Migrations
Migration
As we have seen in the preceding pages, in Cambodia:
Ø Poverty in rural areas in increasing
Ø There is a rural-urban infrastructure gap
Ø Agricultural holdings are reduced as land is continually divided among children from generation to generation
Ø The lack of hybrid technology, subsidies and agro-chemicals combined with small holdings of land per family have resulted in agriculture being unproductive and largely subsistence
Ø Cambodia’s population has been steadily growing
Ø The country’s infrastructure is underdeveloped
Ø At this stage the Cambodian economy is unable to compete against Thailand & Vietnam
For the above reasons, migration to other countries has become an increasingly common strategy for poor rural families seeking better opportunities or additional sources of income. Whiledata is limited due to high rates of illegal migration, evidence suggests that migration toother countries has been rising in East Asia, including in Cambodia. Actual numbers of migrants are likely much higher than the official figures given the extent of day labor migration which takes place, particularly to Thailand and Vietnam, and the high frequency of irregular migration that remains unrecorded. The importance of external labor migration is particularly evident in border provinces such as Battambang and Banteay Meanchey, where jobs across the border in Thailand have become the primary source of income for many households. If landholdings are small thus limiting the productivity of agriculture then thru migration households are hedging on the fact that sending a member outside of the community will increase the likelihood of an additional, more substantive, income stream. Since land holdings are small, typically households would send men to source non-agricultural work elsewhere while women, young and older members would try and maximise agricultural yields. Thus rural households now have the option of sourcing food and income from agriculture and simultaneously obtaining a monetary income from remittances
Because of limited opportunities in rural areas, internal migration to Phnom Penh and other urban areas has also become common. The results of a UNDP study comparing the 1996 sample survey with 1998 census data suggest that rural out-migration is increasing. The 1998 census depicted a 39 percent increase (from 1996) in population that had moved from a rural area within the five years prior to the census. Of the total migrants who had left their villages less than one year before the census date, 29 percent stated that their principal reason for moving was the need to search for employment.
The income of many migrant workers supports not only the workers themselves but also family members in their home villages. The World Bank 2006 Poverty Assessment found that 13 percent of rural households received remittances from family members working in cities and the value of those remittances represent less than 10 percent of household consumption on average. This implies that a main reason for migration is that it is easier to obtain jobs be they skilled, unskilled or wage labour. Thus, while there does not seem to be any greater profitability (in monetary value) in migrating, the possibility of finding employment would be much greater. For large families facing unemployment (and under-employment) migration now offers another option. By migrating for certain periods in the year family members now gain employment.
However, data on remittances is scarce and highly unreliable due to the difficulty in accurately compiling and reporting such information. In many cases remittances are made in-kind or are sporadic (for example, day laborers along the Thai border and garment workers report sending funds back to their families every three to four months on average). This only exacerbates the difficulty in obtaining accurate data. Thus while it is beyond doubt that migration has taken on an increasing significance in Cambodia; more data in the form of a census or survey is urgently needed to gauge the impact of migration in Cambodia today.
