Papua New Guinea Islands Case Study of Internal Migration

CAUSES
Push Factors: (-)

Pull factors:(+)

world war II forced the local people to move

from rural to urban centres

A Wish to acquire skills or education

pressure on the land due to rising population

(especially in the highlands)

Easy access to towns (roads, air,

shipping)

the need to raise fast cash (for tax, consumer

Get more income/jobs

A desire to avoid traditional obligations and

authority

Desire to join urban resident kin

an extended adolescence due to abolition of

initiation ceremonies

Belief that many more services are

found in the towns

personal factors ( such as arguments or family

problems

perception of migration as a rite of

passage into manhood

lack of water

High availability of water

soil degradation due to overgrazing and

overcultivation

Easy life

IMPACTS:
Geographic (socioeconomic, political
and
environmental)
impacts of
international
migration
Social Impacts (-)

Origin
Rural areas- Mount
Hagen (Highlands)

Young people tend to

migrate leaving the old
and the very young
Many men emigrate
leaving a majority of
women who have
trouble finding
marriage partners. This
creates an unbalanced

Destination
Port Moresby- Capital of
Papua New Guinea
Lae- Capital of Morobe
Province.

It is reached to easily by
their relatives who might
follow them there.
Unbalanced population
structures, with excess of
children, old people and
women.
crime rates are high due
to unemployed young


population pyramid

Social Impacts (+)

Economic Impacts (-)

Traditional ceremonies
are beginning to die
away as there is an
absence of young men.
Young people tend to
choose partners in what
they see as modern
fashion.
Feed on sweet potatoes
most of the time and
sometimes there is
famine= lack of
adequate nutrition.
Poor education
Isolation

people have roots in

those areas, They are
familiar with those
places
lower birth rates and
reduced population
pressure.
retiring populations
may build new homes.

labour..mostly
unskilled
Loss of skilled
labourers deters
investment in the
country
in recent years the
proportion of returning
immigrants with higher
education levels has
increased.
Loss of villages most
able-bodied men.
Economic dislocation
in rural areas that the
young male migrants
have left behind.

male in-migrants.As well

as street bashings.
shortage of houses
therefore slums are
developed and disease
spreads more easily
overcrowding

Modernization
more exposure to the
English language which
encourages cultural
mixing

Expensive flights
infrastructure cannot
handle the number of
people living there
Less jobs available for
everyone


Economic Impacts (+)

There will be more

people open to do more
jobs as people leave.
employment rates are
going to go down
People from urban
areas send money
remittances back
home.

Political Impacts (-)

Farther from their

relatives
more people will be able
to earn money even if
they end up working in
the informal sector

The new political system

can affect the attitudes of
immigrants communities
to what goes on back in
their home country.

Political Impacts (+)

As there are less people,

more Government
money can be spent on
essential services such
as schools and
healthcare

more immigrants will be

to able to vote for a more
diverse decision and
guineans might have
more influence on future
policy making

Environmental
Impacts (-)

The fertility of the land

is extremely low leaving
1% considered high
quality to farm and
grow crops.
60% is considered low
quality
52% is
mountainous/hilly
Poor quality and is
higher, steeper thus
more likely to rain and
floods to occur.

deforestation for more

raw materials
more demand for
regional water supplies
and other resource
Greater demand of water
supplies and other
resources.
The expansion of landfill
sites as more waste is
being produced
Deforestation for roads,
increase pressure on
housing.
air and water pollution
for factories and
households and
powerstation
transportation and other
sources


Environmental
Impacts (+)

Less pressure on the

natural environment
because of fewer
people.
less people equals less
pollution
less deforestation for
firewood