Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan

Migration has long played a key role in shaping the size and distribution of the population of Pakistan. Since the partition of the British Indian Empire in 1947, and up to recent and ongoing conflicts within the region, Pakistan has been the destination for large numbers of cross-border migrants and refugees. These migrant groups, together with the growing number of rural people displaced by agricultural modernization and mechanization, have contributed to the substantial increase in the levels of urbanization in Pakistan, especially in the more industrialized provinces of Punjab and Sindh. At the same time, like the people of so many low- and middle-income nations, Pakistani citizens have sought to work abroad, and in the 1970s large-scale labour migration to the Middle East began in earnest. Remittances became an important component of the national economy and of the livelihoods of many households. These complex and substantial movements have resulted in profound changes in settlement patterns and also in deep socioeconomic and cultural transformations. Smaller urban centres, such as the ones described in this paper, reflect the growing discrepancy between changing values and widening economic opportunities on the one hand, and the persistence of a feudal system of political power often supported by a highly controversial administrative and political devolution plan on the other hand. This study draws upon secondary sources and census reports from the government of Pakistan. It also draws upon previous work done by the authors and on detailed interviews that have been carried out for this study in three small towns: Mithi in southern Sindh, Uch in southern Punjab and Chiniot in central Punjab.