In the previous discussion it has been mentioned that the aspects of migration to South Sumatra did not attract much attention from the government authorities in this province. The reason for this was that the volume of migration (particularly inmigration) annually was considered too small compared with the total population of South Sumatra. In contrast, some findings in this study show that migration plays an important role not only in terms of the numbers involved but
also the participation of migrants in many facets of the economic life in the region.
Some migration studies, certainly, have been conducted in this region. Unfortunately the subject matter of these studies has been limited to the imj^lementation of transmigration. Our findings indicate that this scheme contributed less than one-half of those who came to this province annually.
6.1 Labour Force Supply and Economic Contribution of Migrants
Migrants in South Sumatra contributed a relatively high proportion to the labour force. Two out of ten economically active in the xxipulation in this i:>rovince were migrants. This fact not only influences the total labour force but could also affect the quality and composition of labour in this area.
In general, labour force participation rates of migrants
were higher than those for the total population. This was the result
of the participation of females and young children in the family
business, particularly in the rural areas. Nevertheless, the labour
force participation rates of female migrants were higher than the total females in South Sumatra.
Viewing the economic activities of the migrants, migrants
to rural areas were involved in the agricultural activities. On the
whole, 14 per cent of the economically active population engaged in
this sector in South Sumatra was made up of migrants. This propor
tion, however, varied among regencies in this province. OKU regency, which revealed a high proportion of migrants, showed that about 43 per cent of its population involved in the agricultural sector was that of migrants.
On the contrary, migrants to urban areas had much varia
tion in their activities. The employment pattern in the cities
depends on the availability of the jobs, characteristics of the urban areas, and the ability of migrants to participate in such activities. Since most of the migrants to urban areas were settled in Palembang municipality, the peculiarity of this city had much influence on
migrant preferences. Due to the level of education, most of the
educated migrants (high school and above) worked as professional,
administrative, clerical, production and sales workers. However,
only about one-fifth of migrants to this city had relatively secure
jobs. Almost four-fifths of them were engaged in relatively insecure
jobs. Evidently the sectoral activities of migrants showed that most
'transportation' sectors successively. With the exception of
'agriculture' and 'mining', migrants in Palumbang formed a large part (about 40 to 50 per cent) of each occupational sector.
6.2 Transmigration and Voluntary Migration
Actually, the effects of the transmigration scheme in terms of the total people moved should be viewed only in OKU and MURA regencies, or more specifically, in Belitang and Tugumulyo sub-districts. Although these two regencies depicted the highest rates of population growth (between 1961 and 1971) among other areas in South Sumatra, the influx and concentration of transmigration was mostly in OKU regency. Moreover, OKU regency at the present time is more developed in terms of the number of the resettlement areas, land opened, and the financial aid and technical assistance received in extending the transmigration projects.
Although the official resettlement scheme commenced in 1937 and was known as the colonisation scheme, a large number of people were moved only under the transmigration scheme which started
in 1950. The more extensive movements occurred between 1951-1961,
where about 13,000 transmigrants were moved to South Sumatra annually. The period after this showed a decline in the volume of transmigrants annually.
Some evidence based on the migration data between 1961 and 1971 depicts the significance of the voluntary migration (unguided
movement). The approximate percentage of total inmigrants to the
0.62 per cent. Out of this, the transmigrants constituted only 0.15 per cent. Therefore, the remainder (0.42 per cent) was the
contribution of annual voluntary movement. This fact is of consider
able importance in evaluating the success and the effectiveness of the transmigration scheme, since this project has been an expensive
exercise. The present trend shows that among all the transmigrants
there is a considerably high proportion of spontaneous transmigrants (independent transmigrants, i.e. those who only get a little subsidy
from the government). This is a good sign for the government to take
note of. Another point which is also of relevance is that, at the
present time, the inmigrants in this province have shown preference to living in the urban areas.
6.3 Population Growth Rate
Based on the census results, the annual growth rate of the population in South Sumatra was 2.26 per cent between 1930 and
1961 which decreased to 2.15 per cent between 1961 and 1971. These
results do not represent the real demographic situation in this province as this area has been continuously influenced by the move ment of people across its boundaries.
Like the other provinces in Indonesia, South Sumatra
province has a high birth rate. It ranges between 43.4 and 49.3
per thousand population according to the 1971 data (unadjusted and adjusted data respectively).^ These results are not too surprising
1 The calculation of birth and death rates has been done by the writer in his paper which was presented to the Demographic
Institute, University of Indonesia in 1974. The differences in
since marriage usually occurs at a young age, the level of education has been low - especially among 'women, and the family planning program
was not officially implemented until 1971. These situations do not
enable fertility to decline rapidly. A large difference in the
results by using unadjusted and adjusted data is the consequence of the adjustment of the number of births.
On the other hand, the death rate ranged between 19.0 and
19.5 per thousand population based on the same data. Although the
death rate is still high, it is expected that it will decline in the
future. This expectation is based on government efforts in eliminating
venereal diseases in introducing public health knowledge to the
communities, and in the development of health facilities at the present time in the country.
The balance of the birth and death rates gives a natural growth rate of the population of between 2.43 and 2.98 per cent
annually on the basis of the unadjusted and adjusted data respectively. These natural growth rates seem likely to give a minimum and maximum range of population growth rate, without taking into account the
migration effects. Compared with the intercensal growth rate of
2.15 per cent as shown by the 1961, and the 1971 census data in
particular, these natural growth rates are still high. Therefore,
in getting a clear picture of this rate, the migration effects should be taken into consideration.
In the earlier discussion it was mentioned that the
annual contribution- of inmigrants on the population growth rate in
1 Contribution of migrants in this context means, contribution of those who were categorised as migrant only.
this province had been significant. The similar case is also pointed
out by the outmigration from South Sumatra. It was 0.75 per cent
during the same period (1961-1971). In the case of inmigration,