Checking Internal Migration
An Urgent Need

By Khilendra Basnyat

ECONOMIC growth gives rise to inequalities in wealth among countries and among areas within countries. Due to these disparities, there is a movement of people from places of limited opportunities to those with more opportunities. Other migration flows such as refugee movements between countries or movements of displaced persons within countries usually occur due to political conflict.

Despite the fact that global forces contribute to a homogenisation of development experiences, the social transformation that affects migration have been realised in diverse ways by different countries. This situation results in mobility transitions, referring to no single mobility transition.

In the process of development, different migration patterns evolve. However, these patterns emerge within an overall system that provides some coherence and regularity in these changes.

Internal migration is receiving increasing attention in the countries in the ESCAP region. Although the census estimates of internal migration for countries in the ESCAP region suggest movement over a five year period of less than ten per cent of the population aged five years and older, accurate estimates can be two or more times this level.

In general, international migration, which comprises movement from rural to urban places, is increasing in countries in the ESCAP region. Such migration, which involves a high proportion of temporary migrants, include a significant proportion of females. Each of these trends and characteristics of migration is a direct outcome of development models that have been adopted by countries of the region.

Due to high levels of migration among the young, the demographic situation of countries has a great impact on the level of migration. According to ESCAP in 1988, for the ESCAP region, it is predicted that between 2000 and 2010 the population in the 15-24 year group will continue to be a main factor in the increased levels of migration, especially rural to urban movement. Consequently, urban areas will become young in their demographic profiles.

In fact, environmental degradation has caused a rural to rural migration flow within this geoecological zone and from it to the plains. The migration growth from the hills and mountains to the tarai has led to major state involvement in planning and implementation schemes.

The low man-land ratio, more employment opportunities, high agricultural productivity, better health and educational facilities and malaria eradication in the tarai region are the chief factors for the migration of adequate number of people from the hills and mountains to the tarai.

In 1952, the tarai contained thirty-five per cent of the population. After a few years, the percentage of people living in the Great Himalayan valleys and middle mountains declined to fifty-three per cent, whereas the percentage of people residing in the tarai increased significantly.

Much of the population increase in the tarai has been the result of migration from other regions. According to reports, the cultivated land per capita and per household are larger in the tarai than in the other two regions. The major factors of migration are population pressure, increasing scarcity of arable land, low productivity, unemployment, cash shortage, poor marketing system, growing indebtedness, exploitation of poor people and hunger.

In 1991, the tarai zone had three-quarters of all the internal migrants. However, those migrated to hill zone was 20.4 per cent and to mountain zone only 5.2 per cent.

While eastern tarai and central tarai were the main destinations with about half of all in-migrants, western tarai and far western tarai came next in order of in-migration in volume. The central hill, including metropolitian Kathmandu, had 6.9 per cent of total internal migrants.

According to the 1991 census Nepal’s population continued to migrate from the mountains to the tarai during 1981-1991. The differential population growth rates have created a significant change in both distribution of population during the last four decades. These changes have led to a high population density in the tarai than that of other regions.

In 1991, the share of internal-migrants increased to 78.4 per cent in the tarai. The share of hill and mountain zones declined to 18.8 and 2.8 per cent respecitively. Eastern tarai and central tarai continued to lead in volume of internal-migration although to the central hill it was also considerable.

The migration from the hills and mountains to the tarai has caused deforestation and illegal squatting on the deforested land. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimate, about thirty-six thousand hectares of good forest land are lost annually through squatters.

In accordance with an another estimate of FAO, no more than 816,600 hectares of forest area remain in the tarai and less than half of this will be suitable for cultivation. If migration into the tarai continues at the rate of the last one decade, all the good farmland will be occupied in little more than a decade. Therefore, it has become an urgent need to check internal migration as soon as possible. Otherwise our country will suffer a lot in the years to come.