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Return migration and re-integration challenges in high mountain regions in Pakistan

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Abstract

Return migration has become a recent trend in the mountain regions of Pakistan, primarily driven by a rise in economic opportunities. To understand the perception of return migrants about the economic opportunities available to them and to highlight the various challenges they face in the reintegration process, this study was conducted in the Hunza Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. This study employed a mixed research approach where quantitative data were collected using field surveys from 153 return migrants while qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews with thirty return migrants. The study reveals that return migrants face difficulties in finding economic opportunities in their home regions due to insufficient support for new initiatives. The study highlights that return migrants possess diverse skills and untapped potential that can be utilized to revitalize the mountain economy, given appropriate support and policies. In this regard, governmental and non-governmental institutions play a crucial role in facilitating the reintegration process by offering assistance in areas such as tourism and entrepreneurship. This study recommends that by developing comprehensive reintegration policies, the government should effectively leverage the skills and potential of return migrants, thereby driving economic growth and development in rural mountain communities across Pakistan.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank respondents of the study for their great support in data collection process.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Development Studies, Karakoram International University Hunza Campus, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

    Gulfam Ali & Amjad Ali

  2. Department of Economics, Karakoram International University, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

    Rizwan Akhtar

  3. Department of Economics, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran

    Rizwan Akhtar

Authors
  1. Gulfam Ali
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  2. Rizwan Akhtar
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  3. Amjad Ali
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Correspondence to Amjad Ali.

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The authors declare that there is not any conflict of interest.

Research involving human participants

Since the respondents of the study are human being, so necessary consent and willingness to participation in the survey was ensured. All the respondents were vulnerary participated in the study.

Informed consent

A detail consent form was developed and distributed among the potential respondents of the study and only those people were considered as respondents of the study who gave their willingness to participation in the survey voluntarily.

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Ali, G., Akhtar, R. & Ali, A. Return migration and re-integration challenges in high mountain regions in Pakistan. GeoJournal 88, 5247–5258 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10919-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10919-1

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