A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar

In the last four years Myanmar’s economy has seen a slight shift away from agriculture toward industry and services. This may mark the beginning of a structural transformation away from a rural, agricultural economy toward a more urban, industrial...

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Main Author: World Bank Group
Format: Report
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Yangon 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26669998/country-move-domestic-migration-two-regions-myanmar
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24981
id okr-10986-24981
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-249812021-05-25T08:51:08Z A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar World Bank Group migration risk management In the last four years Myanmar’s economy has seen a slight shift away from agriculture toward industry and services. This may mark the beginning of a structural transformation away from a rural, agricultural economy toward a more urban, industrial and service-based economy. Urbanization and job creation in urban areas have the potential to have a significant impact on labor and mobility patterns, especially for the landless and land-poor workers that account for a large part of the rural workforce. Domestic migration has been a critical component of the way many other countries in the region, including South Korea, China, and Vietnam, have managed to reduce poverty and support resilient livelihoods. However, pursuing these opportunities often entails significant risk for poor migrant households, who often have little capacity to absorb the shocks of failed migration attempts. Developing access to a knowledge base that enables them to manage risk more easily and make more informed choices around migration is critical to supporting their livelihoods. Migration flows can also have long-term social and economic consequences in rural areas as members of the labor force, particularly young people, move into cities and towns. This entails major public policy choices around areas such as spatial development, urbanization, service delivery, and poverty reduction. The government will need information on anticipated migrant flows in order to make the right policy choices and to plan for and provide services to people arriving from rural areas into urban settings. Within this evolving context, understanding the motivations, patterns, and dynamics of existing migration practices is critical in order to assist balanced and inclusive development in Myanmar by supporting safe and informed migration. The primary objective of this study is to collect detailed evidence and provide an objective assessment of how, and to what extent, migration within and from particular regions of Myanmar affects the livelihoods of rural households and the social and economic environment of villages. It seeks to understand how migration decisions take place, the key obstacles and risks faced by migrants, and the individual and household strategies that evolve to manage them. It also seeks to capture broader changes over time in sending communities, and how the departure and return of migrants affects social and economic dynamics at home and within the village. The study focuses on the Ayeyarwady Region and the Magway Region of Myanmar, which are home to large numbers of Myanmar’s rural poor and are also close to two of the major centers of growth and job creation in the country, Yangon and Mandalay respectively. In these areas, the study applies a mixed-methods approach to the four key questions outlined. 2016-08-29T22:00:12Z 2016-08-29T22:00:12Z 2016 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26669998/country-move-domestic-migration-two-regions-myanmar http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24981 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Yangon Economic & Sector Work :: Social Analysis Economic & Sector Work East Asia and Pacific Myanmar
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic migration
risk management
spellingShingle migration
risk management
World Bank Group
A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar
geographic_facet East Asia and Pacific
Myanmar
description In the last four years Myanmar’s economy has seen a slight shift away from agriculture toward industry and services. This may mark the beginning of a structural transformation away from a rural, agricultural economy toward a more urban, industrial and service-based economy. Urbanization and job creation in urban areas have the potential to have a significant impact on labor and mobility patterns, especially for the landless and land-poor workers that account for a large part of the rural workforce. Domestic migration has been a critical component of the way many other countries in the region, including South Korea, China, and Vietnam, have managed to reduce poverty and support resilient livelihoods. However, pursuing these opportunities often entails significant risk for poor migrant households, who often have little capacity to absorb the shocks of failed migration attempts. Developing access to a knowledge base that enables them to manage risk more easily and make more informed choices around migration is critical to supporting their livelihoods. Migration flows can also have long-term social and economic consequences in rural areas as members of the labor force, particularly young people, move into cities and towns. This entails major public policy choices around areas such as spatial development, urbanization, service delivery, and poverty reduction. The government will need information on anticipated migrant flows in order to make the right policy choices and to plan for and provide services to people arriving from rural areas into urban settings. Within this evolving context, understanding the motivations, patterns, and dynamics of existing migration practices is critical in order to assist balanced and inclusive development in Myanmar by supporting safe and informed migration. The primary objective of this study is to collect detailed evidence and provide an objective assessment of how, and to what extent, migration within and from particular regions of Myanmar affects the livelihoods of rural households and the social and economic environment of villages. It seeks to understand how migration decisions take place, the key obstacles and risks faced by migrants, and the individual and household strategies that evolve to manage them. It also seeks to capture broader changes over time in sending communities, and how the departure and return of migrants affects social and economic dynamics at home and within the village. The study focuses on the Ayeyarwady Region and the Magway Region of Myanmar, which are home to large numbers of Myanmar’s rural poor and are also close to two of the major centers of growth and job creation in the country, Yangon and Mandalay respectively. In these areas, the study applies a mixed-methods approach to the four key questions outlined.
format Report
author World Bank Group
author_facet World Bank Group
author_sort World Bank Group
title A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar
title_short A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar
title_full A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar
title_fullStr A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar
title_full_unstemmed A Country on the Move : Domestic Migration in Two Regions of Myanmar
title_sort country on the move : domestic migration in two regions of myanmar
publisher World Bank, Yangon
publishDate 2016
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26669998/country-move-domestic-migration-two-regions-myanmar
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24981
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