push factors of migration?

• Defined: unfavorable characteristics of a locale that contribute to the dissatisfaction of its residents and impel their emigration

• Examples: widespread unemployment; poverty; discrimination; political unrest; war; famine and/or drought; land shortage; overpopulation

What are pull factors of migration?

• Defined: characteristics of a locale that act as attractive forces, drawing migrants from other places

• Examples: employment opportunities; political and/or personal freedoms (speech; religion, right to vote, etc.); land; amenities (e.g. retirement)

• Important to note: Many people move based on excessively positive images and expectations (not always accurate).

Ernst Ravenstein’s 5 laws of Migration:

• Every Migration flow generates a return or counter migration

• Haitians from Florida• Afghans from Pakistan/Pakistan has forced the repatriation of

thousands of Afghans.• The majority of migrants move short distances• Migrants that move longer distances tend to choose

big-city destinations• Urban residents are less migratory than inhabitants of

rural areas• Families are less likely to make international moves

than young adults

Other terms important to migration:

• Distance Decay- migrants will move a shorter distance b/c they know more about what is near- says the further you are from a point, the fewer migrants you will find from that point

• Step Migration- most migrants move from rural areas to a village, then a town, later a city, and finally a metropolis (large city)

• Intervening Opportunity- During a long migration, the tendency to find a location to suit your purposes before reaching the intended destination– African Americans traveling north to find work after WWI

would stop before reaching Chicago or St. Louis because they would find other work before they made it

Migration Terms

• Brain Drain: Large-scale emigration of talented people.

• Illegal Immigration: Illegally migrating to a place without specific permission by that country.

• Intervening Obstacle: An environmental or cultural feature that hinders migration.

Types of Push and Pull Factors:• Economic Conditions- Poverty drives people to

move away from their homes, also perceived opportunity in another country for work

• Political Circumstances- Oppressive regimes cause people to flee their homelands

• Armed Conflict and Civil War- Yugoslavia’s civil war drove out 3 million– Rwanda’s civil war caused 2 million to flee in Hutu /

Tutsi conflict• Environmental Conditions- if crops destroyed,

earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions

Reasons continued…

• Environmental Conditions– Potato Famine in Ireland

(1840s)

– Major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or hurricanes (Gulf Coast of U.S.—2005)

• Culture and Tradition– Muslims migrated from India

when it was partitioned

– Jews left the former Soviet Union for Israel

Other reasons/catalysts for migration…

• Armed conflict and civil war– Three million people

drive from their homes in the former Yugoslavia

– Civil war in Rwanda (Hutu and Tutsis)

• Political circumstances– Oppressive regimes– Cuba– Vietnam’s “boat people”

Continued Push and Pull Factors• Culture and Traditions- Fear that your culture will be

persecuted against– Muslims left India and created Pakistan b/c India was

primarily Hindu• Technological Advances- Transportation &

communication make travel easier and people know more about far away places to travel there– Kinship Links- strengthened ties between family due to

communication technology– Chain Migration- One member of family moves, then

brings other to the new locale– Immigration Waves- Swells of migration from one place to

the other same destination

Continued

• Power Relationships (Gender, Ethnicity, Race, & Money)– Women in the Middle East hire Southeast Asians

to establish a position of power over them.– (Race) Carpet companies in Dalton, GA hire

Mexican immigrants because they perceive them to be more hardworking and loyal.

Where do People Migrate?

• Global Migration Flows:– Before 1500- Random global-scale migration,

1800’s- colonization with explorers

International Migration

Regional Migration Flows:

• Economic Opportunities: European colonialism brought islands of development- isolated areas of development in a port city usually– Most was based on trade, so people settled on coasts

and in cities– Chinese moved to cities throughout SE Asia for work

during colonialism & stayed (p. 83 map)– Within West Africa, oil-producing areas of Nigeria are

islands of development. Poor people for Togo, Benin, and Ghana flocked there for jobs and were later expelled by the Nigerian government

Reconnection of Cultural Groups

• Jewish Immigrants returned to Israel after 1948 when it was created

Conflict and War:• 15 million Germans moved to E. Germany after

WWII, almost 8 million others left Europe altogether

• 1959 Fidel Castro took control of Cuba and began establishing a communist government. Cuban migration soared and the U.S. government formalized the Cuban Airlift for those who desired to escape communism. Many settled in the Miami area. Dade County is bicultural and bilingual. Later the wet foot-dry foot policy was adopted

National Migration Flows:

• Within USA- westward movement throughout history– After Civil War and WWII, northward movement

for African Americans for work– After 1970’s, trend reversed, moving people back

south after Civil Rights Movement

National Migration Trends

Interregional Migration - Movement From One Region to Another

Guest Workers:

• Europe lost so many people in WWII that they brought temporary workers called guest workers into their countries- problem was that most stayed!

• They are legal immigrants who have work visas (usually short term)

• They are often abused by their employers because they are unaware of their rights.

• As the need for labor has declined host countries have tried to send them back (Nigeria). In some cases their governments bring them back, as in the case of Indonesia just before the Iraqi War, they pulled 30,000 Indonesians working in the Middle East.

• Guest Workers alter the cultural landscape of the region; building temples, mosques, restaurants, grocery stores, shops, and service industries.

Guest Workers

Refugees:

• -Large scale population movements can create problems (especially when forced by conflict)

UNHCR- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

• Supports refugees• Funds relief efforts• Negotiates with governments

• In 2007 UNHCR reported 11.4 million refugees (not including Palestinians in Jordan and Syria) forced from their homes and across country borders.

• Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are people who have been displaced within their own countries (such as victims of Hurricane Katrina) but do not cross international borders as they flee. They remain uncounted.

Refugees-

• “a person who has a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”

• -What is wrong with this statement? What words are up for interpretation?

• In 2000, 24 million refugees• This number is in dispute, the number is probably

higher• “well founded” leaves a lot of room for interpretation • Refugees often flee to remote areas and are not

counted• Governments sometimes manipulate the numbers• Biggest problem with UN definition is with internal

refugees (intranational refugees)• If you qualify as a refugee, you get some assistance

and qualify for asylum

Characteristics of a Refugee:

• Most only take personal items that they can carry

• Move by foot, boat, bike etc- (not using modern technology, not many resources)

• Do not have official documents (passport, ID)

Regions of Dislocation:• Sub-Saharan Africa

– Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda – civil war causing many refugees

– Sudan has the worst refugee crisis in Africa today. Tensions have risen between Arab Muslims in the north and African Christians and animists to the south.

• North Africa and SW Asia– Kurds, Palestinians, Afghans – Iraq tried to nerve gas

and kill its Kurd minority– The latest war in Iraq has generated 2 million refugees

that are living in neighboring Syria and Jordan.

• South Asia– From Afghanistan into Pakistan – war from the US causes migrants– Civil War in Sri Lanka between the Tamils and the Sinhalese has

created 200,000 displaced person.• Southeast Asia

– Vietnam created a mass exodus of 1 -2 million after the Communists took over it.

– Cambodia generated 300,000 refugees during the Khmer Rouge campaign.

– Myanmar in the site of internal refugees that are the result of the 2004 tsunami, 2008 cyclone, and oppressive rule.

• Europe– Collapse of Yugoslavia- caused civil war and Muslims and Christians

killed each other

Boat People –Refugees from Southeast Asia

Policies Targeting Migration:

• Legal and illegal immigration is an issue all over the world– Example- California wants federal aid to improve

services for illegal immigration because the government can’t control borders effectively

– Arizona is trying to stiffen control on immigration– South Florida has both Cuban and Haitian illegal

immigrants

Legal Restrictions:

• Immigration laws to keep out in the past:– Chinese from California -Oriental Exclusion Acts

(1882-1907)– Nonwhites from Australia- 1901- Immigration

Restriction Act– The US limits immigrants from countries Following

WWI, the U.S. turned to isolationism (staying out of entanglements abroad)

Other countries have immigration restrictions as well:

• New Zealand – prefers British background• Brazil- farming background• Singapore- financially secure Chinese

Post-September 11th Migration:

• Prior to September 11th U.S. border patrol was concerned primarily with drug traffickers and human smugglers.

• Post-September 11th policies have affected asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, and legal immigrants.

• Security concerns have been priority for migration laws

• 33 countries identified as sites where al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups operate– Anyone from these countries seeking asylum (safety)

is detained and questioned• Fence on Mexico border is intended to keep terrorists

from using Mexico as a staging point for bombs, etc.• Human Rights First, Amnesty International, and the

Migration Policy Institute claim the new government crackdown violated civil liberties, slows traffic, the flow of business, and tourism.

The US Border looking into Mexico

Flood lights illuminate the border

Border Patrol

Million Dollar Mile

Border Patrol

Million Dollar Mile

Looking into the US

The Great Divide – Mexico is on the right