Information and refugee migration: The case of Mozambicans in Malawi

Despite increasing: prominence in international population movements, refugee migration is a poorly understood social and spatial process. Common assumptions about refugee migration have rarely been empirically tested. This article focuses attention on the migration decision-making: process of refugees. Its conceptual basis is that the decision making: of refugees can be critically compared with that of other migrants. An analytical framework is suggested which focuses on the receipt and evaluation of information about prospective destinations in the decision-making process. It is tested in the context of Mozambican refugees in Malawi in 1992 and 1993. Analysis shows that this framework achieves a qualified success in explaining the patterns and processes of migration of the study population, and suggests broader applications for the framework.