Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, second unified edition, English volume

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810

Voluntary migration ¹ is migration which takes place on the migrants’ own initiative. Return migration ² or re-migration ² is the term used for the movement of individuals back to their place of origin after they have been absent for some time. The term repatriation ³ is also used but has tended to acquire the meaning of a movement sponsored by a public authority, for instance, when there is an exchange of populations or a frontier adjustment.

• 2. re-migration n. — re-migrate v. — re-migrant n., one who re-migrates. The term returnee has also been used.
• 3. repatriation n. — repatriate v., also used as a n. — repatriated adj.

811

Where large groups of individuals or families decide to migrate (801-.1*) together collective migration ² will result; in the absence of concerted action, the movement is referred to as individual migration ¹; where the number of migrants is very large this may be called mass migration ³. The term exodus ⁴ may be used for a sudden mass migration caused by some emergency or catastrophe.

812

Voluntary migration (810-.1) contrasts with forced migration ¹, in which individuals are compelled by public authorities to move. One example of forced migration is the expulsion ² from their places of abode either of individuals or of whole groups of people. The term evacuation ³ is generally reserved for the movement of whole populations in order to safeguard them from some catastrophe, such as earthquakes, floods, operations of war or the like. A refugee ⁴ has usually migrated of his own volition, though there may have been strong pressure on him to migrate because his continued stay in his country of origin may have exposed him to danger of persecution. A displaced person ⁵ is a person who has been moved by a public authority from his place of origin. This move may have taken place as a result of large-scale displacement of population ⁶ or population transfer ⁶, or population exchange ⁷.

• 2. expulsion o. — expel v. — expellee n., one who has been expelled. The term deportation is used for the expulsion of an individual person from his country of residence because his continued residence is considered undesirable by the authorities.
  deportation n. — deport v. — deportee n.
• 3. evacuation n. — evacuate v. — evacuee n., a person who has been evacuated.

813

The process by which immigrants (802-.3*) adjust themselves to conditions in the area of destination falls into several categories: naturalization (331-.1), the acquisition of legal citizenship; absorption ¹, the entry into productive economic activity; assimilation ³, integration into the social structure on terms of equality; and acculturation ² the adoption of the customs and values of the population in the place of destination (801-.4*).

814

When immigrants (802-.3*) from a particular territory do not assimilate in their new country but retain the customs of their place of origin (810-.3), they are called a colony ¹. When the receiving country is already inhabited, this raises problems of coexistence ² between different populations. These may be solved by the fusion ³ of the population, i.e., by the disappearance of recognizable differences, or by the integration ⁴ of one of the populations into the other. Segregation ⁵ exists in a territory where two or more populations live but remain separated by barriers imposed by custom or even by the force of law.

• 1. colony n. — colonize v., to found a colony, also used in the sense of settling a new territory — colonist n., member of a colony.
• 2. coexistence n. — coexist v.
• 5. segregation n. — segregate v.

815

Migration policy ¹ is one aspect of population policy. Most countries, through their immigration laws ², restrict the admittance of foreign nationals. These Jaws frequently provide for selective immigration ³ of persons with certain specified characteristics. Some countries, the United States for example, have established quota systems ⁴ whereby the number of immigrants admitted from each country is fixed in relation to the national origin ⁵ of the receiving country’s inhabitants. Measures designed to influence the redistribution ⁶ of population within a country through internal migration (802-.5) are usually more indirect in character.