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Migrant mobility flows characterized with digital data

Author

Listed:
  • Mattia Mazzoli
  • Boris Diechtiareff
  • Antònia Tugores
  • Willian Wives
  • Natalia Adler
  • Pere Colet
  • José J Ramasco

Abstract

Monitoring migration flows is crucial to respond to humanitarian crisis and to design efficient policies. This information usually comes from surveys and border controls, but timely accessibility and methodological concerns reduce its usefulness. Here, we propose a method to detect migration flows worldwide using geolocated Twitter data. We focus on the migration crisis in Venezuela and show that the calculated flows are consistent with official statistics at country level. Our method is versatile and far-reaching, as it can be used to study different features of migration as preferred routes, settlement areas, mobility through several countries, spatial integration in cities, etc. It provides finer geographical and temporal resolutions, allowing the exploration of issues not contemplated in official records. It is our hope that these new sources of information can complement official ones, helping authorities and humanitarian organizations to better assess when and where to intervene on the ground.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattia Mazzoli & Boris Diechtiareff & Antònia Tugores & Willian Wives & Natalia Adler & Pere Colet & José J Ramasco, 2020. "Migrant mobility flows characterized with digital data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0230264
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230264
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jisu Kim & Soazic E. Wang Sonne & Kiran Garimella & André Grow & Ingmar G. Weber & Emilio Zagheni, 2023. "Online social integration of migrants: evidence from Twitter," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-012, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. B. Sofia Gil-Clavel & André Grow & Maarten J. Bijlsma, 2022. "Analyzing EU-15 immigrants’ language acquisition using Twitter data," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-012, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Xiao Hui Tai & Shikhar Mehra & Joshua E. Blumenstock, 2022. "Mobile phone data reveal the effects of violence on internal displacement in Afghanistan," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 624-634, May.
    4. Rebecca D. Merrill & Ali Imorou Bah Chabi & Elvira McIntyre & Jules Venance Kouassi & Martial Monney Alleby & Corrine Codja & Ouyi Tante & Godjedo Togbemabou Primous Martial & Idriss Kone & Sarah Ward, 2021. "An approach to integrate population mobility patterns and sociocultural factors in communicable disease preparedness and response," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.

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