Migration Studies

What is the issue?

• Migrants have made notable contributions to their countries of origin as well as destination, which is especially true for South Asia.
• Migration studies need to put in perspective changing patterns of movement.

What is the status in India?

• For several years, India has ranked the highest among countries that receive remittances from migrants.
• States such as Kerala have benefited enormously from migrants to countries in the Persian Gulf.
• We need to understand the distinctive characteristics of migrants from different states of the country, their choice of destinations and the patterns and purposes of migration.
• There has been very little by way of research to understand the changing patterns of migration from India.
• We need fresh thinking at both the national and state levels.

What is the current state of research on migration from India?

• Kerala has conducted a series of 8 migration surveys while Tamil Nadu, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat have produced state-level data only once.
• Migration is a changing phenomenon and understanding its dynamics requires research at adequate intervals.
• Moreover, state-level surveys have focused only on legal and voluntary cross-border migration.
• And, surveys have focussed on households to understand the emigrants or return migrants.
• It was only last year that a survey in Kerala tried to understand the people intending to migrate.

Why migration studies shouldn’t be confined to labour?

• There is much work on labour migration from India.
• Studies should be done on cross-border human trafficking, Indian entrepreneurs in different countries, student migration, family migration, undocumented migration and the challenges faced by migrants in integration.
• These themes need both methodological and theoretical attention.
• We must conceptualise migration studies beyond producing databases - though that too is important.
• We need to understand migration through the lens of historians, psychologists, sociologists, geographers and legal specialists.
• An interdisciplinary approach could make the field that is currently dominated by economists and demographers much richer.

Why gender based study should be done?

• The migration patterns are dissimilar between genders.
• So, migration studies would benefit from a gender studies perspective.
• Current research focuses on a small sub-population of woman migrants such as nurses and domestic workers.
• However, Indian woman migrants also comprise students, professionals, beauticians, sales associates and hotel workers.
• Besides, women are trafficked to different countries in the Gulf for a variety of purposes ranging from domestic work to immoral activities.
• Therefore, much work is needed to deepen our understanding of migration and gender.

Why should the study focus on destination choices?

• Of late, there have been changes in the destination choices of Indian migrants.
• The preference seems to be for non-Anglophone countries despite the integration challenges.
• Indian students are moving to China, Japan, Germany and the countries of the former Soviet bloc.
• We can see a South-South pattern of student migration along the India-Nepal corridor.
• Yet, the predominant focus of migration studies is on Anglophone countries.

Why distress migration needs attention?

• The distress migrants are victims of human trafficking, workers who do not have proper documents, migrants trapped in a war zone or conflict areas or those who have been involved in workplace place accidents.
• There is no much data about Indian migrants jailed in different countries or cheated by fake recruiting agents.
• However, there is a lack in the national- and state-level data on deceased Indian workers.
• In recent years, there have been reports of Indian workers held captive by pirates in African countries.
• There have also been reports of human smuggling from Punjab to Greece and Italy.

What could be done?

• Social media has become a powerful tool to highlight the plights of migrant workers.
• In several cases, the Ministry of External Affairs has taken swift action after there were reports on the plight of migrants in social media.
• But migration studies have not given much thought to increasing the use of social media for migrant welfare.
• Centres for migration studies can be established in universities and research institutions.
• One way to bridge the knowledge gap is to replicate the Kerala model of migration surveys in all states.
• Finally, it is equally important to frame a comprehensive national migration policy to address the issues faced by migrants.

Source: Indian Express