Religion and human migration have been intertwined throughout history. Religious demography changes are often the consequences, and sometimes the goals, resulting from mass migration to other territories. Often, political migration aims to establish a territory and governments biased towards and welcoming of sect members. Religious beliefs and practices have served as significant motivations for migration, with people seeking religious freedom or fleeing persecution. This interaction of religion and migration has led to the spread and diversity of religions around the world, as well as the emergence of new religious practices and beliefs as people adapt to new environments and interact with different cultures.

Examples

Aliyah to Israel

Following Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl's call for Jewish settlement in Israel (at the time known as Palestine), thousands, and later millions, of Jews migrated to the then-Ottoman-ruled territory and established communal settlements called kibbutzim. While the majority of early settlers who migrated were secular socialists, a larger segment of later settlers from Europe after the turnover of the territory to British occupation would be more religiously observant and would be driven by increasingly violent and state-supported antisemitism. During and after World War II, Jewish migrants fled to the territory en masse, despite British crackdowns on illegal immigration. Following independence in 1948, Israel has encouraged Jewish migration to the territory under the Law of Return.

Plymouth Colony

The Plymouth Colony was established in 1620 by a sect of English Dissenters. They fled first to the Netherlands following persecution by the English monarchy before moving to North America by boat. The migration, settlement and interaction with the Native peoples of Massachusetts would be celebrated in the present-day United States as Thanksgiving and a watershed moment for religious liberty on the continent.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established eight years after the Plymouth Colony by Puritans. One leader of the movement, John Winthrop, sought to establish a "city upon a hill" as an example for other colonies to follow, and Puritanism was enforced, at the expense of other religious movements, as the favored religion of the colony for the majority of its history until its merger with Plymouth and other nearby settlements in 1691 into the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Mormon migration to Utah
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were motivated to migrate from Nauvoo, Illinois to Utah due to both violent persecutions directed against the sect by Protestant citizens and government officials as well as a desire by Brigham Young to establish a Mormon majority territory that would be governed according to Mormon sensibilities and divine law. The Mormon population migrated to Utah in the late 19th century and established settlements, eventually drawing the ire of the United States government for some time, before the territory (also referred to colloquially as "Deseret") was integrated into the Territory of Utah.

Pakistan-India

In 1947, upon the Partition of India, large populations moved from India to Pakistan and vice versa, depending on their religious beliefs. The partition was promulgated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 as a result of the dissolution of the British Indian Empire. The partition displaced up to 12.5 million people in the former British Indian Empire, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million. Muslim residents of the former British India migrated to Pakistan (including East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh), whilst Hindu and Sikh residents of Pakistan and Hindu residents of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) moved in the opposite direction.

In modern India, estimates based on industry sectors mainly employing migrants suggest that there are around 100 million circular migrants in India. Caste, social networks and historical precedents play a powerful role in shaping patterns of migration. Migration for the poor is mainly circular, as despite moving temporarily to urban areas, they lack the social security which might keep them there more permanently. They are also keen to maintain a foothold in home areas during the agricultural season.

Research by the Overseas Development Institute identifies a rapid movement of labour from slower- to faster-growing parts of the economy. Migrants can often find themselves excluded by urban housing policies, and migrant support initiatives are needed to give workers improved access to market information, certification of identity, housing and education.

References

Politically motivated migrations
Religion and society