The term geographies of migration captures the main flows of global migrants and refugees. Migration flows, according to the UN, relate to the number of migrants entering (immigrants) or leaving (emigrants) a given country during a given period of time. Technical language often omits the word “home country”. Because people do not always have a home, the term “current country of residence” was introduced to better capture the complexities of global migration flows. To migrants, “home” may ultimately mean more than one country. In this context, the terms country of origin, country of transit, and country of destination are particularly relevant. According to the Asylum and Migration Glossary 6.0 developed by the European Migration Network, the country of origin refers to the country of nationality, or, for stateless persons, of former habitual residence. However, the term is sometimes also used for the country of residence of a person at the moment they decide or are forced to go on the move, regardless of whether it is their country of nationality. On their way to their final destination, international migrants and refugees might pass through one or several countries of transit. During that time, migrants and refugees are often particularly vulnerable. They live in a situation between emigration from their country of origin, searching for ways and means in transit countries and resettlement in the country of destination, or are forced to return to their country of origin (readmission). Transit migration is open-ended, it is legal or irregular and can – but does not have to – lead to successful resettlement. The distinction between countries of transit and countries of destination is, though, not always clear-cut. A migrant might stay in a country of transit for long periods of time, applying for an entry visa to or employment in their desired destination, raising questions of whether their country of transit has already become a destination itself.
Despite the fact that migration is a global phenomenon, the lion’s share of international migration movements involves only a limited set of countries. Data on worldwide migration movements are, amongst other sources, available at the Migration Data Portal. The example of Russia illustrates that a country may be both a country of destination and a country of origin for international migrants: in 2020, Russia was not only the fourth-largest country of destination, hosting an immigrant population of about 12 million people, but also the third-largest country of origin, with an emigrant population of about 11 million in 2020. Other countries, such as Morocco, fulfil the criteria for all three classifications of states: there is a large Moroccan emigrant population living in European states such as France. Morocco, on the other hand, is also a major transit land for migrants and refugees from Sub-Saharan Africa on their way to Europe. At the same time, it has become a major country of destination for many sub-Saharan migrants.
