Voluntary and forced migration, and immigration as a political issue

Overview

Voluntary and forced migration, refugee, asylum seeker, internally displaced person and economic migrant and typical stages of a planned international migration.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

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1. 1

   Distinguish between voluntary and forced migration.

   Model answer

   Voluntary migration is movement in which the migrant chooses to go, weighing push and pull factors, and retains the realistic option of staying; it is usually driven by economic and social motives and typically allows planning, saving and legal preparation. Forced migration is movement in which the migrant has no realistic choice, because of conflict, persecution, disaster, or state action such as eviction, expulsion or resettlement for a dam or infrastructure scheme; departure is often sudden, with little chosen about destination or timing. The two are best seen as ends of a continuum rather than as separate boxes, since severe destitution or slow environmental collapse constrains choice heavily, and real movements are usually mixed flows containing both.

2. 2

   Define refugee, asylum seeker, internally displaced person and economic migrant.

   Model answer

   A refugee, under the internationally agreed definition, is a person who is outside their country of nationality and has a well-founded fear of persecution on grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, and who cannot safely return; recognised refugees have protection in international law. An asylum seeker is someone who has applied for that recognition and is awaiting a decision. An internally displaced person has been forced to leave home for the same kinds of reason but remains within their own country, so is not covered by the refugee definition and depends on their own government for protection. An economic migrant moves principally to improve their standard of living and is subject to the destination's ordinary immigration rules.

3. 3

   Explain why the distinction between forced and voluntary migration matters in practice.

   Model answer

   Because rights follow the classification. States that are party to the refugee convention are obliged not to return a person to a country where they face persecution, and must consider an asylum claim, whereas an economic migrant can lawfully be refused entry or removed. Classification therefore determines who may work, who receives support and who can be sent back, which is why it is contested: applicants may have mixed motives, evidence of persecution is hard to produce after a dangerous journey, and states differ in how they interpret the definition and in the recognition rates they record for the same nationality.

4. 4

   Describe the typical stages of a planned international migration.

   Model answer

   First a decision phase, in which information reaches the household through relatives, returning migrants, recruiters or media, and the family assesses costs, prospects and who should go. Then preparation: saving or borrowing, selling assets, obtaining a passport, qualifications, a job offer and a visa. Then the journey itself. Then arrival and settlement, in which the migrant depends heavily on existing contacts for accommodation and a first job, often below their qualification level. Then consolidation: improved work, regularised status, remittances home, and possibly family reunification. Finally, either permanent settlement and integration, or return, or repeated circular movement between the two countries.

5. 5

   What are step migration and circular migration?

   Model answer

   Step migration is movement made in stages up the settlement hierarchy rather than in a single jump, for example from a village to a market town, then to a regional city, then to the capital or abroad, each step funded and informed by the last. Circular migration is repeated movement between origin and destination without a permanent change of home, such as seasonal agricultural or construction work, with the household base remaining at the origin; it depends on being able to cross the border easily and repeatedly, which is why tighter controls tend to convert circular migrants into permanent settlers.

6. 6

   Describe the processes adopted by undocumented migrants.

   Model answer

   There are two main routes into undocumented status. The first, and in several MEDCs the larger, is lawful entry followed by overstaying a visitor, student or work visa, or by working in breach of its conditions. The second is entry without inspection: crossing a land border away from official posts, arriving by small boat, or concealment in lorries, containers or ships, often with paid smugglers who provide guides, transport, safe houses and sometimes forged or borrowed documents, and often in stages with long waits and repeated payments in transit countries. Journeys of this kind carry documented risks of death from drowning, heat, suffocation and violence, and of robbery and extortion. On arrival, the typical pattern is work in the informal cash economy where documents are not checked, insecure and overcrowded housing, reliance on the diaspora network, and avoidance of police, health services and formal complaint, which leaves people exposed to underpayment and exploitation.

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