Only a small minority of the world’s population are on the move. More than 96% of people in the world (year 2020) reside in their place of birth or citizenship. But the 3.7 % who happen to be on the move constitute in fact some 271 million, or more than twice the number of all Filipinos who number 110 million. Furthermore, the number 271 million does not include the millions more left behind at the departure of someone in the community. 

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The Social Sciences have the potential of improving the quality of life of those who move out of their place of usual residence, while these are still on the journey, and when these reach their destination whether the originally intended one or not. The three broad phases of human migration are origin, transit, and destination. Do the 271 million migrants in the world merit the attention of the Social Sciences? 

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The scholarly work in the Social Sciences can inform policy that pertain to migrants. Precisely because migrants are on the move, they represent a myriad range of individual circumstances. If a migrant is someone who resides away from her place of birth, is a child born to her when she has reached a host country to be classified as migrant as well? The rights of the child are based on how she is classified, a category worked out in part in the Social Sciences. The Social Sciences can by choice wrestle with the complexities regarding migration.

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Those who move out of their place of usual residence do so for a wide variety of reasons: personal projects (employment abroad or further education), armed conflict in the area, widespread poverty, or natural disasters (massive flooding, drought, etc.). There are no commonly held protections for migrants. In contrast, there are internationally held protections for refugees. How the Social Sciences distinguish between the two categories can significantly affect quality of life.

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Although migration is a global phenomenon, not all who want to travel abroad can. Some have no access to required documents like passports and visas nor the considerable resources needed for the journey. In some places, travel was banned due to the pandemic. There are regular migrants (those who apply through official channels) and irregular migrants (those who take to the road without official documentation) Many irregular migrants end up dealing with smugglers and human traffickers. For those who reach their destination, the receptiveness of potential host communities determines quality of life in the destination country.

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While migration often arises out of problematic situations, there seem to be positive outcomes, when viewed from the statistics of remittances and reports on development. 

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Migration is at once a global phenomenon, and a condition shaped by the peculiar circumstances in the places of origin, transit, and destination. What can we say about migration relative to particular geographic regions?  How best can the Social Sciences contribute to the care for those on the move?