Negotiating in Migration and Environmental change: Experiences of Khmer communities in the Mekong delta, Vietnam

This paper reviews how Khmer people in the Vietnamese Mekong delta negotiate for their sustainable livelihood in the context of environmental change and urbanization and how potentially environmental change impacts their out-migration patterns. The concept of social risks and social networks will be developed, which is defined as how local people have been vulnerable in place of origin and destination and how they respond to enhance their socio-economic resilience. Therefore, the impacts of environmental change and urbanization can also be considered the main reasons for local people's short- and long-term mobility in vulnerable regions. The starting point of this paper will overview the migration and environmental change at the global level and rural-urban migration pattern, followed by analyzing these relevant concepts to clarify the research problem. Subsequently, the overview of the fundamental knowledge of migration in Vietnam can be understood by considering their historical process as a whole. On the other hand, to understand local people's vulnerability under this circumstance, the research investigates the social risks and its consequences for locals and migrants in general, particularly for Khmer people in the Vietnamese Mekong delta, concerning their social networks and cultural value.