Rural Migration Governance: A Comparison of Desmigratif and Desbumi Approaches in Empowering and Protecting Indonesian Migrant Workers

An'ngam Khafifi (Sociology Study Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Jember, Jl. Kalimantan 37, Jember, East Java, 68121, Indonesia)
Muhammad Naufal Rizky (Master of Business, Monash Business School, Monash University, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia)

Sodality: Jurnal Sosiologi Pedesaan
Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026): Sodality: Jurnal Sosiologi Pedesaan

This research aims to compare the approaches of the Productive Migrant Village or Desa Migrant Produktif (Desmigratif) and Migrant Worker Care Village or Desa Peduli Buruh Migran (Desbumi) programs in the protecting and empowering Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI), while simultaneously formulating migration governance framework at the rural level. Utilizing a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method on 16 articles, it was found that Desmigratif emphasizes the economic strengthening and entrepreneurship while Desbumi focuses on the rights literacy and legal advocacy. Academically, the research contributes to the literature on sociology of development by synthesizing the technocratic-top-down approach of Desmigratif with the emancipatory-bottom-up approach of Desbumi through the lens of Giddens’ Structuration Theory. This integration offers a new conceptual framework called ‘Rural Migration Governance’, which explains how formal state structures and community agency can be synchronized to create a holistic protection model for migrant workers. The results conclude that the synergy of the two models is crucial to create a holistic and sustainable protection model. The research suggests policy makers integrate both interventions into a comprehensive village regulatory framework.