Labour Migration, Human Security and Migration Impacts in Rural Cambodia: Case Study in Kampong Thom Province

Abstract

In recent years, academic and the non-governmental organizations have urged the Cambodian Government to provide migrants with information to inform their decisions better. Yet, such needed information have not been empirically researched. Through a field-based survey, this paper seeks to develop rich and illustrative accounts of why rural Cambodians migrate, the options they have, how they decide on which option to take and the implications of such decision-making. This study found that labour migration in rural Cambodia is primarily motivated by economic factors, with most migrants aspiring to migrate for work to earn more income, so as to return back to their “homeland” with more economic resources. This study also found that labour migrants not only have to choose the geographical locality to migrate to, they also have to choose the types of job and whether to migrate legally or illegally. Even within the same locality, the legal status and the nature of jobs have significant implications on the migration outcomes. Also, this paper found that migration outcomes are often determined by factors that are beyond the control of the migrant, but rather are dependent on the employer and middlemen engaged. Instead, what a migrant can control is how he or she collects information and make decisions that minimizes risks and focuses on attaining their migrant aspirations. This paper found that those who react to migration information critically, based their decisions on lessons learnt from past migration episodes, and are informed by a longer-term strategy, tend to be more successful in attaining their desired migration aspirations.