Migration is the movement of people from one place to another, and it is frequently linked to a change of permanent residence. At the macro level, there are inter-regional and intraregional disparities, and at the micro-level, there is a fundamental lack of employment opportunities, resulting in low living standards among various socio-economic groups. Internal migration and international migration are the two types of migration. Internal migration is the movement of people within a country from one location to another. International migration is the movement of people from one country to another in search of work, a place to call home, or a better standard of living. This article will explain to you about Types of Migration that will be helpful in preparing for Geography for the UPSC Civil service exam.

Causes of Migration

• People are generally emotionally attached to their birthplace. However, millions of people leave their homes and birthplaces.
• There could be a number of reasons for this. These reasons can be divided into two groups:
• Pull factors, which attract people from different places, and Push factors, which cause people to leave their place of origin or residence.
• People in India migrate from rural to urban areas for a variety of reasons, including poverty, high population pressure on the land, and a lack of basic infrastructures such as health care and education.
• Natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclonic storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, and local conflicts, in addition to these factors, provide an additional push to migrate.
• People from rural areas, on the other hand, are drawn to cities by a variety of factors.
• The majority of rural migrants to urban areas are attracted by better opportunities, the availability of regular work, and relatively higher wages.
• Better educational opportunities, health care facilities, and entertainment options, among other things, are all significant pull factors.

Types of Migration

Internal migration (moving within a state, country, or continent) and external migration (moving outside of a state, country, or continent) are two types of human migration (moving to a different state, country, or continent.

Internal Migration

• Internal migration is the movement of people within a country from one defined area to another.
• It is generally divided into the following
  • Rural to Rural (47%)
  • Rural to Urban (32%)
  • Urban to Urban (15%)
  • Urban to Rural (6%)

Rural to Rural

• According to the 2011 Census, this is the country's most dominant migratory movement.
• Intra-regional and inter-regional characteristics are linked to intra-sectoral migration.
• In comparison to inter-regional migration, intra-regional migration involves larger migratory volumes.
• Marriage ceremonies and working as agricultural laborers are the two main reasons for this migration.
• For example, agricultural laborers moving from overpopulated to underpopulated areas, such as the Awadh-Rohilkhand plains to the Delta plains.
• Government decisions can sometimes have a significant impact.
• The resettlement of Sikhs in the Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh is an excellent example.
• The government also provided for the resettlement of 20,000 families as part of the Dandakaranya project.

Rural to Urban

• It is the second most noticeable migratory pattern.
• Since independence, inter-sectoral migration has been the most dominant migratory trend.
• It is the result of both push and pulls factors in rural and urban areas.
• However, since the 1981 census, the positive impact of rural development programs has resulted in a reduction in push factors, causing this trend to fall to second place.
• Megacities serve as a destination, with rural residents primarily from population surplus states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and MP serving as source areas.
• Rural-urban migration is primarily responsible for the country's exponential growth in population and the number of megacities.
• There are intra-regional and inter-regional subcategories within this migratory trend.

Urban to Urban

• It primarily involves people moving from small towns to larger cities.
• This migration takes place in stages, with people moving from rural areas to small towns and then to larger cities (Class II to Class I towns)
• The majority of urban to urban migration occurs in search of better opportunities and a higher standard of living.
• It is dominated by middle-class individuals. In small towns, it creates a void.

Urban to Rural

• It is a reversal or push-back migration.
• It occurs at a high level of urbanization when cities are characterized by overcrowding, haphazard growth, and high living costs.
• It is less because it involves the elderly population migrating primarily after their professional commitments are completed.
• The technical term for this migratory movement is "counter-current migration".

External Migration

India's external migration can be divided into three categories:

• Emigration: India's emigration to various parts of the world.
• Immigration: People from various countries are immigrating to India.
• Refugee Migration: Involuntary or forced migration to India in the form of refugees has also been a significant trend.

Emigration

• India (17.5 million), Mexico (11.8 million), and China are the top three countries of origin for international migrants (10.7 million).
• India ($78.6 billion), China ($67.4 billion), and Mexico ($35.7 billion) were the top three remittance recipients.
• The United States ($68 billion) remained the leading remittance-sending country, followed by the United Arab Emirates ($44.4 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($36.1 billion).

Immigration

• Immigration is the process by which people become permanent residents or citizens of a different country.
• Immigration has historically benefited states in terms of social, economic, and cultural benefits.
• According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) International Migrant Stock 2019 report, India has overtaken China as the world's leading country of origin for immigrants.
• The UAE was the most popular destination for Indian migrants, followed by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
• Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal were the countries with the most international migrants in India. One-third of all international migrants come from ten countries or less.
• India has the highest number of international migrants (17.5 million), followed by Mexico (12 million), China (11 million), Russia (10 million), and Syria (10 million) (8 million).

Refugee Migration

• A refugee is defined as "a person who is outside his country of nationality because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion."
• After leaving his mother country, a refugee does not change his nationality. In India, for example, Tibetan refugees.
• Sri Lankan Tamils are another large group of refugees in India, having fled the island nation as a result of active discriminatory policies by successive Sri Lankan governments, as well as events such as the 1983 Black July Riots and the bloody Sri Lankan civil war.
• After 40,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar and sought refuge in India, the refugee debate resurfaced in the United States.

International Migration (World Migration)

• The movement of people across international borders for the purpose of settling is known as international migration.
• International migrants relocate from one country to another on a regular basis.
• Shorter stays in another country should not be classified as permanent international migration, according to the United Nations.
• When passengers arrive in a country, they are asked whether they plan to stay for less than 3 months, in which case they are classified as visitors; between 3 and 12 months, in which case they are classified as short-term migrants; or for 12 months or more, in which case they are classified as long-term migrants.
• India has not always been affected by in-migration, but historical events such as Partition (1947-51), Buddhist Migration (1954-59), Bangladesh Liberation (1971), and Tamil migrants have all contributed to international in-migration in India.
• Indian out-migration began during colonial times, primarily after the end of the slave trade (1833), when a labor shortage prompted Indian migration from states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia's Java for plantation agriculture.

Other Types

Based on Distance

• Intra-building: Movement within a building is referred to as intra-building movement (e.g. user-movements in an airport terminal or hospital)
• Inter-building: Pedestrian patterns within a complex of buildings are known as inter-building patterns (e.g. students moving over a University campus)
• Local-scale: Relocating within a town or city is a local-scale migration.
• Regional-scale: Migrating within a country from one county/state to another regional-scale migration (emigration/immigration).

Based on Duration

• Daily: Daily commute to and from work often results in “rush hours” which is called daily migration.
• Medium-term Temporary: This migration includes working for a few years in an overseas TNC branch office; enrolling in a university course; working in a developing city to repay rural debts.
• Permanent: Emigrating to another country with no plans to return is the Permanent Migration.

Based on Motive

• Forced (Environment): Escaping a drought/flood/desertification/eruption-prone area is the forced migration.
• Forced (Political): Religious, ethnic, racial, or political persecution, conflict, or war are all examples of forced (political) threats to freedom, safety, and liberty are the factors of Forced Migration. (Refugee and Asylum Seeker Information)
• Collective Behaviour: Keeping group cohesion by moving as part of a defined group (Traveller communities, nomadic groups, ethnic groups) is the collective behavioral migration.
• Personal Aspiration: Migrating with a desire to improve one's or one's family's standard of living by obtaining economic and social benefits is included in this type of migration.
• Personal Well-Being: Migrating due to health-related reasons, or perceived quality of life (relocating to rural areas for a less frenetic pace of life) is called the Personal Well-Being Migration.

Conclusion

Though there are negative consequences of different types of migration, migration still increases employment opportunities and economic prosperity, which improves the quality of life. Migration also fills labor supply and demand gaps, efficiently allocating skilled, unskilled, and low-wage labor.

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