In the development discourse, migration is seen a contested concept because it can produce both
desirable and undesirable outcomes. This paper focuses on analysing migration as a livelihood option
for extreme poor households drawing upon Stimulating Household Improvements Resulting in
Economic Empowerment (SHIREE 2 ) programme data. In the qualitative longitudinal household
tracking tool of SHIREE programme, we found different kinds of migration contexts, notably: rural to
urban migration, seasonal migration, border crossing migration, and natural disaster related
migrations. Our study found that low incomes, loss of earning opportunities, evictions, health shocks,
lack of specialized skills, bonded labour and fraud were factors underpinning unsuccessful migration.
On the other hand, migrations that developed social networks, had support from NGOs, resulted in
reduced dependency ratios, and chose the right destination tended to be positive experiences that
helped improve migrants’ wellbeing.