Case Study: Transmigration In Indonesia

Question 1

Why was the transmigration scheme coined?

Answer 1

To ease overpopulation on the main island of Java

Question 2

What did the government provide to those leaving java?

Answer 2

Land, money and fertiliser for 18 months to help them sustain a small farm

Question 3

What were the issues prior to the scheme?

Answer 3

1. 60% of the population lived on Java, making the population density very- especially
2. The government needed to stop Jakarta’s urban growth
3. People migrate to Jakarta in large numbers to find work

Question 4

How many islands does Indonesia comprise of?

Answer 4

17,000

Question 5

What did the transmigration programme involve?

Answer 5

1. Move people from Java/Jakarta to more peripheral island- new farming areas set up by the government
2. The migrants are given free transport, free land and housing and other assistance such as food and fertiliser for the first 12 months
3. Even though many have migrated the scheme has not been entirely successful

Question 6

Impact of transmigration on the source region (Java)

Answer 6

1. Thousands of young families left Java
2. However the rate of rural-urban migration in Java meant that Jakarta continued to grow
3. Population growth was slowed not reversed

Question 7

Impacts on the destination

Answer 7

1. Indigenous populations were displaced

2. The population structure was changed as the ethnicity of the peripheries changed.