The central theme of the recently released Human Development Report of the United Nations (UN) is migration as a way of overcoming poverty.
Such optimism about the role of migration in alleviating poverty has also been emphasized by this year’s
World Development Report (WDR) of the World Bank. Both reports highlight the benefits migrants derive from agglomeration economies, better access to opportunities, skill development and, above all, a better quality of life.
By enhancing their earning capacity, migrants also benefit their place of origin by remitting money home. WDR goes to the extent of blaming recent interventions, such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in India that promises at least 100 days of employment to one member of every rural household, as impediments to migration and, therefore, to growth.
In reality, the optimism about the beneficial effects of migration appears far-fetched. Both these reports assume (a) that migration in most cases is accompanied by betterment of living standards including skills; (b) that migration in most cases is from a low economic development area to a high economic development area; and (c) that migration leads to better economic and human development outcomes to both the place of origin and the destination. It is difficult to agree with these, at least in the Indian context.
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First, it is important to recognize that migration is a response to uneven economic development across regions, whether national or international. It is more an outcome of economic inequality rather than a strategy of economic development.
People do move on their own volition in search of better opportunities. But not always are such movements voluntary and they do not necessarily reflect a freedom of choice as both these reports would suggest. Leaving your own home, community, network and identity is not the best option for anyone. In most cases, it is a Hobson’s choice that one accepts for lack of opportunity and unemployment in the place of origin. Such a choice does not represent freedom but is in many cases the only option for survival.
But let’s look at the assumptions carefully. The first assumption is that most migration happens from developing or underdeveloped areas to developed areas. This is true neither in the international context nor in the Indian context.
Even though international migration accounts for just 10% of total migration, two-thirds of it is it made up of such movement is from developed countries to developed countries or developing countries to developing countries. This means that migration from developing countries to developed countries makes up only one-third of cross-border migrations.