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Concept
Circular migration
Summary
Circular migration or repeat migration is the temporary and usually repetitive movement of a migrant worker between home and host areas, typically for the purpose of employment. It represents an established pattern of population mobility, whether cross-country or rural-urban. There are several benefits associated with this migration pattern, including gains in financial capital, human capital, and social capital. There are also costs associated with circular migration, such as brain drain, poor working conditions, forced labor, and the inability to transfer acquired skills to home economies. Socially, there are strong connections to gender, health outcomes, development, poverty, and global immigration policy.
Circular migration describes the fluid movement of people between areas, usually for the purpose of employment. The term itself first came into use in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly related to urbanization, development, and internal migration.
There are six criteria that define migration as being circular:
Temporary
Renewable
Circulatory
Legal
Respectful of the migrants’ rights
Managed so as to optimize labor markets for both origin and destination countries
Current migration policy rarely takes into account circular migration and instead mainly focuses on the dichotomous concepts of “permanent” and “temporary.” In contrast to temporary migration, circular migration allows the worker to simultaneously be engaged with both the home and host countries. Furthermore, it typically involves both return to the country of origin and repeated moves to the destination country. In many ways, being connected to both places provides an advantage for the migrant worker, because they do not have to make a definitive choice to stay in one. This allows for the maximization of capabilities, a concept articulated by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. By working in a high-income location with better earnings and spending in low-income, low-cost countries, the migrant worker is able to realize the best capabilities for both themselves and their families.
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