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Political migration is any migration motivated primarily by political interests. Typically, political migration is in one of two classes, private or government, depending on who encourages the migration.
Political migrations differ from other migrations by attempting to change aspects of a political system. These changes are accomplished by modifying the demographics of a specific region. The focus on demographics necessitates an emphasis on migration towards low-population regions or artificially creating low-population regions.
Private political migrations
Private political migration includes efforts by individuals or organizations to persuade others to migrate to a specified location. Although the detailed goals of these migrations vary widely, the trend is migration towards greater political liberty.
Examples
America
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans migrated to the United States to obtain greater political and religious freedom. Contemporary European laws strongly favored official state religions. Members of non-sanctioned religious sects became victims of persecution and sought escape in the New World.The western frontiers of the United States continued to draw persons seeking greater religious and political liberty. The westward migration of the Latter-day Saints is the most prominent example in U.S. history.
Other migrations have sought broader rights for ethnic minorities. For example, in the 1880s, Edward P. McCabe promoted a movement to establish a majority-black state in Oklahoma. The movement was met with racism and the establishment of Jim Crow laws in that state.
Eastern Europe
After World War II, eastern Europe was under the influence of the Soviet Union and a system of minimal political liberty obtained. The availability of relatively greater political liberty in western Europe than in the Eastern Bloc motivated millions to flee towards the West.The situation in East Germany provides a microcosm of the greater phenomenon. Between 1949 and 1961, approximately 2.2 million people (more than 10% of the population) migrated from East Germany to West Germany. In response to this private political migration, the East German government constructed the Berlin Wall and a border system to prevent outward migration. These systems effectively stemmed the private westward migration until August 1989 when Hungary removed its border restrictions with Austria providing a viable route for the private political migration of East Germans. Soon thereafter, the East German border was reopened.
Freedom projects
The foundation of modern freedom projects is the recognition that democratic political systems may be influenced by concentrated, unified voters. If persons with similar political ideology migrate enough people to a specific region they will obtain political influence in the region, thus enabling them to enact their goals of increasing political liberty.Such projects differ in the geographic scale of the target region: town, county, state, nation. However, they tend to focus on regions with low populations, low voter registration, low voter turnout and high sympathy for the project's goals. All four criteria lower the number of migrants the project must rally in order to obtain "success."
Examples: Free State Project, Free State Wyoming, Free West Alliance, European Freestate Project.
External links: A Revolution by Other Means
Related Material: Limón REAL Project, Awdal Roads Company, Seastead.org
Government political migrations
See also: Colonization
Government political migration includes efforts by government entities to relocate persons to geographic regions favored by a government. The motivation for such relocations generally comes from internal political pressures and the migrations are hoped to relieve the causes of those pressures. The goals may include:
- establishing power in a disputed territory
- encouraging economic development
- relieving urban pressures
Examples
Germany
Following the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 Germany lost approximately one sixth of its arable land to surrounding nations. That loss combined with losing its overseas territories made the population density of post-WWI Germany (including its colonies) 97 per square kilometer. In contrast the population density of England (including its colonies) was less than 1 per square kilometer.This population disparity gave rise to the Nazi policy of Lebensraum ("living space") which demanded that Germany obtain land for the settlement of German peoples. The long-term goals of the lebensraum policy were a type of government political migration focused on moving Germans from the heart of Germany to other regions.
An intermediate step in the implementation of lebensraum was a forced government political migration of Jews from rural areas to concentrated urban centers (ghettos) thus preparing the countryside for the future migration of Germans. These ghettos, along with Nazi ideas about "racial hygiene," lead to the genocide of Jews and others in concentration camps.
External link: The Ghettoization of European Jews: Deportation and Resettlement in the East
Indonesia
The political pressure inspiring Indonesia's Transmigration Program was the disparity in population distribution between the nation's 17,000 islands. The island of Java encompasses only 6.8% of Indonesia's land area, yet 48.5% of its population.Beginning with the Dutch in the early 20th century and continuing until August 2000, the Transmigration Program migrated over six million people from Java to other islands in the country. The migration did not significantly reduce the population density of Java. For example, if Java were an independent nation, it would be the eighth most densely populated nation in the world at 863 people per square kilometer. Removing 6 million people from the island (using 2003 population figures) would not change its world ranking.
United States
The policy of the United States towards the American Indians is another example of government-sponsored migration because of population density concerns and the availability of arable land. During the 19th century, the population of the United States moved westward in pursuit of Manifest Destiny thereby increasing conflict between new settlers and the existing American Indian populations. These conflicts created a perception among settlers — and the United States generally — that there was a shortage of arable land conveniently available for settlement.To assuage these concerns, many politicians supported Indian Removal, causing incidents such as the Trail of Tears and the Long Walk. Indian Removal involved forcing Indians from their homes, confiscating their property and relocating them to designated territories such as the Indian territory and later Indian reservations.
See also
"Political migration"