Class 8: Migration - Key Concepts

• Class 8 Migration
• Authored by Dr. Jessie Barton Hronešová

Next Week Summative Assessment

• There will be 11 questions, and it will take 10 minutes (13:10-13:20/13:25)
• A laptop and UCL ID will be neccessary
• It is important to review lecture notes, slides and tutorial notes
• Moodle will contain information about the final exam

Formative Assessment Guidance

• Expect a small number of submissions
• Efforts spent reading should be more than writing
• Avoid vague, non-evidence based, or generic answers
• Improperly citing literature or generalizing and vagueness will lower grades
• Do a deep dive on specific aspects, not trying to cover all
• Use "I" instead of "WE" to show tangible examples
• Engage with and cite the references properly using page numbers for direct citations and strong arguments.
• Page numbers are a requirement

Migration Overview

• Migration is the process of people moving from one residence to another
• Migration types
  • Domestic or international
  • Voluntary or forced(refugees)
  • Permanent or temporary
  • Short-term or long-term
  • One-way or cyclical

Migrants in the UK Definitions

• Foreign-born individuals are those born outside the UK but could still hold UK citizenship
• Nationality is self-reported and can change, raising questions about those with multiple nationalities
• Migrants are also defined as those intending to stay over 12 months.
• A person moving to a country other than their usual residence, for at least a year, effectively makes the destination country their new home
• Individuals "subject to immigration control" include asylum seekers but exclude EU nationals.

Data Sources

• Some resources to gather accurate data includes
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
  • https://www.migrationdataportal.org/international-data?i=stock_abs&t=2024
• Oxford Migration Observatory:
  • https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-an-overview/
• Migration Data Portal:
  • https://www.migrationdataportal.org/sites/g/files/tmzbdl251/files/2023-03/One-pager-2023-EN-Final.pdf

World Migration Report 2022 Findings

• There 281 million international migrants globally in 2020, which is 3.6% of the world's population, up from 272 million
• 135 million were international female migrants, or 3.5% of the world's female population up from 130 million
• 146 million were international male migrants in 2020, or 3.7% of the world’s population up from 141 million
• 169 million were migrant workers globally in 2019
• About 3,900 deaths and missing in 2020 down from almost 5,400

Refugees Definition

• 1921: Russians were offered international protection by the League of Nations
• The 1951 UN Convention (147 countries signed) provides a definition:
  • A person who, due to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group membership, or political opinion, is outside their country of nationality.
  • They are unable or unwilling to seek protection from that country.
  • This applies to those without a nationality, being outside their former habitual residence, and unwilling to return due to fear

Key Migration Terms

• Irregular Migration (UK Illegal Migration Act of 2023):
  • Movement of persons outside the laws, regulations, or international agreements
• International Migrant Population
  • this is formally known as "migrant stock"
• Displacement:
  • Forcible movement of persons
• Asylum Seeker
  • This is the status of a person before they are recognized as refugees
• Remittances:
  • Money and goods sent back home by migrants.
• Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs):
  • People that are still displaced within the country
• Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration
• Non-refoulement (principle of): - Prohibits states from returning a person to a country where their life or freedom is threatened - Includes risks of torture or inhuman treatment.
• Family Reunification
  • Allows non-nationals to reside where their family members are legally residing to preserve the family unit.

Motivations for Migration

• Migration reasons debunk the theory that economic development is the deciding factor
• Socio-economic and political determinants also determine migration
  • Financial considerations and poverty constraints
  • Destination country policies
  • Political repression, war and corruption
  • Sexual freedom and sexuality, alternative lifestyles, roles of women, freedom of expression
  • Tolerance of receiving society

Neo-Classical Model of Migration

• Home countries have surplus labor, high unemployment, and low wages
• Destination countries offer labor demand ad high wages
• This model describes the migration process and economic model
• Macro-level Migration responds to disequilibrium between supply and demand of labor.
• Micro-level: Migrant perform a cost-benefit analysis where new wages are greater than migration
• Shortcoming: The economy is not why everyone migrates

Shortcomings of the Neo-Classical Model

• Poverty alone doesn't drive migration; the educated and well-off are more likely to migrate
• Migrants are not always rational or solely motivated by self-interest
• Historical patterns also influence destination choice
• Perfect information about a destination or the migration process does not exist.
• Networks sharing information and social ties secure jobs
• Migration has costs and risks
• Migrants lack autonomy because they act in the context of family/community that they send money home to
• Migrants are a heterogenous community with considerations of gender, class, and identity

New Economics of Migration (NEM)

• NEM was proposed by Oded Stark in 1991 to address the shortcomings of the neoclassical model
• The context shifts from individual decision- making to the household and impacts community
• Migration serves to maximize returns while mitigating risks (a strategy of diversification)
• Strategy of diversification: Some household members remain at home, some work locally, others migrate to urban areas within country; others move abroad and send remittances
• Households diversify 'investment portfolios' to protect themselves against risks and uncertainties
• Example: Gastarbeiter in Germany from the ex-Yugoslavia and Turkey in the 1960s
• Still a very rational choice model

Network Theory

• Sociologists argue networks reduce uncertainty of migration
• Emphasizes interpersonal ties between potential and former migrants for gathering of information
• Migrant communities of origin influence destination
• Migration begets migration
• The focus is on migrants' social capital in securing jobs and economic advantage
• Migration are facilitated by sharing information and reduces costs and risks
• Chain migration involves learning and loops

How to Incorporate Migrants

• Unidimensional assimilation:
  • Originally based on "ethnic melting pot"
  • Migrates are willing to assimilate culture and tradition for social mobility
• Two-dimensional acculturation model:
  • Maintaining culture is important in some aspects
  • Becoming a part of the society is important in some aspect

Acculturation Strategies

• State is a collective consensus, migrants become "like us"
  • Achieve assimilation
• Migrants maintain a national and community sense
  • Achieve seperation
• Can result in different strategies in aspects of life.

Integration and Citizenship

• Migrant integration is a condition of citizenship
• Full citizenship rights facilitates social integration

Impact of Destination Society

• Migrant wages will not drive down wages
  • the evidence of decline in wages is very low around 0.3 to 0.8 percent
  • net contributions of EU immigrants (2005-2014) totalled 15 Billion Pounds
• Migrants will increase unemployment
  • Migrants provide complementary economic and employment activity
  • Some difficulties by location/sector may occur
• Migration a drain on social services
  • Study by UCL shows unfounded fears because they pay taxes
• Migrants will become a threat to society
  • Social integration key
• Migation becomes a threat to national identity
  • Enriches and often brings out

Recap

• Migration is a fact of life
• 14% are US population migrants
• 97 % of world's population are not migrants
• 0.3% are refugees

Tutorials

• Arguments for open boarders, economic video, what are benefits
• Arguments for closed borders
• Discuss reading by Mole and what theory they use.
• Critiques and how to do them
• Choose a country and present migration profile from UN DESA