Circular migration: looking at both sides of the debate

Contact Counsellor

CategorySocial

Last Updated05/10/2023

Circular migration is a repetitive form of migration wherein people move to another place and back according to the availability of employment.

Circular migration became quite popular in the 60s and 70s with the advent of globalisation and development.
It is a phenomenon mostly among low-income groups who migrate to avail of seasonally available jobs in another country, city, place etc.
Factors that have aided the advent of circular migration
- Increased access to modern forms of transport and communication
- Social networks
- Growth of multinational corporations
According to Philippe Fargues, migration can defined as circular if it meets the following criterias
- There is a temporary residence in the destination location
- There is the possibility of multiple entries into the destination country
- There is freedom of movement between the country of origin and the country of destination during the period of residence,
- There is a legal right to stay in the destination country,
- There is protection of migrants’ rights
- There is a healthy demand for temporary labour in the destination country
One is called a circular migrant if he has completed at least ‘two loops’ between two countries.

The movement of citizens from the Global South to the West in search of more employment opportunities or a better standard of living creates
- brain drain for their origin countries
- competition for the citizens of the destination countries
Similarly, the flow of people moving from rural areas to more urban areas of the same country, results in the breakdown of infrastructure and agrarian stagnation.
Therefore, migration of any kind has become a policy hazard.

With circular migration, the needs of development and individual economic advancement can be balanced out.

Migration, especially international migration, is beneficial due to the flow of remittances that boosts and aids the domestic economy.
The flow of foreign capital enhances the economy, ensures more infrastructure, more jobs and by association, a better standard of living.
However, the most talented people of one country will use their intellect and innovation for the advancement of another country.

A lesser population and a higher access to education has resulted in a large dearth of low income low skill jobs which migrants have been able to fill.
However, the influx of migrants have caused a wide range of anxieties and cultural conflicts in the host populations.
Circular migration aims to quell all these fears.
The negative effects of brain drain will reduce and a sort of brain circulation will be encouraged.

In India, internal migration, which is migration within a particular country or State, has almost always been circular.
With the advent of jobs in the manufacturing, construction and services sector, there has been a huge flow of migrants from rural areas to urban cities.
Between 2004–2005 and 2011–2012, the construction sector witnessed one of the largest net increases in employment for all workers, specifically for rural males.
In India, the uneven development post liberalisation, has led to a lot of inter- State migration.
Initially, while most of the migration was to Delhi, nowadays it has increased to southern States as well.
The positive outcomes of such inter-State migration include
- increased access to higher paying jobs when compared to origin States
- better household welfare due to remittances
- ease of mobility etc.
Some reports have even stated how women get more autonomy and decision making power in the family due to the absence of men who migrate.

However, in migration, where the language barrier is a big obstacle, rural circular migrants are often at the mercy of middlemen or brokers.
They are made to work in unhygienic and unsafe conditions with little to no protective equipment.
Additionally, indigenous wage groups and unions resent these migrants as they are seen as taking away their jobs by agreeing to work for lower wages.
The study also says that this kind of migration is merely subsistence migration i.e. it’s the bare minimum.
The migrants are able to barely provide for themselves and their families, with no scope for further asset creation or savings.
There is also a certain precarity associated with these jobs as they are seasonal and often irregular.
This precarity was on clear display during the pandemic in 2020.

It is high time that States start actively formulating policy to understand the extent of circular migration.
Some States like Kerala have announced health insurance schemes for migrant workers (Awaz Health scheme).
However, there needs to be more effort to ensure migrants rights.
The precarity of workers needs to be addressed and there should be more efforts to integrate them in the destination States.