Migrants, livelihoods, and rights: The relevance of migration in development policies
Arjan de Haan (2000)
This paper aims to inform development policy debates with an improved understanding of migration. The paper starts from the idea that these debates pay too little attention to the contribution of migration to poverty reduction: policies tend to ignore migration, or have the implicit or explicit aim to reduce migration. The paper identifies possible negative aspects of migration, including increasing inequality and other effects on those who stay behind, but the emphasis is on the positive role migration plays for poor households. Building on new literature on sustainable livelihoods, the paper argues that we need a better understanding of the capabilities and strategies of poor people, in their own perspective, and that this will help to improve development policies.
The paper touches on issues such as large-scale population movements triggered by conflict; the rural poor migrating to cities finding life there equally hard; and intentions to help developing countries manage migration flows as beneficially as possible. It focuses on voluntary or economic migration, particularly rural-rural migration which tends to be most relevant for poor people.
A review of recent literature reaffirms that policies should not aim to reduce voluntary migration. But it also brings to the fore the opportunities to enhance the positive contributions of migration. This paper develops a view of migrants as agents of change, economic as well as social. It stresses the lack of rights of migrants, in international contexts but also at the national level, and how this limits migrants' livelihoods opportunities. |
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