ABSTRACT

Throughout history, waves of migration have contributed to the shaping of societies across the world. Sometimes these flows were forced by nature, sometimes they were instigated by economic motives. During the first six decades or so of the present century, international migration was typically thought of as a movement of people from the Old World seeking better socioeconomic prospects in the New World. Since then, migration patterns have become more complex, affecting more countries, more people and for a greater variety of reasons.