Circular Migration

Circular migration:

1. It is a repetitive form of migration wherein, according to the availability of employment, people move to another place (the destination country) and back (country of origin).
2. Instead of migrating permanently or temporarily (say, contract-based labour) to another location, people move to different locations for a brief period of time when work is available. 
3. This phenomenon is mostly seen among low-income groups who migrate to avail of seasonally available jobs in another country, city, place etc.
4. Circular migration has the following characteristics
   1. Temporary residence in the destination location
   2. Possibility of multiple entries into the destination country
   3. Freedom of movement between the country of origin and the country of destination during the period of residence
   4. Legal right to stay in the destination country
   5. Protection of migrants’ rights in the destination country
   6. Healthy demand for temporary labour in the destination country.
5. Reasons for circular migration:
   1. advent of globalisation and development
   2. Increased access to modern forms of transport and communication
   3. High penetration of social networks
   4. Growth of multinational corporations 
6. The UN Economic Commission for Europe Task Force report states that, one is called a circular migrant if he has completed at least ‘two loops’ i.e., travelled between the destination and origin country at least two times.

As a public policy:

1. Need for a public policy on migration:
   1. Migration creates brain drain for the origin countries and competition for the citizens of the destination countries.

• For instance, movement of citizens from the Global South to the West in search of more employment opportunities or a better standard of living
  2. It leads to breakdown of infrastructure and agrarian stagnation in the case of rural to urban migration.
  3. Migration, thus becomes a policy hazard.
  4. Influx of migrants have caused anxieties and cultural conflicts in the host populations, leading to calls for restrictions and outright ban on migration.

2. Circular migration can be a viable option to balance needs of development and individual economic advancement.
3. It can act as a balanced migration method for both the receiving country and also of the sending nation.
4. The sending country especially in the case of international migration, can benefit from
   1. the flow of remittances which will boost and aid the domestic economy. 
   2. The foreign capital will enhance the economy ensuring more infrastructure, jobs and a better standard of living.
5. For the host countries,
   1. Countries in the west having lesser population and a higher access to education have large demands for low-income low-skill jobs, which are filled by migrants.
6. Circular migration shall help to
   1. It will encourage a sort of brain circulation resulting in brain drain to reduce. In such a situation, an individual can use his talents in both countries and still contribute to remittances.

Circular migration within India:

1. In India, internal migration (migration within a particular country or State) especially from rural areas to urban cities have been mostly circular.
2. Boom in construction sector:
   1. The construction sector registered huge increases in employment for all workers, specifically for rural males between 2004–2005 and 2011–2012.
   2. This pushed for rural to urban migration, resulting in dwindling rural population and economy while urban spaces witnessing infrastructural collapse due to less housing accommodations.
3. Uneven development post-liberalisation
   1. States such as West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar have some of the highest rates of out-migration.
   2. The migrants have positive outcomes such as
      1. Access to higher paying jobs
      2. Better household welfare due to remittances
      3. Ease of mobility
      4. Women get more autonomy and decision-making power in the family due to the absence of men who migrate.
   3. Migration to Delhi mainly has now shifted to the southern states.

With migrants are facing issues such as made to work in unhygienic and unsafe conditions, routinely exploited and face ‘unfreedoms’ in host States, States have to start actively formulating policy to understand the extent of circular migration and ensure migrants rights. States like Kerala have announced health insurance schemes for migrant workers (Awaz Health scheme) which can be a way forward.