5.4. A case of international migration

Question 1

Sab Jaroen to Bangkok

Answer 1

• Step Migration
• Sab Jaroen to Saha Farms: working in chicken breeding stations in Nong Pai district 22 km away from the village.
• Saha Farms to Lop Buri: working for Saha Farms in their large-scale chicken feed production capacities in Lop Buri province, located 80 km South of Sab Jaroen
  village.
• Lop Buri to Bangkok: Once villagers have lived away
  from home for a time, in the relatively familiar places
  nearer to Sab Jaroen, then they may gain the
  experience and confidence necessary to migrate further away from home, Bangkok, to gain better employment opportunities

Question 2

Sab Jaroen to Bangkok: Impact on Source (Sab Jaroen)

Answer 2

• Income from agriculture is replaced by remittances send by migrant household members, this reduces the reliance on the land.
• Total income (in terms of PPP$ in 2010) is significantly higher for migrants compared to non-migrant households.
• the age pyramid shows a gap in the age group from above 14 years to about 44 years old among the male population. The age structure potentially affects the village labour economy as mainly children and persons of older age permanently remain as residents in the village
• village institutions are dominated by elder and thus potentially more conservative persons with less access to outside information.
• Stress that it places on traditional family units in the Northeast. Husbands and wives frequently cannot stay together and their children are always raised by relatives in their home villages.
• About 21 per cent of children or more than three million children in Thailand do not live with either of their parents due to internal migration.

Question 3

Sab Jaroen to Bangkok: Impact on Destination (Bangkok)

Answer 3

• Over-population in Bangkok is mostly caused by uncontrolled migration from rural areas. In Bangkok there are over 2 million households and from these about 235.000 households are situated in slum and squatter settlements.
• Pressure on services – water, electricity, roads etc. The water demand grew at the rate of 8 per cent annum, to 2.1 billion cubic meters per year by 2000. About 80% of the air pollution from the traffic is coming from the public transportation, mostly busses- a lot of this can be attributed to poor immigrants from the rural areas. Most of the buses are in very bad condition and pollution is visible.
• Almost 70% of migrants in Bangkok earn less than 300 baht (around $8) and do not contribute to the tax system, which would help Bangkok improve its infrastructure

Question 4

Mexico to the US - major migration stream

Answer 4

• Mexico, which shares a nearly 2,000-mile border with
  the U.S., is the source of the largest wave of immigration in history from a single country to the United States.
• more than a million try to cross the border in a year
• estimated 7 million undocumented immigrants in the
  U.S., although other estimates are as high as 20 million.
• Immigrants born in Mexico account for
  more than half of all of the foreign born in four states: New Mexico (72.4%),

Question 5

Causes of migration from Mexico to US

Answer 5

Push factors from Mexico

• 40% unemployed
• Adult literacy rates 93.5%
• Life expectancy 76 years
• Low paid jobs - GDP = 15600 dollars per capita

Pull factors from US

• Many jobs for low paid workers
• Adult literacy rates 99%
• Life expectancy 80 years
• Well paid jobs - 52400 dollars per capita

Question 6

Mexico to US - impacts on origin

Answer 6

• Mexican countryside has a lack of economically active people
• Legal and illegal immigrants send 22 billion US dollars worth of remittances which helps villages to develop
• Many men migrate leaving a majority of women who have trouble finding marriage partners
• Young people tend to migrate, leaving the old and very young behind

Question 7

Mexico to US - impacts on destination

Answer 7

• Mexican migrants benefit the US economy by working for low wages
• Incidence of tuberculosis has been increasing greatly due to increased migration
• Mexican culture has enriched the US border states with food, language and music
• Solar polarisation - cultural and racial issues
• Illegal migration cost USA millions of dollars for border patrols and prisons