Migration and Development: The Case of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a long history of migration. The ancestors of the Sinhala population of Sri Lanka are believed to have migrated there centuries ago, from the territory that now constitutes Bangladesh. In the 18th century, when the British developed the tea industry in north-east Bengal, they brought indenture labours from different parts of India. Again when colonial policies destroyed Bengals jute and cotton industries and the market for fine muslin collapsed, there followed large scale migration of Bengalies to Asam.

Political Effects for Migration

Money buys influence. It should not be surprising, therefore, that in countries where remittances are important; the political effects are not inconsequential. In countries such as the Democratic Republic (where remittances are 10 percent of GDP), presidential candidates campaign in the United States. From Mexico to India, the lucre of remittances has led politicians to switch positions with regard to their Diaspora-from benign neglect to active courtship. Regimes in socialist economies like Cuba and the Democratic People’s republic of Korea have used remittances to augment scarce hard-currency resources and thereby to strengthen themselves in the short term.

Remittances the fact of Migration and Development

Remittances are in effect a share of the additional output created by the productivity gains which migration delivers. The flow of remittances is primarily a function of the numbers of migrants, the amount of money they earn, and their propensity to remit. Remittances can provide developing countries with large injection of resources, enabling them to narrow the trade gaps, increase foreign currency reserves, service their debts, and make progress in reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development. From a report of World Bank, it has come out that a ten percent increase in the share of international remittance in a country’ GDP will lead to a 1.6 percent decline in the proportion of people living in poverty[1].

The Nexus between Migration and Development

Migration and development are interdependent processes in the globalizing world. These processes, either jointly or independently, have played a decisive role in the progress of human civilization. They have influenced the evolution of states, societies, economies and institutions. In fact the forces of migration have influenced the nature of the production system and the development process for centuries.

Ideological distinctions and Development of Migration

First World	Second World	Third World
Private capitalism Political + Economic	Command Socialism Economic + Social	Human needs   Social + Economic

  

Migration Dimensions of Development

Dimensions	Process
Political	Representative and participatory democracy
Economic	Central and decentralized planning
Social	Provision of human needs
Cultural	Fostering of selflessness, collaboration, solidarity, political consciousness and social responsibility

Development of Migration

Development is viewed as a gradual unfolding and a gradual advance or growth through progressive changes. Mittleman observes development as ‘the increasing capacity to make rational use of natural and human resources for social ends (Mittleman1988:22). However, Baran reminds that development means ‘a far reaching transformation of society’s economic, social and political structure, of the dominant organization of production, distribution and consumption’ and that it ‘has never been a smooth, harmonious process unfolding placidity over time and space (Baran1957:3). Rodney correctly tells that development is a many sided process, implying for the individual ‘increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility, and material well-being (Rodney 1974:3).

Security Differences for Migration

After the global conflict between capitalism and communism ended in the early 1990s, local conflicts erupted in many areas, leading to separatist movements, new nations and more migrants. Creating new nations is almost always accompanied by migration, as populations are reshuffled so that the “right” people are inside the “right” borders. Governments have in the past sometimes sent migrants to areas that later broke away and formed a new nation, and these internal migrants and their descendants can become international migrants without moving again, as with Russians in the Baltic or Indonesians in East Timor.

Factors Contributing to Migration-Economic differences

Economic differences between countries have been widening, encouraging international migration for incomes and jobs. The world’s GDP was $30 trillion in 2000, making average per capita income $5000 a year, but there was significant variation—the range was from $100 per person per year in Ethiopia to $38000 in Switzerland. When countries are grouped by their per capita GDPs, the gap between high income countries, with $9300 or more per person per year, versus low (below $750 per person per year) and middle income countries climbing into the high-income ranks.[1]

Factors Contributing to Migration-Emergence of transnational migration

Advancement in transportation and communication technologies that link places and people globally are leading to the emergence of a transnational migration space. This spreads over more than one geographical in which migrants can shuttle between more than one homes. Apart from physical movement, the flow of information, skills and remittances are the other components of the transnational migration space.

Factors Contributing to Migration: Demographic changes

Global population growth differs between developed and developing countries. In the developed countries, the current annual rate of growth is less than 0.3 percent, while in the rest of the world the population is increasing almost six times as fast. Demographic changes affect international migration in two ways. On the one hand, rapid population growth combined with economic difficulties push people to move out of their habitat, and on the other hand, a declining and ageing population pressures countries to accept migrants.

Force, chain and mass migration

A voluntary movement of adventurous pioneers or of dissident individuals or groups is called a free migration. Although few people are involved, they set an example for others. As the migrants write and visit home, they may induce relatives and friends to follow them. Then, as new migrants repeat this process in turn, a chain migration of thousands of people may result.

Forced and impelled migration

If a migration is induced by the state or some other power-wielding institution, it is called forced or impelled migration. Deportation of criminals, political dissidents, minority groups, and forced labor are examples of forced migration.

Forms of Migration

Historical migrations, both internal and international, have been broadly classified according to the force activating the movement. Within each type of movement, the migrants are either innovating or conservative. Innovating migrants wish to achieve something new. Conservative migrants hope to retain their way of life by moving from an environment that has changed

Post industrial migration

The period of post-industrial migration emerged during the 1960s and con­stituted a sharp break with the past. Rather than being dominated by outflows from Europe to a handful of former colonies, immigration became a truly global phenomenon, as the number and variety of both sending and receiving countries steadily increased and the global supply of immigrants shifted from Europe to the developing countries of the Third World.

Period of limited Migration

The period of large-scale European emigration faltered with the outbreak of the First World War, which brought European emigration to an abrupt halt and ushered in a four-decade period of limited migration. Although emigration revived somewhat during the early 1920s, by then several important receiving countries (most notably the USA) had passed restrictive immigration laws.

Industrial Period of Migration

Industrial period of emigration begins early in the nineteenth century and stemmed from the economic development of Europe and the spread of industrialism to former colonies in the New World. From 1800 to 1925, more than 48 million people left the industrializing countries of Europe in search of new lives in the Americas and Oceania. Of these emigrants, 85 per cent went to just five destinations: Argentina, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA, with the latter receiving 60 per cent all by itself. Key sending nations were Britain, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, each of which exported a large share of its potential population in the course of industrializing

Mercantile Period of Migration

During the mercantile period, from 1500 to 1800, world immigra­tion was dominated by flows out of Europe and stemmed from processes of colonization and economic growth under mercantilist capitalism. Over the course of 300 years, Europeans inhabited large portions of the Americas,Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Although the exact number of colonizing emigrants is unknown,the outflow was sufficient to establish Europe's dominion over large parts of the world. During this period, emigrants generally fell into four classes: a relatively large number of agrarian settlers, a smaller number of administra­tors and artisans, an even smaller number of entrepreneurs who founded plantations to produce raw materials for Europe's growing mercantilist econo­mies, and in a very few cases, convict migrants sent to penal colonies overseas.

History of Migration

The modern history of international migration can be divided roughly into four periods:

ü  Mercantile Period

ü  Industrial Period

ü  Period of limited Migration

ü  Post industrial migration

Definition of Migration

Migration is as old as humanity itself. It has occurred throughout human history, beginning with the movements of the first human groups from their origins in East Africa to their current location in the world. Migration means the movement of people from one place in the world to another for the purpose of taking up permanent or semi permanent residence, usually across a political boundary.