Abstract

New types of migratory flows are emerging, and they should not be confused with long-established ones. Three new, and each very different, migrant flows are analyzed (1) unaccompanied minors from Central America that head to the United States of America; (2) the surge in Rohingyas, a muslim minority fleeing from Myanmar; and (3) the migration towards Europe originating mostly in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and several African countries, notably Eritrea and Somalia. While often it is households that play the crucial role in producing an economic calculus that allocates particular family members to the migration option, these flows emerge from sharply delineated conditions operating, respectively, at the city level, at the regional level, and at a global geopolitical level.