International migrants from developing countries are of both rural and urban origin (ratios vary from country to country and change over time according to socio-economic conditions in both sending and receiving areas). However, we will focus on the rural factors that motivate vast sectors of the population to consider migration in order to improve their lives and diversify their sources of income. During the last 50 years, 800 million people have migrated from rural to urban areas, and it is expected that these migrations will continue to increase. 23 Even though internal and international migrations have differing characteristics, the motivation for displacement is similar – the search for new options to improve the quality of life.
