Migration

Banni grasslands in the Bhuj taluka of Kachchh district in Gujarat are spread over an area of 2600 km² and are the largest natural tropical grasslands in the Indian subcontinent that thrive in arid conditions with an average annual rainfall of a mere 317 millimetres. Droughts are a common occurance in Banni. 

Maldharis, migratory pastoralists of Banni

Small-scale fishers in India are increasingly forced to migrate for their livelihoods, but new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) finds this can have positive impacts not always seen when labourers have to move for work.

India is home to a thriving community of pastoralists whose lifestyles represent one of the oldest and most sustainable systems. These herders practice mobility, moving their livestock from one climatic region to another every year in search of adequate food, suitable pastures, and grasslands.

People migrating to escape slow onset climate disasters like drought are two and a half times more likely to experience trafficking or modern slavery than those people fleeing rapid onset disasters like floods or cyclones, according to new research conducted in two states in India by IIED.

On 24 June 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) India and the NITI Aayog jointly hosted an event – the National Engagement on COVID-19 Vaccination & Migrants: Leaving No One Behind. 

COVID-19 has been spreading fast in rural areas while issues related to its management and the government’s response to the pandemic remain.

Migrant workers had been assured multiple times that an economic lockdown will not be imposed and yet by mid-April reverse migration was in full swing.

As per a new study conducted by the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) and IIMPACT, an NGO loss of income and livelihood are among the top concerns for rural communities struggling to cope with the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The second wave of COVID-19 has now spread to the rural pockets of the country at a much faster rate than it did during the first wave of the outbreak.

A research study by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on ‘Social security and health rights of mi