Financing the migration costs 54!

According to McKeown (2012), the necessities accompanying legal migration have made informal brokers or smugglers become necessary for irregular migration, which provides the brokers with the opportunity to demand a higher price and deceive their clients. Thus, costs and ways of financing the smuggling services are also essential considerations in the study of irregular migration. Financial settlements in the irregular migration process are believed to be debt-related and exploitative due to the higher cost to migrate illegally (Kyle & Liang, 2001; Içdyugu & Toktas, 2002). Friebel and Guriev (2006) argue that often migrants cannot pay the smuggling fee up front because of the expensive nature of irregular migration. Therefore, they remain in debt to a local moneylender or smuggler for a period of time. Likewise, Set Aung (2009) argues that the cost of migration is naturally expensive and often creates a burden for the families of migrants. To explore whether irregular migration is debt-related or exploitative in the case of Nan Kham village, the cost and ways of paying the smuggling charge were investigated during the case study.

4.4.1.The.cost.to.migrate.illegally.from.Nan.Kham.to.Thailand.

28 _{The narrative of U Myo suggests that these smugglers are just ethnic people who live} around the border.

This study identified that the expenses for migrating illegally across the Kayah State- Thailand border ranges, according my participants, range from 200,000 Kyats to 400,000 Kyats (approximately equal to $US200-$US40029). The cost of migration described by my participants was different from one family to another depending on the person or agents who helped them to migrate illegally, and the type of vehicle being used on the migration route. For instance, U San charged 70,000 Kyats ($US70) to take migrants to Mae Sal, a border village where the migrants had to look for an agent to take them to Chiang Mai or Bangkok. Travelling from that border village in Myanmar to Chiang Mai or Bangkok costs around 6,000 Bahts30 (180,000 Kyats) more. This calculation of irregular migration cost is consistent with the estimates of Set Aung (2009)31_{. The cost of migration in Nan Kham village is indeed} expensive for my participants. Thus, the studied also identified the different ways of paying the smuggling fee which was considerably high compared to the cost of living in the village.

4.4.2.Ways.of.funding.the.migration.

The most common ways of paying the smuggling fee or funding the migration identified by my participants included borrowing money from a money lender and selling property or jewellery. Having considered that Nan Kham’s economy was based on agriculture, the migration cost was very expensive for the households of my participants. According to the interview respondents, it was common to sell jewellery and land to pay for the smuggling fees. In some cases, money was borrowed from relatives or a local moneylender. However, in this case study group, only one household claimed that they had to borrow from a local moneylender. According to one of the respondents, the interest rate for borrowing money ranges from 5 to 8 per cent per month. Although this kind of money lending service was illegal according to the 1990 Financial Institutions of Myanmar Law (Set Aung, 2009), it is not seen as illicit for local villagers. The financial constraints of migration costs had been lessened in many cases when relatives and friends provided crucial assistance for

29 _{Based on the US currency conversion rate at the time of fieldwork.} 30 _{1 Baht=30 Kyats}

31 _{In his study, he estimated that the cost to migrate illegally to Thailand ranges from 250-} 400 US dollars.

people from Nan Kham to migrate. For example, I interviewed U Kan, who was a return migrant about how he managed to go to Thailand. He said he followed his friends when they went back to Bangkok after a short visit one summer. He added

..I trusted my friends. They promised to find a job for me. They told me not to worry even if I could not find a job very soon. They said I could eat with them, live with them. (personal communication, May 9, 2014)

This is an example of where the burden of the smuggling fee was reduced with the help of friends who were already in Thailand. In addition, it was evident that my participants considered working in Thailand as a certain way that could return a profit in a short period. Therefore, in some cases, families sold land to finance the migration cost.

The story of another return migrant, U Myo, was different. He sold a gold necklace to pay for the smuggling fees. The money from selling the necklace was only enough for him to reach the border but his aunt picked him up from the border and took him to Bangkok. For many other families in Nan Kham, the ways of financing migration are similar. In most cases, younger siblings were usually sponsored by their elder brothers or sisters who were already working in Bangkok. For instance, U Tin talks about how all his children migrated to Thailand:

When everyone started going to Thailand, my children wanted to migrate too. My daughter was the first one to go. After she’s been there for about three years, she called her younger brother to come over. Now, that son has been there for 2 years. When he visited home during last new year, our oldest son followed him when he went back. (personal communication, April 21, 2014) In his family, firstly the parents supported their daughter to migrate, then that daughter financially supported the migration of her younger and older brothers. By the time they called on their siblings to come over, it was known that a job for them was already available and reserved, thereby saving time and money in looking for jobs. In this way, his family was relieved from the financial burden of supporting everyone who migrated.

In sum, the findings from this study suggest that the expensive smuggling costs to some extent create financial burdens on families left behind in Nan Kham village. The families paid the smuggling fee by selling jewellery or land, realizing that migration was a kind of investment. However, there was no evidence that these were found to be related to further exploitation by smugglers or moneylenders. It was found in many cases that siblings or relatives supported some or all of the entire smuggling costs. Hence, there were no financial constraints for the remaining family members.