Internal and Forced Migration and Economic Development in South Asia

Abstract

This chapter looks at the current human migration scenario of all the eight South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) by country, origin and destination through the analysis of available data and recent publications. The aim is to provide a description of internal migration, the role of human migration in economic development and also of forced migration. Following this aim the chapter first looks at the incidence of internal migration inside the countries of South Asia. The chapter then addresses the issue of migration and development in South Asia. The penultimate section covers forced or involuntary migration and specifically addresses occurrences of forced migration in South Asia. The chapter concludes with some observations.