Indonesian Transmigration

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Indonesian Transmigration

The transmigration policy of Indonesia, initiated by the Dutch in the

1950s, consisted of moving millions of Indonesians from the densely

populated inner islands to the less densely populated Indonesian outer

islands.

Why Indonesia adopted a migration policy

[IMAGE]Indonesia's transmigration policy was adopted to relieve

congestion from the inner islands of Indonesia such as Java, Mandura

and Bali and to achieve a more balanced demographic development.

Java and Mandura have 7% of the total land area of Indonesia. However

the very uneven distribution of population means these two islands

alone hold 65% of Indonesia's population. Problems have aroused from

the large densities of people. Birth rates are high producing a large

numbers of young people; despite encouraged family planning. This

contributes to an annual population growth rate of 2.3%. Growth of

families has led to repeated sub-division of the land. Between 1973

and 1980 the percentage of landless farmers increased by 11.7% from

3.2% to 14.9%.

Improving the standard of living of the inhabitants of the inner

islands was another aim of the migration policy. It was intended that

unemployment of the landless labourers (due to land subdivision) and

the urban unemployed be improved. Food production was hoped to

increase as well as the promotion of regional development and national

security.

The outer islands were chosen due to the low densities of population

and the amount of land for settlement. Transmigration exploited the

potential of the outer islands.

What the programme entailed

Although in the beginning of the programme it was estimated 48 million

people from Java alone would be moved within a 35-year period, a more

realistic figure was later set of 2 million people every 5 years.

Transmigration takes place from the islands Java, Mandura, Bali and

Lombok to Sumatara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Irian Jaya. Between 1950

and 1984 Sumatara received 65% of transmigrants, Kalimantan received

18%, Sulawesi 14% and Irian Jaya 3%.

Migrating families have to fit a certain criteria. Each family must be

healthy and all under the age of 40, preferably married with two-four

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