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Migration, small towns and social transformations in Pakistan

Arif Hasan Environment and Urbanization 2010 22: 33 DOI: 10.1177/0956247809356180 The online version of this article can be found at: http://eau.sagepub.com/content/22/1/33

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Migration, small towns and social transformations in Pakistan

ARIF HASAN

Arif Hasan is an architect/ planner in private practice in Karachi, dealing with urban planning and development issues in general and in Asia and Pakistan in particular. He has been involved with the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) since 1982 and is a founding member of the Urban Resource Centre (URC) in Karachi, whose chairman he has been since its inception in 1989. He is currently on the board of several international journals and research organizations, including the Bangkokbased Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, and is a visiting fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK. He is also a member of the India Committee of Honour for the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism. He has been a consultant and advisor to many local and foreign CBOs, national and international NGOs, and bilateral and multilateral donor agencies. He has taught at Pakistani and European universities, served on juries of international architectural and development competitions, and is the author of a number of books on development and planning in Asian cities in general and Karachi in particular. He has also

ABSTRACT This paper derives from a longer IIED report and describes the close relationship between migration/emigration and the sociology/ecology of the different regions of Pakistan, and poverty-related issues in these regions. It also deals with the massive migrations from India to Pakistan (at the time of partition and as a result of three wars with India), the migration from Afghanistan (as a result of the prolonged Afghan war), and from Bangladesh (as a result of the creation of that country). The socioeconomic and political repercussions of these migrations are discussed, as well as ruralurban migration and its repercussions on both the urban and rural areas of Pakistan. The sections on emigration establish that, by and large, emigration has not beneted the emigrants and their families except in relation to building real estate. In addition, it has created severe strains on the extended family and has increased the richpoor divide. However, workers remittances from abroad have played an important role in the growth of Pakistans GDP, and without them the exchange rate and monetary and scal policies would have come under greater pressure. The paper also deals with the legal and illegal processes of migration and emigration; the role of the informal and state agencies in the processes; the role of emigrant organizations in nancing and in social projects and programmes; and suggestions for enhancing and improving these roles. Finally, the paper focuses on three very different small towns and discusses the impact of migration and emigration on their physical and socioeconomic development; also the fact that although the economy is dominated by the merchant classes, the political power rests rmly with the landed elite except where the state is the major landowner. KEYWORDS ecology / GDP / migration / poverty / small towns / social fragmentation / wars

I. INTRODUCTION: MIGRATION AND THE PAKISTAN CONTEXT

Pakistan is a poor country. In the UNDP Human Development Report 2006, Pakistan ranks 134th out of 177 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI); 32.6 per cent of the population lives below the national poverty line; life expectancy at birth is 63.6 for women and 63.2 for men; however, its gender empowerment measure ranking was 66th.(1) There are a number of other aspects to poverty in Pakistan related to debt and military expenditure.(2) In addition, it must be understood that development in Pakistan has been unequal and there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor; there are also major ruralurban and provincial differences, which make generalizations difcult.(3) Increasingly, these differences are due to a reduction in subsidies to

Environment & Urbanization Copyright 2010 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Vol 22(1): 3350. DOI: 10.1177/0956247809356180 www.sagepublications.com Downloaded from eau.sagepub.com at Sheffield Hallam University on July 20, 2012

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received a number of awards for his work, which spans many countries. Address: Arif Hasan, Architect and Planning Consultant, 37-D, Mohammad Ali Society, Karachi 75350, Pakistan; e-mail: [email protected]. pk; [email protected] 1. UNDP (2006), Human Development Report 2006, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK, and New York. 2. According to the UNDP Report 2006, debt servicing stands at 4.5 per cent of the countrys GDP and military expenditure at 3.4 per cent of GDP. See reference 1. 3. For instance, according to the countrys Economic Survey 200607, there are 7.5 million girls and 11.5 million boys studying at all levels of education in the rural areas, whereas there are 6.5 million girls and 7.5 million boys studying at all levels in the urban areas, which points to major gender-related differences. However, contrary to common belief, only 4.6 per cent of all students are enrolled in madarassahs, or religious seminaries. Similarly, female literacy in the 1524 age group in urban Punjab is 71.16 per cent, whereas it is 40.13 per cent in urban Balochistan. In rural Punjab, female literacy in this age group is 36.02 per cent, whereas in Balochistan it is 10.51 per cent. There are also major differences in the physical environment. See Government of Pakistan (2007), Pakistan Economic Survey 200607, Ministry of Finance, Islamabad, www.nance.gov.pk. 4. Hasan, M T (2002), Governance and Poverty in Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad; also Daily Dawn (2002), Call poverty by any name, Karachi, 2 December. 5. Ali, Reza (2002), How urban is Pakistan?, Economic and Political Weekly Vol XXXVII, No 44/ 45, Delhi, www.epw.org.in.

the social and agricultural sectors, which has adversely affected health, education, social housing and employment and incomes, especially after the implementation of structural adjustment in 1992.(4) Pakistan is also a large country. Its population has increased from 28.24 million in 1941 (the last census before Independence) to 130.58 million in the last census in 1998. In 1941 the urban population was 14.2 per cent, and in 1998 it comprised 32.5 per cent of the total population. Critics of the 1998 census, however, point out that the size of the urban population is much underestimated. This is because very often, the huge informal settlements in the peri-urban areas of the cities are not part of the metropolitan areas and, as such, are not classed as urban. Moreover, in 1981 the denition of urban was changed from a settlement with more than 5,000 inhabitants and with urban characteristics to an area that had an urban governance system. As a result, 1,483 settlements with more than 5,000 inhabitants were not classed as urban in the 1981 census.(5) The number of such unclassied settlements has denitely increased in the 1998 census.

II. THE GEOGRAPHIC SETTING AND ITS RELATION TO SOCIOLOGY AND MIGRATION
Migration patterns in Pakistan are related to its geography. The country can be divided into four broad geographical areas: the northern high mountain region, the western highlands, the Indus plains and the eastern deserts. Each of these divisions can be further sub-divided into smaller geographical entities (Figure 1). Three of the greatest mountain ranges in the world, the Karakoram, the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush, meet to form the northern high mountain region of Pakistan. For the most part, the area is barren, sparsely populated and inaccessible. People from the region did not have a tradition of migration, except from areas which lay directly on the trade routes. However, with the end of the old barter economy and the building of communication networks, migration has increased over time, since the harsh climatic conditions prevent any cash-related productive activities except for tourism. Most of the region west of the Indus River and south of the mountain region forms the western highlands of Pakistan which are, by and large, arid, rocky and sparsely populated. In the small river valleys, fairly extensive agriculture and fruit farming is carried out. However, such areas form no more than 5 per cent of the land mass of the region. Agriculture in the western highlands is almost entirely rain fed, and rainfall is erratic. In addition, there is immense pressure on productive land. Communication systems are poor and almost no industries have been set up in these areas. All this creates the incentive to migrate, although little migration takes place from valleys that are cut off due to a lack of road infrastructure or where a strong feudal system exists. Almost all migrants are manual labourers, working mostly in construction. The Indus plains are bound by the western highlands to the north and west, by the Indian frontier to the east and extend down to the Indus delta in the south. They contain 77 per cent of Pakistans population and almost all its major cities and industries. Income per capita and literacy rates are higher here than in the rest of the country and communications

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Pakistan: geographical regions and political divisions

SOURCE: Adapted from various maps in Hasan, Arif and Mansoor Raza (2009), Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan, RuralUrban Interactions and Livelihood Strategies Series, Working Paper 15, IIED, London, 134 pages.

FIGURE 1

are well developed. These conditions have led to the migration of skilled, educated persons and entrepreneurs from the villages to the urban areas. East of the lower Indus plains are the deserts of Nara and Thar in Sindh and of Cholistan in the Punjab. These deserts extend east into Indian Rajasthan. Until recently, there was no proper road infrastructure in the region, hence urban settlements were almost non-existent and the predominant Hindu caste system was a disincentive to migration. This was because of the centuries-old control of the lower castes by the upper

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castes (who also decided on personal and property law issues of the lower castes), barter as a means of exchange and the difculty in social and economic mobility. Politically, Pakistan is a federation of four provinces (the NorthWest Frontier Province (NWFP), the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan), two federally administered areas (the Tribal Areas and the Northern Areas), the Federal Capital Territory (Islamabad) and federally administered Kashmir (Azad Kashmir). All of Balochistan is in the western highlands, as is a large part of the NWFP, which also includes some of the high mountain region. Sindh and the Punjab comprise the Indus plains and the eastern deserts, while the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir are in the high mountain region. An analysis of census data clearly establishes the relationship between migration and the geographical areas and the fact that the main migrant destination is the larger cities of the Punjab and Sindh.(6) Migration to other countries was signicant, amounting to 23.99 per cent of total migrants. Other patterns also emerge. Census gures clearly establish that migration has taken place from the deprived areas, where there is immense pressure on land and resources and where industrialization has not taken place and communication systems are poor(7) However, in those areas where feudal institutions are strong, migration has been limited. The largest migration has taken place from the NWFP to Karachi.

III. MIGRATION TO PAKISTAN

A fact that is often overlooked when discussing migration in Pakistan is that in the last century the country has received more migrants from other countries than there have been emigrants leaving Pakistan. The rst major migration took place between 1872 and 1929, when the British developed perennial irrigation in the regions of central Punjab, which are now part of Pakistan. As a result, they colonized more than 4.5 million hectares of desert and pastoral land for agricultural purposes. They imported peasants from eastern Punjab (now in India) to colonize these lands and in the process marginalized the local pastoral population and completely changed the demography of a number of districts that constitute Pakistani Punjab.(8) Again, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned in 1947, 4.7 million Sikhs and Hindus left what is today Pakistan for India and 6.5 million Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan.(9) According to the 1951 census, 48 per cent of the urban population in Pakistan originated in India and has migrated since August 1947.(10) The two migrations from India had a big impact on the sociology, economics and politics of Pakistan. Before the colonizers arrived, and especially the refugees, clan and caste organizations were strong. Caste and professions were interrelated. With the coming of the refugees and the anarchy that followed, caste and clan organizations in the towns where they settled became weak and ineffective almost overnight. Neighbourhoods vacated by migrating Hindus and Sikhs were occupied by Muslims and were no longer homogenous, either ethnically or castewise.(11) The properties left behind by the Hindus and Sikhs were given to the refugees through a government-arranged settlement process.

6. According to 1998 census data, 10.8 million Pakistanis, or 8 per cent of the total population, are migrants. More than 63.7 per cent of all migrants migrated to urban areas; 25 per cent of all migrants moved to Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, which are all large cities where job opportunities are available; 13 per cent of all migrants migrated to Karachi alone, which is the centre for trade and commerce. For details, see Gazdar, Haris (2003), A review of migration issues in Pakistan, Collective for Social Science Resource, Karachi, June, 25 pages. 7. According to 1998 census data, migrants from the Punjab accounted for only 14.72 per cent of total migrants, although the Punjab accounts for 55.6 per cent of the total population of Pakistan. Migrants from the NWFP accounted for 11.67 per cent of total migrants, although it accounts for 13.4 per cent of the total population of Pakistan. For details, see reference 6, Gazdar (2003). 8. Ali, Imran (1989), The Punjab under Imperialism: 18851947, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 264 pages. Census gures show a population increase of 18.29 per cent between 1901 and 1911 in the rural areas of Pakistan; this is attributed to this rst Punjabi migration. Increases in the two subsequent censuses were 7.68 per cent and 9.04 per cent. An increase of 21.85 per cent in the urban population between 1911 and 1921, compared to 4.32 per cent between 1901 and 1911, is also thought to be the result of the development

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of mandi (market) towns that emerged to handle and export the agricultural surplus that perennial irrigation made possible. 9. Ara, Iffat and Arshad Zaman (2002), Asian urbanization in the new millennium: Pakistan chapter, unpublished paper written for an Asian Urban Information Centre publication for Kobe. 10. Worked out from government of Pakistan population census reports. 11. Hasan, Arif (2002), The Unplanned Revolution: Observations on the Process of Socioeconomic Change in Pakistan, City Press, Karachi, 269 pages; also Bajwa, Khalid (2008), Development conditions of Androon Shehr: the walled city of Lahore, unpublished PhD thesis, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.

12. Authors conversation with Dr Sono Khangharani, Director, Thardeep (Thar) Rural Development Programme, November 2007. 13. See reference 9. 14. According to census reports, the average population increase in Peshawar went from 1.9 per cent a year between 1961 and 1972 to 9.2 per cent between 1972 and 1981, and fell to 3.3 per cent between 1981 and 1998. Similarly, the population of Quetta increased at a rate of 7.2 per cent per year between 1972 and 1981, compared to 3.44 per cent between 1961 and 1972 and 4.04 per cent for 19811998. 15. Worked out from government of Pakistan census reports. 16. For details, see Rashid, Ahmed (2000), Taliban Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia, I B Tauris and Co. Ltd., London and New York, 273 pages.

As a result of the 1947 migration, the inner cities of Sindh and the Punjab, where most of the richer Hindus and Sikhs used to reside, were taken over by poor refugee families. Densities increased within a few months as a result of the sub-division of large homes, and the occupation of open areas and land that belonged to the departing Sikhs and Hindus for makeshift residential accommodation. Many of these squatter settlements were regularized and many of them expanded where land was available, and have increased in density over time. The comparative tolerance of squatter colonies in Pakistan, compared to other Asian countries, is the direct result of the migration from India. Migration to Pakistan has also been a result of the three wars that India and Pakistan have fought since 1947 (1948, 1965, 1971) and numerous small-scale battles. The Kashmir war in 1948 resulted in the expulsion of the Hindu and Sikh feudal and merchant classes and brought about an end to serfdom in most of Pakistani Kashmir and the dominance of an Islamic culture. Freedom from serfdom created social and economic mobility and large-scale migration to Karachi. During the 1965 war, Pakistan captured a large chunk of the Indian Thar desert and in 1971 India captured a large part of the Pakistani Thar desert. Pakistani Thar as a whole was dominated by the Hindu upper caste, which controlled most of the productive land and livestock and strictly enforced caste divisions, making upward social and economic mobility almost impossible for the Hindu lower castes. Their control over the caste system also ensured the maintenance of agriculture-related infrastructure through baigar (forced labour) and the protection of forests and pasture lands. As a result of the 1965 and 1971 wars, the Hindu upper castes and their retainers ed to India, and the feudal institutions that managed agricultural production and the maintenance of infrastructure collapsed. In addition, 3,500 Muslim families moved from Indian Thar to Pakistani Thar and were provided with 42,000 acres of land, much of it near the small urban centres of the desert.(12) Again, as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent jihad and civil war, 3.7 million Afghan refugees came to Pakistan.(13) This refugee inux caused an abnormal increase in the growth rate of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, and of Quetta, capital of Balochistan, and has led to informal settlements being established on both state and agricultural lands.(14) In addition, according to the National Alien Registration Authority (NARA), 600,000 Afghans have settled in Karachi.(15) Most of the Afghan refugees were supporters of the war against the Soviets, which was being fought by the Americans, the Pakistani army and religious establishments in the Islamic world. As a result, the Afghan migration led to a strengthening of the religious establishment in Pakistan, which became the main support to the military government of that time. The migration was accompanied by massive opium cultivation and heroine manufacture, both in Afghanistan and in the border regions of Pakistan. The nances generated were used to fund the war. Guns came with the heroine trade and as a result, what the Pakistanis refer to as the heroine and Kalashnikov culture consolidated itself in Pakistan,(16) with disastrous results for democracy and for the younger generation in urban areas.(17) The emergence of the drug and gun maa also undermined the administration of the state, as government employees, especially those belonging to the law-enforcing agencies, collaborated with the maa. The

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17. According to the Pakistan Country Report (September 2002) of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP, Vienna), there are 1.5 million heroin addicts in Pakistan. In 1979, there were none. In addition, there are a further 1.5 million chronic addicts who are on drugs other than heroin. 18. Hasan, Arif (1993), Evaluation of the community development work at Rehri, unpublished report prepared for IUCN, Karachi, July, 72 pages. 19. See reference 18.

richer Afghans meanwhile established businesses, and today control a lot of the inter-city transport, investment in real estate and urban land speculation and are major contractors of earthworks all over Pakistan. They have a strong network and form an important pressure group that is interested in maintaining the anti-democracy political status quo in Pakistan. There has also been large-scale migration of Bangladeshi and Burmese labour, who work in the shing industry and as crew members on trawlers and deep-sea going vessels in Karachi.(18) It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 Bengali and Burmese migrants in Karachi. About half of them live in informal settlements on state land near the coast and they are protected from eviction by the middlemen in the shing industry. Others live in neighbouring katchi abadis.(19) Apart from the resentment from locals against migrant labour, who work for lower wages, a number of other issues have also surfaced. One relates to local body elections. It is claimed that illegal immigrants have acquired Pakistani national identity cards and, as such, vote in the elections, which distorts the electoral process.(20) Investigations into the electoral results show that 14 illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Burma were elected as councillors in the 2005 local government elections in Karachi.(21) The other serious issue that has surfaced is that Bengali and Burmese women are trafcked to Karachi for purposes of prostitution. It is estimated that 200,000 Bangladeshi women have been trafcked to Pakistan in the last 10 years, and many of them have been sold to the slave trade for US$ 1,5002,500 each. At present, there are more than 2,000 Bangladeshi and Burmese illegal migrant women in prison and in shelters in Karachi.(22)

20. Daily News (2007), Removal of NIC requirement will allow bogus votes, Karachi, 7 August. 21. Daily Times (2007), 14 illegal immigrants made it to CDGK elections, Lahore, 5 August.

IV. RURALURBAN MIGRATION

Ruralurban migration is a continuing phenomenon. Although it has declined in percentage terms, in number terms it has increased substantially.(23) According to the 1998 census, 43 per cent of all lifetime migrants said that they had moved with the household head; 17 per cent because of marriage; 12 per cent for employment and 9 per cent for business.(24) On this basis, researchers conclude that most people migrate for family reasons, whereas the real reason for their movement relates to why the family head moved. Migration from India and then the Green Revolution technologies of the 1960s transformed subsistence agriculture into a capital intensive system and generated a demand for cash that the village economy simply could not generate for the poorer sections of the population. Industrialization in the urban areas also created demand for unskilled labour and for the skills that the artisan castes possessed. This was the beginning of the ruralurban migration process. Another reason for migration is that agricultural production has become far too expensive and small landowners are forced to do manual labour on a daily wage basis in order to generate enough cash; urban areas offer better working conditions and more money on a daily wage basis. Yet another reason is increased pressure on land due to population growth.(25) Following the initial migration, other reasons for migration also emerged. Interviews suggest that migrants experienced the freedom of the urban areas and wanted to free their children from the oppression of

22. CATW, Asia Pacic trafcking in women and prostitution, Coalition Against Trafcking in WomenInternational (CATW), http:// www.catwinternational.org/ about/index.php. 23. Between 1951 and 1961, 44.8 per cent of urban growth was due to natural increase (4.48 per cent per year average) and 40.1 per cent (4 per cent per year average) was due to internal migration. This declined during 19811998, where natural increase accounted for 74.2 per cent of urban growth (4.36 per cent per year average) and internal migration to 20.1 per cent (1.8 per cent per year average). (Worked out from government of Pakistan census reports.) 24. For details, see reference 6, Gazdar (2003).

25. Hasan, Arif and Mansoor Raza (2009), Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan, RuralUrban Interactions and Livelihood Strategies Series, Working Paper 15, IIED, London, 134 pages.

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26. Families from the village of Kunda migrated to the city of Rawalpindi in the 1960s and settled informally on land that, at the time, was on the city fringe but now is within the city. Ownership was regularized and now each plot on which the houses are built is worth Rs 1.5 million or more. By selling this property, owners can purchase 10 to 15 acres of good agricultural land around Kunda. Six families have done this and many others are preparing for it. Details are available from the Urban Resource Centre, Rawalpindi. 27. About 60 poor low caste Hindu families from the village of Ronia migrated en masse to the town of Mithi, about 10 kilometres from the village. The reasons for migrating that were given to the IIED report researchers were for the education of girls, freedom from feudal oppression, and more lucrative employment in business and commercerelated jobs. For details see reference 25.

28. For details, see reference 11, Hasan (2002).

29. Interviews undertaken for the IIED report at Goth Lunya near Mithi. See reference 25.

feudal controls. Some have even gone back to their villages and purchased land and property (from their former oppressors) with money earned in the urban areas.(26) Still later, migrants wanted their children to be educated. It is interesting to note that one of the main reasons given for migrating to the urban areas, and from smaller towns to larger towns, was for the education of children, especially girls (as institutions for girls higher education did not exist in rural areas), even among peasants and the working classes. Migration has also taken place as a result of competition between families, clan members and neighbours. They saw the benets that migration provided and did not want to be left behind. All interviews for the IIED report and the authors previous work suggest that the vast majority of migrants are helped to establish themselves in the urban areas by relatives and friends. Most migrants do not bring their families over until they are properly settled, which means having a permanent job and a house in an informal settlement. The mass migration of entire clans and extended families also takes place when an end to feudal oppression or a better socioeconomic environment is sought.(27) The physical impacts of migration are visible in both rural and urban areas. In all urban areas where populations are increasing, the result has been the creation of un-serviced or under-serviced informal settlements both within and on the periphery of the urban areas or along the corridors that exit the cities and towns. In rural areas, families whose members have migrated have improved their homes or have built new ones in urban styles. Interviews in small towns reveal that whoever gets an education or saves enough money in business migrates to the bigger cities where there are better jobs, lifestyles and business opportunities. Family members who leave the small towns for educational purposes seldom come back and settle there. As a result, small towns lose their political importance. However, the social impacts on rural society have been the most important result of migration. Migration has helped break up the old caste system in the rural areas, and all interviews for the IIED report suggest that fewer people are involved in the kind of work undertaken by the old artisanal castes in the rural areas; this kind of work is not required as goods produced by this work have been replaced by industrially produced ones from the cities. Even village entertainers have migrated to the city, and rural social festivities are becoming increasingly urban in nature.(28) At the household level, earthenware utensils are being replaced by crockery and metal ware, bought with remittances from the urban areas. Clothes have also become more urban in nature and it is now impossible to distinguish a rural male from an urban one from the way he dresses. Womens clothing is also undergoing change, and in the rural areas of the Indus plains, this has already taken place. Dowry, which previously used to consist of clothes made by the village artisans is now usually of industrial manufactured textiles.(29) The IIED report interviews also indicate that although the merchant classes in the smaller urban centres have become nancially powerful and well educated, they do not have any political power, which rests rmly with the big feudal families created by the British or the pre-British families related to religious shrines. As a result, the merchant classes in the changed socioeconomic environment feel discriminated against and prefer to make investments in the larger towns where there is a more democratic and egalitarian culture and society. This is especially true of

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small towns that do not lie on the main road networks and, as such, these towns are losing their economic and political importance.

V. EMIGRATION
People from Mirpur in Pakistani Kashmir started to work as industrial labour in Bradford and Birmingham well before Independence. However, this emigration was very small and was limited to a few hundred persons. In the 1950s and 1960s the number increased substantially, because parts of Mirpur town and its surrounding areas were converted into a huge water reservoir as a result of a mega irrigation project. As the UK government was one of the international guarantors for the project, it granted emigrant status to those who were affected.(30) A few enterprising young men from the Gujarat district of the Punjab also left and settled in Norway at the time, and since then have been helping their friends and relatives migrate to Norway. This was the beginning of emigration to the European Continent. As a result, there are more than 27,000 Pakistanis, almost all from Gujarat, residing in Norway today.(31) Large-scale migration, however, only began in the 1970s, as a result of the building boom in the Middle East. This emigration has had its ups and downs related to the changing geo-political situation in the Middle East, the oil glut and the reduction in oil prices, all of which have had an adverse effect on emigration;(32) 9/11 also had an impact and emigration to the USA registered a fall. Remittances to Pakistan through informal means decreased and the government made an effort to make remittances through formal means easier and more attractive. While emigration of Pakistani workers to Europe and the USA became more difcult, demand for Pakistani workers in Korea and Malaysia increased, and in 2006 formal agreements were made between the government of Pakistan and these countries to promote this emigration.(33) The causes of emigration are the same as for internal migration, and the areas with the highest ratio of emigration are also the same. However, there is considerable evidence to suggest that working-class persons emigrating abroad are not the poorest of the poor but those who have skills and higher levels of education. This is because you need considerable funds in order to emigrate, also information regarding employment opportunities abroad and knowledge of recruiting agencies and emigration networks.(34) Young educated Pakistanis from both the middle and working classes also wish to emigrate for social and economic reasons.(35) There has also been considerable demand for Pakistani doctors and paramedics in the UK and the USA. The governments of these countries have encouraged this emigration and jobs can easily be secured there. More recently, IT professionals have been accommodated in a similar manner.(36) Members of minority communities (belonging almost entirely to unorthodox Muslim sects) also emigrated during the rise of political Islam in Pakistan, which was the result of the Afghan conict. Many of the emigrants were given political asylum in European countries. The ofcial number of Pakistani emigrants is about 3.83 million. However, it is generally believed that ofcially recorded emigration represents about 50 per cent of the real gure. For instance, the ofcial gure for Pakistanis in the USA is 200,000, yet unofcial estimates put this gure at 700,000.(37)

30. See reference 6, Gazdar (2003).

31. Arif Hasans conversations with Pakistani emigrants in Norway (1998); also see Pakistani diaspora, Wikipedia the Free Encyclopaedia, www. wikepedia.org, accessed January 2008. 32. For example, during the 1990 Iraq war, ofcially 44,500 Pakistani emigrants were forced to leave Iraq. Unofcially, this gure is well over 100,000. Similarly, after sanctions were applied to Libya, emigration to that country also declined, and in 2002 only 0.52 per cent of Pakistani emigrants made Libya their destination. 33. Syed, Razi (2007), Private agencies allowed to send manpower to Korea, Daily Times, Karachi, 18 August. 34. Azam, Farooq (2005), Public policies to support international migration in Pakistan and the Philippines, Conference on New Frontiers of Social Policy; Development in a Globalizing World, 1215 December, Arusha, Tanzania. 35. For details, see Hasan, Arif (2007), Changes in values, lifestyles, Daily Dawn, Karachi, 24 September. 36. 4,359 (5 per cent) of all physicians trained in Pakistan in 2001 migrated in 2002. For details, see reference 34.

37. See reference 31, Wikipedia.

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38. See reference 33.

39. Iqbal, Zafar and Abdus Sattar (2005), The contribution of workers remittances to economic growth in Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad. 40. See reference 3, Government of Pakistan (2007).

41. Based on interviews for the IIED report. See reference 25.

42. Conversations between the author and Dr Haroon Ahmed, President, Pakistan Mental Health Association, Karachi, May 2007.

The majority of Pakistanis have emigrated to Saudi Arabia (60.96 per cent), followed by the UAE (28.13 per cent), other Islamic countries (9.45 per cent) and only 1.47 per cent to Europe and non-Muslim countries in Asia. The reasons for the destinations are obvious. There is a demand for labour and professionals and the people of Pakistan have strong religious and cultural bonds with these countries. In addition, they are well received and often develop personal and family friendships with the locals. Emigration to Europe has also increased, but as it is mostly through illegal means, via North Africa and Turkey, it is not possible to estimate its scale accurately. However, ofcial gures for emigration to Korea and Malaysia are available and it is estimated that 28,000 Pakistanis are working there.(38) Unofcial recruiting agents claim that there is a big demand for Pakistani labour in Japan, Korea and Malaysia for unskilled jobs that residents of these countries are no longer willing to do. Workers remittances have played an important part in Pakistans real GDP growth. In years when remittances were low, such as 1999 (1.7 per cent of GDP), real GDP growth was also low (3.9 per cent). When they were high, such as in 20022003 (6.7 per cent of GDP), real GDP growth was also high (5.1 per cent). Quantitative evidence thus shows that real GDP growth is positively related to workers remittances, which are the third most important source of capital for economic growth in Pakistan. This means that in the absence of workers remittances, the exchange rate and monetary and scal policies would come under great pressure.(39) There has been a sharp increase in remittances from the USA since 9/11. This is because of the US crackdown on informal processes of remittances, an easing of formal processes of transfer by the Pakistan government, and because Pakistanis in the US were afraid that as a result of American paranoia, their money was unsafe in the USA.(40) Returning migrants interviewed for the IIED report have indicated that they have not really beneted economically from emigration. However, it has changed their manner of thinking. They have either become more liberal or they have become more religious. However, in all cases, emigrants indicated a major change in their attitude towards education and a desire for an improvement in their physical environment. This change, through them, has affected their families and some community members. They are seen as role models back home, and because of them some family and community members wish to emigrate. However, all of them indicated that they had suffered from bouts of loneliness and depression while abroad. Was it worth it? The majority were not sure. Another issue that emerged from the interviews carried out for the IIED report is that extended families tended to break up as a result of emigration and/or migration of family members. One reason for this is that money is sent to an elder brother or an uncle, who dishonestly appropriates it, and this is why, increasingly, money is now sent to the wife or the mother. Again, this adversely affects the structure of the extended family and creates jealousies and gossip.(41) Emigration of family members has a major impact on the lives of women in both rural and urban areas. In the absence of her husband, the wife assumes responsibility for many day-to-day business transactions that are considered the work of men. This changes the womens social lives and, in the more conservative societies in the NWFP, they are often censured for breaking social and cultural taboos. Being without a husband for long periods is more often than not a cause for depression.(42)

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VI. THE IMPACTS OF MIGRATION ON THREE SMALL TOWNS

Major changes in the distribution of Pakistans urban population have taken place since Independence. In 1951, 45.1 per cent of Pakistanis lived in 198 cities with populations of less than 50,000, while 17.7 per cent of Pakistanis lived in cities with more than one million inhabitants (of which there was only one). In 1998, 49.7 per cent of Pakistanis lived in millionplus cities (of which there are now six) and only 27.7 per cent Pakistanis lived in 418 cities with 50,000 people or less. As a result, the political and economic power of the smaller cities is on the decline. Research in three small towns describes this process.(43) The towns are Mithi in the Tharparkar district of southern Sindh, Uch in the Bahawalpur district of southern Punjab and Chiniot in the Jhang district of central Punjab. These towns were chosen because they are very different from each other. A description of each and the ndings relating to them are summarized in the sub-sections below.

43. See reference 25.

a. Mithi
Although Mithi was established as a settlement some 500 years ago, its population in 1998 was only 19,524. However, today it has a population of more than 50,000.(44) The reason for this increase is that in 1992, Mithi was declared the headquarters of the newly created desert district of Tharparkar. This was as a result of pressure from its politicians, who justied such the move on the basis of an increase in population and on the difculties of travelling to Mirpurkhas, the district headquarters before Tharparkar district was created. Mithis population also increased because of road building projects, which have linked the town with the other desert settlements and the irrigated areas of the Indus plains. As a result, jobs have been created and a large number of businesses and desert tourism have developed. Because of the wars with India, as a result of which large areas of Tharparkar were occupied by Pakistan in 1965 and by India in 1971, the old Hindu-dominated caste and feudal system collapsed, with the result that the artisanal castes were freed from serfdom. Since they, unlike the peasants and herdsmen, possessed skills that were required by the urban economy, many of them became economically well-off and have subsequently become doctors, lawyers and NGO activists who are involved in the political and development affairs of Mithi. The breakdown of the old feudal system has also meant that families are now free to migrate to Mithi from the rural areas. Recurring drought (the result of the collapse of the old feudal system of resource management) has caused famine, and rural families are heavily indebted; jobs in the urban areas are a way of repaying debts. Migration to Mithi has also been triggered by the desire of rural families (now freed from serfdom), especially the artisanal castes, to educate their children and have better civic facilities, particularly for the education of girls, which are not available in rural areas. There have been instances where entire clans have migrated en masse to Mithi for these reasons.(45) Migration has also been facilitated by the fact that considerable amounts of land around Mithi are controlled by the state. This makes it easy for migrants to negotiate with government ofcials to occupy land for

44. Estimate given by Dr Sono Khanghrani, Director, Thardeep (Thar) Rural Development Programme in November 2007.

45. See reference 27.

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46. Authors interview with Dr Khatao Mall in Mithi, November 2007. 47. Authors conversation with Dr Sono Khanghrani, Director Thardeep (Thar) Rural Development Programme in November 2007.

48. Interviews at Goth Lunya near Mithi for the IIED report. See reference 25.

the creation of informal settlements. The migrants feel that if they make sufcient investments in building their homes and in acquiring utilities (such as electricity), it will be difcult for the state to evict them. They cite numerous examples of where this has happened both in Tharparkar and in other towns in Sindh. State control of land has also made it possible for bureaucrats and elected representatives to allocate land for different civic functions without going through the long, difcult and legal process of land acquisition. In this instance, Mithi is luckier than many other small towns. Before decentralization and devolution in 2003, the Mithi merchants and the newly created professionals and NGO representatives had a good working relationship with the local government bureaucracy. However, after devolution, the elected representatives became more powerful and the involvement of civil society in the affairs of Mithi declined. Also, many positive decisions were taken by the provincial bureaucracy, and state land in key locations was allocated for important civic facilities. In some cases, after decentralization and devolution, elected representatives shifted the allocation to less valuable sites and sold the old allocations to their families and supporters at throw-away prices. Families and individuals have migrated from Mithi to Karachi and other Sindh cities. This migration caters to the demand created by the building of roads, petrol and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, and small tea shops and utility stores that have sprung up to serve the newly created transport sector. A large number of Tharis (inhabitants of Tharparkar) are also working as tailors in the garment industry in Karachi and as domestic servants in the larger Sindh cities. In addition, people send their children to Karachi and other Sindh towns for higher education. An increasing number of educated Tharis are now working in the NGO sector in Pakistan. Because of the trends mentioned above, there has been a major social revolution in Tharparkar. People of different castes now eat together in violation of Hindu religious requirements and local Muslim tradition. Kohli (an aboriginal caste and hence untouchable) girls now work in the homes of the upper castes.(46) Money from the larger cities has not been invested productively. Most of it has been used for building or improving houses and creating shopping plazas, whereas previously only neighbourhood shops existed.(47) In the rural areas agriculture has declined, and too much remittance money has been spent on building urban style homes and acquiring crockery and gadgetry, especially mobile phones and motorbikes, which are fast replacing camels and donkeys. Families who do not receive remittances are the new poor. They are increasingly being employed to work the land for the newly rich who, because of remittance money, have lost interest in agriculture and herding. Dress and food has also changed and is becoming similar to that in urban areas. As one Thari put it: Before, we ate what we produced; now, we sell what we produce and buy what we eat. Traditional festivities such as music, dance and weddings and religious celebrations have also undergone a change and have acquired urban characteristics.(48) What is happening in Tharparkar is a major social revolution, and Mithi, as the district headquarters, has become the centre of it. The major reasons for this revolution are the demise of an important section of the traditional rural elite, Mithis proximity to Karachi, a change from barter to a cash economy, and remittance money, all resulting in an expansion of trade, commerce, education and comparative political and social freedom.

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b. Uch
Uch is a small town in Bahawalpur district in southern Punjab. According to tradition and some scholars, the town existed at the time of Alexanders invasion of the Punjab.(49) By the twelfth century, the city had become one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Islamic world and attracted Su scholars and thinkers to its seminaries. The town is divided into two main quarters. The oldest quarter is Uch Bokhari, named after Hazrat Syed Jalaluddin Bokhari, a Su saint of the thirteenth century, and this is where his shrine is located and his descendents are its keepers. The other quarter is known as Uch Jilani, after another important Su saint who taught in Uch in the fteenth century. His descendents are also the keepers of his shrine. The town still commands great reverence from Muslims in South Asia who believe in Suism. As such, it is visited by pilgrims and for festivities related to the saints birthdays by people from all over Pakistan and also from India. The descendents of the two pirs (saints), Bokhari and Jilani, have dominated the political and spiritual life of the town and the adjoining areas. The shrines bring them considerable income and they own large agricultural estates on the outskirts of the town. Before land settlement was carried out by the British in the 1850s, all land in and around Uch belonged to the state, and the important religious and political families were given the right to farm the revenues of state lands with the help of the state bureaucracy. However, the right to farm revenues could be revoked at any time by the state and was subject to constant review. British land settlement and colonization did away with this system and created hereditary landowners consisting for the most part of large estates to the old elite and smaller holdings for peasant proprietors. Land was not given to the artisanal and lower castes or to castes that were traditionally hired by the peasants to work in agricultural production. This was because the British wanted to maintain the status quo in social terms and prevent the possibility of upward mobility in the lower castes. However, the important religious and political families were granted large estates and the Bokhari and Jilani families were the beneciaries of these grants. As a result of the settlement, land acquired a value since it became a sellable commodity. The traditional division of Uch into Bokhari Uch and Jilani Uch was also formalized and considerable land and properties within the town became the property of these two pirs. Uch after the settlement was, as such, governed by an understanding between these two powerful families and the British bureaucracy represented by the District Commissioner. After Independence, the system remained in place until the decentralization plan of 2003. In the 1960s, Green Revolution technologies were introduced to the Punjab. As a result, middlemen pushing loans, fertilizer and pesticide agencies, tractors, mechanized transport and tube wells came into existence. The traditional merchant classes (Shaikhs) beneted as a result, since they became agents and nanciers to the smaller producers in the rural areas. They established businesses in Uch that required extension agents, mechanics, vehicle drivers, links with the larger cities from where supplies of the Green Revolution technologies originated and accountants. As a result, an increasing number of people from the rural areas, mainly from the merchant and artisanal castes, migrated to Uch. The increasing afuence of the Shaikhs encouraged them to send their children to school and into higher education.
49. Elliot, H M (1985), The History of Sindh as told by its own Historians, Allied Book Company, Karachi (reprint of an 1849 manuscript), 541 pages.

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The 1960s and 1970s also saw the development of new road networks and the establishment of industry in neighbouring Multan. This created a demand for skilled and unskilled labour and a number of artisans migrated from Uch. They invested their earnings in improving their homes in Uch and in the process destroyed some of the towns most beautiful residential architecture. Migration of artisans from the rural areas was also the result of the introduction of industrially produced agricultural implements, textiles, shoes and utensils. Goldsmiths, who had been present in all rural areas and in Uch, also migrated to other cities. This is because traditionally, gold jewellery had been a form of savings and was pawned for loans in times of need and for agriculture. In the 1970s, bank loans and bonds replaced this ancient system. Because of the proximity of larger and better serviced towns on the main communication networks, Uch has been left behind. The city had a tradition of learning, and in the past many of its families became important federal and provincial government functionaries in the larger cities. This tradition has continued but now the younger generation does not return to Uch. The general complaint is that anyone who acquires an education or a job in the larger cities abandons Uch, as it does not have the facilities or the lifestyle that the younger generation requires. The merchant communities have become increasingly afuent as a result of education (which has given the younger generation lucrative jobs in other cities) and because of an expansion in the cultivation and production of cotton around Uch. However, they have not been able to wrest political power from the old elite, and this has been an additional disincentive for them to develop social and community facilities in the town. A number have emigrated to France, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and education and better nancial options are the reasons why the business classes migrate. There has also been large-scale migration of artisans to the UAE, to work in the building industry as electricians and masons. According to rough estimates, about 5 per cent of families in Uch have family members working abroad. Local remittances have been used to improve homes and acquire household gadgetry, furniture and crockery. Foreign remittances have been invested in building lavish new homes on the housing estates being developed by the pirs on their land adjacent to the city. According to estate agents, more than 40 per cent of the plots in these housing estates have been purchased by remittances from abroad. However, interviews suggest that an even larger investment has been made in real estate by Uch emigrants in the larger Punjabi cities and in the provincial capital. What has emerged from conversations with various Uch residents is that migrants within Pakistan normally do not save enough to make such investments but some international emigrants do. These investments are also made by people who are not emigrants but who are involved in the lucrative fertilizer and pesticide business, or by middlemen engaged in nancing the agriculture of the cotton crop, its storage, transportation and sale. The land issue is important to the future of Uch. Since land around the city is owned by the inuential families, badly needed civic facilities can only be acquired if they donate that land. A land use and structural plan prepared for the city by the NGO Conservation and Rehabilitation Centre (CRC) can only be implemented if land is either donated or is acquired through the land acquisition act. As the two inuential families are the

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local government representatives of Uch, they are unlikely to go ahead with any land acquisition process. In the absence of a rational land use plan that has legal authority, the town continues to expand haphazardly, and consists mostly of real estate developments catering to the better-off residents (many of whom receive remittances from abroad) and informal settlements on unproductive land. The Uch situation indicates that as a result of the migration of the better-educated citizens, the control over land and local government by the inuential families, and the proximity of economically better off towns on the main communication networks close to Uch, the town does not have much of a future. However, the CRC feels that if Uchs monuments and its status as an ancient town can be rehabilitated, along with the proper organization of the religious festivals associated with its shrines, it could become a major tourist attraction.

c. Chiniot
Chiniot is one of the oldest towns in the Punjab. It is located on the banks of the Chenab, the second largest river of Pakistan and is famous for the folk romances of Sohni-Mahiwal and Heer-Ranjha. The town has a continuous recorded history since the Sanskrit epic Mahabharta was penned in 800 BC. The town is famous for its wood carving, ornate masonry and brass work and it is recorded that the artisans of Chiniot were employed in the building of the Taj Mahal. Today, it is the second largest town in the Jhang district, with a population of 169,282 according to the 1998 census. Most of the agricultural area around the town was developed as a result of the canal colonies established by the British. Before the British, the land situation was similar to that in Uch. Today, the area consists for the most part of peasant holdings and small farmers. Due to the absence of inuential families, unlike in Uch, there are fewer caste barriers and greater social mobility than in Uch and its surroundings. However, there are powerful landlords who were established as a result of land grants from the British, and these consist of the traditional religious elite, the Syeds (descendents of the Prophet) and the Qazis (descendents of the doctors of Islamic law). Because of its history and location, Chiniot has always had a very afuent merchant class of Muslim Shaikhs and Hindu Banyias, born out of centuries of trade and commerce, especially related to the timber business. Today, the Shaikhs dominate the textile industry in Pakistan, but their mills are in Karachi and Faisalabad, where better infrastructure and investment policies are available and where they are free of the domination of the Syeds and Qazis. In these cities, they dominate the chambers of commerce and industry, and the Shaikhs of Chiniot are among the richest families in Pakistan. The masons and carpenters belong to the traditional artisanal castes. Traditionally, their profession was hereditary but today, through an apprentice system, people from other castes are also becoming carpenters and masons. However, the businesses and investments related to these trades are controlled by the Shaikhs. It is estimated that there are more than 100 workshops in Chiniot producing furniture and carved doors for the elite of Pakistan; they also receive orders from Europe, the Middle

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50. Information provided by real estate agents in November 2007.

East, Japan and the USA and participate in international exhibitions. As a result, there are a number of foreign banks and insurance companies in the town. Various industries are being established on the outskirts of Chiniot, mostly small and medium-sized agro-industries. Bigger industries are being established by the Shaikhs in the larger cities of Pakistan. Labour for the new industries in Chiniot is being imported from the northern districts of the Punjab or from the NWFP, because the industrialists fear that local labour will organize trade unionism and will press for the imposition of the minimum wage. Most of the labour is male and in the slack season they return home for a few months. Almost all are accommodated in makeshift huts within the factory premises or in the immediate vicinity, either on privately owned land that is informally rented for this purpose by the factory owners, or on land that belongs to them. As such, there is no question of security of tenure for these makeshift homes. The Middle East construction boom in the 1970s led to a big demand for carpenters and masons in the UAE, and later in Saudi Arabia. Chiniot artisans migrated to these countries in large numbers and, as a result, lifestyles changed and an afuent class of artisans was created, leading to the setting up of shops and workshops in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. In the interviews, the major reason given for migrating to Chiniot from the rural areas and the small towns was to learn carpentry and masonry skills or to work as labour in the building industry. The other reason was for the education of children. This is very similar to the situation in Uch. The biggest problem people face is that since there is no government land, it is difcult to form katchi abadis where they can live. As a result, densication of the existing low-income formal settlements and katchi abadis is taking place and rental accommodation is very much in demand. The rental costs for two rooms can be as high as Rs 2,000 (US$ 30) per month, or 40 per cent of normal monthly earnings, and often this accommodation is shared by eight or more persons.(50) Meanwhile, changes are taking place in the inner city, with its beautiful traditional architecture. Since the old timber market and the workshops are located in the inner city, they are expanding there, and as a result, the afuent residents of the inner city are moving out to the new housing estates in the suburbs, and their homes are being taken over by workshops and as storage for timber and furniture. The major reason given for migration and emigration from Chiniot is the demand for carpenters in the Middle East, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Also, since large orders are being received from these larger cities of Pakistan, Chiniot entrepreneurs have established workshops and showrooms there, employing Chiniot artisans, many of whom have taken their families with them. Artisans who migrated have invested their savings in the purchase of mechanized tools for their workshops. This has improved their production capacity and capability but it has created problems for those artisans who do not have mechanized tools. In the 100-plus workshops in Chiniot, more than 2,000 artisans are employed, but this does not include unskilled labour or those working in transport-related activities. It is generally agreed that the demand for furniture and wood carving is not being adequately met. A number of housing schemes are being built on the outskirts of Chiniot as joint ventures between developers and the owners of agricultural

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land. The developers for the most part are from the old merchant or artisanal castes and are skilled in measuring land, entrepreneurship and public dealing, compared to the agriculturalists who do not have these skills. Many of these housing schemes have not been approved by local government and, as such, are informal in nature.(51) The middle classes and the wealthier artisans are investing in them, and real estate agents claim that a sizeable number of plots are being purchased by remittance money. The new schemes are not homogenous by clan, caste or ethnicity, unlike the old traditional neighbourhoods in Chiniot, since allocation is primarily of a commercial nature. Meanwhile, the process of migration in Chiniot is through family, friends and agents. It is well organized, as the process and systems related to it are understood and the links with the Middle East and with the larger cities of Pakistan are well established as a result of long association. The political leadership, which consists of the Member National Assembly (MNA), the Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) and the district nazim, comes from the powerful traditional elite. All of them, however, live in Lahore, along with their families. They are landlords and, as such, it is claimed that they are against the business community.

51. For details, see Alimuddin, Salim, Arif Hasan and Asiya Sadiq (2001), Communitydriven Water and Sanitation: the Work of the Anjuman Samaji Behbood and the Larger Faisalabad Context, Pakistan, Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas Series, Working Paper 7, IIED, London, 88 pages.

VII. CONCLUSIONS
A number of broad migration- and emigration-related conclusions regarding the economy (macro and micro), social change (both in rural and urban areas), governance and the larger political and physical environment can be drawn from this paper. First, remittances from abroad have had a positive impact on Pakistans economy. Without these remittances, the exchange rate and monetary and scal policies would come under great pressure. However, these remittances have not had much of an impact on the local economy and have been used mainly for building real estate, improving lifestyles, purchasing gadgetry and for better educational opportunities. In places such as Chiniot, where skills and entrepreneurship already exist, remittances have been used as tools for business purposes, but in the less developed areas of Pakistan, from where most emigration has taken place, this is not the case. Pakistanis from abroad have invested in the social sectors but this has not made any substantial difference to the provision of social sector facilities in the areas from where people have migrated. However, remittances from within Pakistan have been used mainly for improving the lifestyles and houses of the migrants. There has been no investment in the social sectors as a result of the remittances but these, and the connections that the migrants make in the urban areas, help in times of crisis such as oods, earthquakes and droughts. In addition, these remittances have reduced the importance of and interest in agriculture and have created a new underclass of agricultural landless labour that now works as tenants on the migrants farms. Second, emigration and migration have promoted education, more liberal values, the emancipation of women and the promotion of NGO activities. At the same time, they have led to the break up of the extended family and of clan institutions, have promoted a divide between the rich and the poor at the local level and have created an immense desire in the population to go abroad, since migrants and their families have

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become role models for the rest of society. There are also indications that the children of migrants tend to be spoilt and arrogant. It is generally agreed that remittance money is not saved and it is seldom invested in any productive enterprise, with the result that when migrants return, the living standards of the family often go down. In addition, emigration is more often than not accompanied by loneliness and depression, both of the emigrants and their wives, who are left behind in Pakistan. Also, when emigration is undertaken illegally, the emigrants family is constantly concerned about his safety, as there is no news for long periods of time. Very often, huge sums of money are paid to informal agents to arrange emigration illegally and there is always an element of risk of fraud involved. Third, due to in-migration from the rural areas, under-serviced informal settlements are developing in the small towns. Where these settlements are on state land, there is hope for their regularization. In towns where there is no state land, densication of katchi abadis and the inner cities is taking place and causing environmental degradation and social fragmentation. Informal settlements on private land are also developing in these towns but there is no likelihood of their regularization. As such, their residents are not interested in improving their homes and services. Local government in towns that have state land can also plan their development and expansion; however, towns that do not have state land have to go through the long process of land acquisition, which is not supported by the powerful landowning political families. Fourth, as a result of better education and better lifestyles, the younger generation of families whose members have migrated or emigrated want to live in the larger cities because of the better physical and social environments. As a result, the areas from where they move lose political power, future civil society leadership and professionals. Fifth, in spite of a change of values and the emergence of an economically more powerful business community in the small towns, political power rests rmly with the traditional landowning elites. The maintaining of this power has been helped considerably by decentralization and the devolution of governance systems. This is because the elected local government representatives now have complete control over the bureaucracy, and a majority of the nazims (mayors) of the small towns belong to powerful landowning families. Devolution has also created more unequal development because the elected leaders, unlike the bureaucrats that they have replaced, give preference to development in those areas that have supported them in the election process, or are inhabited by populations who belong to their clan or political party. Finally, a number of issues need to be addressed regarding the processes and repercussions of migration. Corruption by agents needs to be controlled and the costs of migration need to be reduced. Trafcking and the processes leading to bonded labour need to be controlled and the problems associated with illegal migration, which result in deaths and exploitation, require efforts both by the countries from where the migrants originate and the host countries. Much more needs to be done to open up avenues for productive investment of remittances and for the protection of the human rights of migrants in the countries to which they migrate. However, the most important question is Is migration and especially emigration worth it? There is no denite answer to this question.

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REFERENCES
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