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Chapter 4 – Internal Migration Migration can be
defined as a form of mobility between two clearly defined geographic
units. The movement of
people in space is a phenomenon in which distance of moves may vary from
a few metres to many kilometres, and in which the duration of stay at
destination may vary from a few hours to many years. A considerable part of the movements is incidental to
carrying on the activities of daily life – commuting to and from place
of work, shopping, visiting, etc. These
types of activities are of interest to certain users; they are, however,
to be distinguished from the type of mobility that involves a sustained
or permanent sojourn in the place of destination.
It is the latter type of mobility that is envisaged by the
concept of migration. The
essential character of migration is that it involves a change in place
of usual residence. Migration is one of
the three basic factors affecting change in the population of an area,
the other two factors being births and deaths.
As mentioned in chapter 2, population growth had been uneven in
the various districts of the country and that natural growth rate being
more or less similar, the prime factor for differential growth was
migration. Migration occurs more or less continually over time. In order to study its incidence, data need to be compiled with reference to specified period of time. In the 1972 Census, questions on migration pertained to place of birth, and location of establishment where persons worked. However, data on location of establishment were not tabulated while data on place of birth were of limited use since the information collected did not allocate the time perspective of the movements, which could have taken place any time during the lifetime of the persons. In 1983, the question on place of birth was replaced by two questions, namely place of residence one year ago and place of residence five years ago. In addition, a question on place of usual residence was also introduced to complement the de facto count while the question on location of establishment was improved by a question on place of work. Data thus collected allowed analysis of short duration movement, i.e. movements between place of residence and place of enumeration, migration in the last one and the last five years. In 1990, the question on address one year ago was dropped, as results of the 1983 Census indicated that one-year migration was insignificant. No changes were brought to the questions at Census 2000. This
chapter will analyse
the 2000 Census data relating to the various types of migration, namely: (i)
short duration movement (between place of residence and place of
enumeration) (ii)
five-year migration (1995 – 2000) (iii)
intercensal migration (1990 – 2000) 4.2
Short duration movement: place of usual residence versus place of
enumeration Table 4.1 below shows the population by place of usual residence and place of enumeration by sex, i.e. the short duration movement of the population at Census night. It is observed that short-duration movement between districts was insignificant at Census 2000; less than one percent of the population enumerated in any district reported to be resident of another district. Similar results were obtained at the 1983 and 1990 Censuses. Both Sexes
The districts of
Black River, Plaines Wilhems and Port-Louis were accommodating the
highest proportion of residents of other districts on the night of the
Census. In 1990,
Pamplemousses, Black River and Port-Louis were the three districts with
highest proportion of residents of other districts on the night of the
Census. A significant
proportion of these movements may be attributable to movement towards
institutions (hospitals, etc) as well as to seaside residences. However,
considering residents from outside Mauritius as well, it is found that
Black River, Pamplemousses and Flacq had accommodated the highest
proportion of non-residents on the night of the census.
It is to be noted that these districts have a large number of
holiday resorts. Table
4.2 below shows that the total number of short duration movers was about
4,500 at Census 2000, representing 0.38% of the enumerated population. Compared to 1990, the volume had decreased (5,500
representing 0.52% of the enumerated population in 1990).
At the two censuses, about 60% of movers were males and 40% were
females. The districts of Plaines Wilhems, Black River and Rodrigues had more incoming than outgoing visitors, whilst the other districts had more out-going than in-coming visitors.
4.3
Migration during 1995 – 2000 Analysis
of migration during the five year period (1995-2000) is based on data
collected through the question on place of usual residence 5 years ago
and on place of current usual residence.
An important lacuna of such question is that information on
movements during the five-year interval are not captured.
Furthermore, since the place of the usual residence 5 year ago
was coded at the ward or village level, movements within the same area
are not considered. Table
4.3 gives the population by district of usual residence in 1995 cross
tabulated by district of usual place of residence in 2000 by sex.
During the five-year period, about 17,900 males and 29,900
females moved from one district to the other.
With an average estimated population of around 569,760 males and
578,540 females for the period 1995-2000, the annual average rate of
migration comes to 0.63% for males and 1.03% for females.
The corresponding rates for 1978 – 1983 were 0.88% for males
and 1.29% for females while those for 1985 – 1990 were 0.67% and 1.05%
respectively. It is evident
that the tempo of migration had slowed down during the recent years. At Census 2000, the sex ratio of 5-year migrants works out to 60 males per 100 females compared to 63 males per 100 females at the 1990 Census and 68 males per 100 females at the 1983 Census. This is to be expected since women, when married, move to the residence of their husband.
Table
4.4 derived from Table 4.3 shows the net movements between districts
during the period 1995-2000.
The main loser is the district of Port-Louis, with a net
migration outflow of 5,272 persons, followed by Savanne, Grand-Port,
Island of Rodrigues, Moka and Flacq.
The largest beneficiary is Black River, with a net migration
inflow of 3,502, followed by Plaines Wilhems, Pamplemousses and Riviere
du Rempart.
Maps
4.1 and 4.2 show the migratory flows between districts during the period
1995-2000 and 1985-1990 respectively.
During the period 1995-2000, Port-Louis district lost mostly to
its surrounding districts, namely, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems and
Black River. Black River,
the largest beneficiary, gained mainly from Plaine Wilhems and
Port-Louis. The
movement of migrants between the five urban areas and the rural regions
is given in Table 4.5. Urban
regions experienced a net outflow of 1,410 migrants (12,348 persons
moving from the rural to the urban region and 13,758 from urban to the
rural region) to rural regions during the period 1995 – 2000.
Corresponding figures for the period 1985 – 1990 show similar
movements; a net outflow of 2,079 migrants from the urban to the rural
regions (13,188 from rural to urban regions and 15,267 from urban to
rural regions) was noted. Intra-urban
movements during the 5-year period of 1995 – 2000 numbered 17,130
against 13,978 during period 1985 – 1990. The figures of Table 4.5, further summarised in Table 4.6 and supplemented with Maps 4.3 a - e, show the rural/urban migration streams by sex between 1995 and 2000. Thus for males, the first line in Table 4.6 indicates that 970 persons (i.e. 546 + 159 + 147 + 118 from Table 4.5) moved into Port-Louis from other urban regions whilst 1,475 persons (i.e 885+237+224+129) moved out of Port-Louis to other urban regions. The net migration from Port Louis and the other urban regions works out to -505. Map 4.1 : Net 5-year migration streams between districts, 1995-2000 Map 4.2 : Net 5-year migration streams between districts, 1985-1990 Table 4.5 :Resident population aged 5 years and over by place of usual residence and place of residence 5 years before, 2000 Population Census Table 4.6 : Rural-urban migration streams by sex between 1995 and 2000 (Population aged 5 years and over), 2000 Population Census The town of Port Louis lost substantially both to other urban and rural areas. It is noted that the net migration of the town of Port Louis is less than that of the district of Port Louis, though the boundaries of the town of Port Louis extend beyond those of the district. The town of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill gained from urban regions but lost to rural areas. A reverse situation is noted in Curepipe, which gained from the rural areas with slight losses to urban areas. Towns of Quatre-Bornes and Vacoas/Phoenix gained from both rural and urban areas. On the whole, it is observed that urban areas had lost to rural areas. Map 4.3a: Net 5-year migration streams between the town of Port-Louis and other regions, 1995-2000 Map 4.3b:Net 5-year migration streams between the town of Beau Bassin/Rose Hill and other regions, 1995-2000 Map 4.3c:Net 5-year migration streams between the town of Quatre Bornes and other regions, 1995-2000 Map 4.3d: Net 5-year migration streams between the town of Vacoas/ Phoenix and other regions, 1995-2000 Map 4.3e: Net 5-year migration streams between the town of Curepipe and other regions, 1995-2000 |
