New Migrations

With more people on the move than ever before – an estimated 1 billion – it is crucial to understand who these people are, why they are moving and where they are going. In this article, Catherine Wihtol de Wenden does just that by offering a panorama of contemporary migration patterns. The author sets out how migration became a globalised and – paradoxically - a regionalised phenomena, examining, for example, the flux of migrants from Latin America to North America and the migratory system that focusses on Russia. She then addresses several “new migratory situations” including the Chinese arriving in Africa and wealthy retirees from the Global North finding homes in the Global South. Refugees and undocumented migrants are given special focus given the author’s belief that these categories of migrants are likely to increase or become more diversified in the near future. The article concludes by addressing three aspects which will continue to shape “new migrations”: the increase in the world population and international migration; the relationship between urbanisation and migration; and finally, climate change