Environment and Migration in West Sumatra

Yopi, Fetrian (2010) Environment and Migration in West Sumatra. In: Workshop Disaster and Migration. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The paper will discuss about the relations between migration and environment factor in West Sumatera. In several studies, we assert that the failure in managing economic function of the environment lead to the increasing number of voluntary migration. People migrate due to economic problem and finding new destinations either for temporary or permanent(Taylor, 2006). However, in West Sumatera migration which is traditionally known as merantau heavily caused by the economic as a pull factor. People migrate not in the reasons of environment poverty or low income in their origin country, but raising the new opportunity abroad.(Naim, 1971) They prefer become small entrepreneur and finding opportunity in market instead of working for labour and even more as domestic workers. In recent years, there is a new drift come up after the economic crisis. Statitics released by Local Manpower Office mentioned that people in West Sumatra started to apply as domestic worker abroad. Never before in West Sumatera people willing to apply for that “dirty jobs” as domestic worker or labor in plantation (Rinaldi,-). The main questions brought in this paper is why the hardships caused by the economic crisis did not make the people thinks to employ themselves in their own place. The enormous economic assets in West Sumatera seems to be unable to restrain people from migrating.

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