Types of Migrant (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Geography): Revision Note

Types of migration

• People have always migrated from one place to another, either within their country (internal migration) or across borders (international migration)

• Globalisation has made this move easier and faster

• There are different types of migration, including:

  • Forced (involuntary)

  • Voluntary

Voluntary migration

• Voluntary migration is the free choice to migrate or not

  • This can be internal (within the same country) or international (to another country)

• Voluntary migration is usually for economic reasons such as work, promotion, higher wages, etc.

  • In developing countries, this is usually internal, from rural to urban areas

  • In developed countries, counter-urbanisation is more common, from urban to rural 

Forced migration

• This is where a migrant has no choice but to leave their place of origin

• This is usually international but can also be internal

• There are several reasons for internally forced migration, including:

  • natural hazards

  • war and persecution

  • ethnic cleansing

Economic migrants

• Economic migrants are people who move to earn more money

• Often economic migrants plan to return to their country of origin after working in another country

• Many economic migrants send money back to their families

  • This money is called remittances

Asylum seekers

• Asylum seekers are migrants who have left their country due to fear of persecution, punishment, torture or death in their home country and are claiming refuge in another country

• Asylum seekers are seeking protection in another country, but have not yet been legally recognised as a refugee

• The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for those people forced to migrate—a 'person of concern'

• Currently, 149 countries have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, recognise the rights of people seeking asylum and have agreed to protect them

  • Whilst waiting for a decision on whether they will be granted refugee status, asylum seekers are held in reception or detention centres

Refugees

• A refugee is a person who lives outside their country of nationality because of well-founded fears of being persecuted, punishment, torture or death

  • This can be due to their:

    • Religion

    • Race

    • Political beliefs

    • Nationality

    • Sexuality

• A refugee has been granted asylum by another country

• This is based on international law which states that a person should not be sent back to a country where they face persecution, threats to their life or freedom