ABSTRACT
Migration studies are dominantly by economic cost-benefit analysis. This study on migrant Muslim women gives us an opportunity to understand community, nationality, religion and economic empowerment from the migrant’s perspective. Moreover, this study on gender and migration will help highlight knowledge gaps, which can be further used in reviewing existing legal frameworks or in formulating a comprehensive policy document on the migrant women. This is a study on the Muslim women who had migrated from Cooch Behar and are now residing in Jai-Hind camp in Delhi. This chapter outlines the role of agrarian relationships, religious norms and gender roles in migration. In this context it attempts to first outline the various push-pull factors that facilitate migration among the Muslim women. Second, it describes the rationale and the pattern of migration among the Muslim migrants. Third, it outlines the various impacts of migration on these female migrants. An overview of the socio-economic and political changes that these migrants are undergoing is outlined. Formal fieldwork for this study was conducted from January to April 2017. Random, purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to select and shortlist the respondents. Narratives and semi-structured interviews were the tools used to gather information. The chapter suggests that apart from poverty, a religious-oriented gender role is a major structural factor that facilitates migration among Muslim women. This chapter presents the case for revisiting the category of ‘involuntary and forced migration’ as gender matters.
