ABSTRACT
This chapter examines aspects of certain social developments that have accompanied internal migration in Sri Lanka: unbalanced sex ratios, rising rates of suicide, and increased ethnic conflict. It shows that the internal migration is interdistrict migration. Materials relating to internal migration in Sri Lanka, as in other Asian countries, do not differentiate between male and female migration, presumably on the assumption either that the rates do not differ significantly or that gender differences in migration patterns are of little consequence. Interdistrict migration frequently has involved male migrants journeying to Dry Zone destinations without their families, producing pronounced variations in sex ratios. The major ethnic communities have displayed strikingly similar patterns of sex ratios. The socioeconomic and demographic character of the district seems to dictate a similar ratio between the sexes for members of all ethnic communities. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
