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The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census - Thematic Report on Migration and Urbanization - Census Report Volume 4-D

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Executive Summary

The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census is the first census to be undertaken in the country since 1983. As it provides measures of the characteristics of all persons and households within Myanmar1 , the Census is an invaluable source of information for both a description of the population and for policy formulation. This Migration and Urbanization report presents information on three important processes: (i) movement within the country (internal migration); (ii) movement across the borders of Myanmar (international migration); and (iii) the distribution of the population in urban and rural areas (urbanization). Some information is presented at the District level, although most of the analysis is undertaken at the State/Region level.

Migration is measured either over the lifetime of individuals, where a person is categorized as a lifetime migrant if they moved at any time during their life, or in terms of more recent moves, where a migrant is defined as a person who moved within the five-year period prior to the Census. Internal migration is defined as a movement between Townships.

The level of internal migration in Myanmar is similar to that of neighbouring countries. Over the lifetime of individuals, 19.3 per cent reported moving at least once. For internal migration within the five-year period before the Census, 7 per cent reported moving. A large proportion of movement within Myanmar revolved around Yangon, either as movement into Yangon or movement among Districts within Yangon.
Among recent migrants to Yangon, the primary origin of the move was Ayeyawady. Within Ayeyawady, all Districts were major contributors to migration streams to Yangon. Within Yangon, the major streams of recent migrants were from West and South Yangon to North and East Yangon. An analysis of the industrial structure of the Districts of Yangon found that there was a high proportion of recent migrants employed in manufacturing. This included almost 50 per cent of female migrants to North Yangon.

This finding suggests that the policy of developing industrial zones is a powerful instrument influencing the direction of migration. Industrial zones attract migrants to work within the zones and if the workers are able to live close to where they work, this increases the population of these areas. Policymakers should be aware of the relationship between migration and the development of new industrial zones, and they should make appropriate arrangements for accommodation and other services for migrants.
At the same time, the finding of large outflows from States/Regions such as Ayeyawady, suggest that more effort be placed on increasing employment opportunities in areas of Ayeyawady that contribute large numbers of migrants. While these policies should not be developed for the purpose of restricting movement, they will help to develop more balanced migration patterns from these areas.

In addition to Nay Pyi Taw, there are other States/Regions in which high levels of recent in-migration were reported; these include Kachin, Kayah and Kayin. These States are all located on the border with Thailand or China and appear to have an economic dynamism that comes from the large amount of cross-border trade that occurs through these States. Policies designed to increase the number of cross-border entry points will likely provide increased opportunities for employment, and therefore migration.

Female migrants outnumber male migrants in recent migration, with almost 53 per cent of migrants being female. Female migrants who moved between States/Regions, compared to those who moved within States/Regions, were more likely to be unmarried, with over 50 per cent unmarried. Policies designed to prevent the exploitation of these migrants should be strengthened. For example, constructing secure accommodation, enhancing security and providing relevant and adequate information on their rights.

Although the vast majority of recent migrants were concentrated at ages around 25 to 30 years, migrants to urban areas also had higher proportions in their thirties and forties compared to other migration streams. Migrants generally had higher levels of completed schooling than non-migrants. People in manufacturing occupations comprised 6.8 per cent of the labour force generally, but there were much higher percentages in the manufacturing sector among migrants, particularly urban-to-urban and urban-to-rural migrants. Unemployment levels were much lower for recent migrants than they were for non-migrants at young adult ages. For example, while 6 per cent of migrants aged 20-24 were unemployed at the time of the Census, the level for the same age group for non-migrants was 10 per cent. Recent migrants moved to households that had better access to electricity, improved water sources and improved sanitation facilities than those households that did not contain migrants.

The above findings suggest that migrants are in a relatively advantageous position compared to non-migrants. However, the results can be interpreted to suggest that many migrants are in economic situations that require them to accept any form of employment. The Government should monitor the situation of migrants and act to ensure that any form of exploitation is avoided.

There were also findings that were not expected. The most striking among these is the direction of the flows of migration. Almost half of recent migration occurred between urban areas, and about 10 per cent of movement was from rural to urban areas. While the definition of migration employed in the Census undoubtedly resulted in many moves from rural areas not being recognized as migrations, the results do suggest that for more permanent migration the flows are predominately urban-to-urban. More permanent migration from rural areas was directed towards other rural areas. The results suggest that policies aimed at providing rural inhabitants with similar access to education opportunities that urban residents enjoy would provide rural residents with the opportunity to improve their lives through migration. Also it is important that information about opportunities in other areas is shared with both rural and urban residents.

While the Census provides valuable information on migration, it was not designed to measure the full range of movement of the population. Temporary forms of mobility were not measured adequately in the Census. It is recommended that an in-depth study of all forms of mobility should be implemented. This study could include a focus on those areas which have been identified in this report as major source and destination areas for migration.

An example is Ayeyawady as a source area and Yangon as a destination area. The study should include research on how migrants contribute to the development of both receiving and sending areas.
According to the 2014 Census, approximately 4 per cent of the population, or 2.02 million persons, of Myanmar were reported to be living abroad. This number is very likely to be less than the actual number who are living outside of Myanmar, partly due to the method of data collection, and because some household heads may have been unwilling to provide details of undocumented migrants. Also the Census could not enumerate entire households who had moved abroad. Of the two million emigrants, approximately 1.4 million were reported to be living in Thailand and 304,000 were living in Malaysia, with less than 100,000 residing in any of the other seven countries listed.

There were 1.36 million recent emigrants among the lifetime emigrants. Recent emigrants are defined as those who moved in the five-year period prior to the Census. The areas of origin of females were more geographically concentrated than males, with most recent female emigrants reported from Districts adjacent to the border with Thailand. Recent emigrants to Thailand were concentrated in the young adult ages, with over 77 per cent of males and 76 per cent of females leaving Myanmar between the ages of 15 to 34. Among recent emigrants, females emigrate, on average, at slightly younger ages than men.

The Myanmar Government should try to ensure that information about opportunities for the employment of females in foreign countries is available and reduce barriers to female migration. One of these barriers is the perceived risk of migration. The more balanced sex ratios of migration to Thailand indicate that social networks play a large role in reducing female’s perceived risk of migration.

Household level data suggest that migrants originate from households that are marginally better off than households that do not contain a migrant. While there are variations by State/Region of origin in these indicators, the evidence implies that international migrants either come from economically better off households or that the remittances that they may be sending back do make a positive contribution to the economy of households. Whatever the direction of the relationship, this is an indication of the positive value of migration to households. The Government should therefore implement a reliable system of remittance from abroad and within the country. This will encourage more remittance and make it easier to quantify the resources being sent back to the country.

Emigrants tend to come from relatively few Districts, most of which are along the borders with neighbouring countries. The social networks that exist among communities on either side of the borders assist in the flow of migration between countries and essentially institutionalize the flows. While other areas of Myanmar, especially in the delta regions, may be worse off economically, they do not have the same volume of flows that are found in border Districts.

This may be because of the lack of information about opportunities in other countries or because of other internal migration opportunities within Myanmar. The results indicate that migrants are concentrated among certain households. This is true for both international migrants and internal migrants. For international migrants, the Census recorded that 7.6 per cent of households contained an international migrant, while 12.2 per cent contained an internal migrant with very little overlap between the two sets of households. Rather than serving as a first step for international migration, internal migration largely operates in a different set of households to international migration.

There are only a small number of persons (23,577) whose last place of residence was outside Myanmar and who, at the time of the Census, were living in Myanmar. The majority of these came from Thailand (55 per cent), while 5 per cent reported that they had been living in Malaysia. This group also included emigrants from the rest of the world. It is therefore clear that few people from other countries reside in Myanmar, as revealed by the Census.

The percentage of the population residing in urban areas in Myanmar remains at a low level. With almost 30 per cent of the population designated as ‘urban’, the labour force of the country remains predominately agricultural, but change is occurring. The tempo of urbanization is increasing and the percentage employed in agriculture is decreasing. Even in some areas of Yangon, the primate city of Myanmar, there are areas of some Districts that comprise Yangon that are defined as rural, but where the occupations of the residents resemble those of urban areas. This occurs because of the relative cheapness of land in peripheral areas of the main urban centres of Southeast Asia, which encourages the growth of suburban development and of industrial subdivisions in what was, and sometimes remains, nominally rural areas. As Myanmar develops, much more rapid levels of urbanization and urban growth can be expected.

Apart from the management of large urban cities and municipalities of which Yangon and Mandalay are examples in Myanmar, the major policy of the last four decades has been a thrust to develop a more balanced urban hierarchy. This usually manifests itself in funds that attempt to expand regional growth centres. The location of new sites for the development of industries is an example of this policy in Myanmar. However, of the 41 sites approved by 2010, 23 were located in Yangon District. The Government should concentrate on expanding industrial zones in areas of the country outside of Yangon. This would have the advantage of slowing urban growth in Yangon, while creating employment. The population density in Yangon is high and the infrastructural capacity is becoming stretched. This calls for expanding other areas in the country to redirect migration.

The analysis of growth of the population of Yangon District found that over 80 per cent of the growth of Yangon in the five years preceding the Census was due to internal migration. This is a very large percentage and is due primarily to the attractiveness of Yangon as a destination that provides employment opportunities. While it is unlikely that migration played the same role in population change in other urban areas of Myanmar, it does point to the importance of employment as an instigator of movement. Because of the social networks that have developed that link Yangon to areas of origin, it is unlikely that this will change soon. However, attempts must be made to establish employment growth outside of Yangon, and to ensure that information about these new opportunities is widely distributed.