International Migration: A Very Short Introduction

by Khalid Koser

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This Very Short Introduction examines the phenomenon of international human migration - both legal and illegal. Taking a global look at politics, economics, and globalization, the author presents the human side of topics such as asylum and refugees, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, development, and the international labour force.

Download this VSI Reading Guide as an Adobe PDF (28 KB)

Questions for Thought and Discussion

• What is new about international migration today?



• Why are more women migrating than previously?



• In your country, from your perspective, is migration more of a challenge or an opportunity? Why?



• Who is a migrant?



• What are the main causes of international migration?



• Is migration likely to increase or decrease in the future? Why?



• Why do so few people migrate?



• How does migration contribute to development?



• Why do migrants send home money?



• What is the ‘brain drain’ and why does it matter?



• What is the best term to describe migrants who enter or stay without permission – illegal, undocumented, unauthorized, or irregular? Can you think of a better term?



• What is the difference between migrant smuggling and human trafficking?



• Who is a refugee?



• How useful is the 1951 Convention definition of a refugee today, almost 60 years later?



• What is integration?



• Angela Merkel thinks that ‘multiculturalism’ has failed in Germany, has it in your country?



• What are the three main ‘durable solutions’ for refugees?



• Is migration a solution for ageing societies?



• Are you afraid of migration? Why? Why not?



• If you were writing a Very Short Introduction to international migration today, what additional topics would you include?

Other books by Khalid Koser

• New African Diasporas (Global Diasporas) (Routledge, 2003)



• The End of the Refugee Cycle?: Refugee Repatriation and Reconstruction (Berghahn Books, 1999)

Further Reading

• World Migration 2005: Costs and Benefits of International Migration (World Migration Report) (International Organization for Migration, 2005)



• Boyle, Paul and Halfacree, Keith, Exploring Contemporary Migration (Harlow: Longman, 1998)



• Castles, Stephen and Miller, Mark, The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, Third Edition (London: Macmillan, 2003)



• UNHCR, The State of the World’s Refugees (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)