Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Introduction Vijay Naidu and Ellie Vasta
1. Pacific Communities in the Information Age Richard Bedford,
Cluny Macpherson and Paul Spoonley
2. Remittances, the Social System and Development in Samoa Tolu
Muliaina
3. Labour Migration from Tonga - of more benefit than
harm? Fotukaehiko Valeli Fisi'iahi
4. Contemporary Emigration from Fiji: some trends and issues in the
post-independence era Manoranjan Mohanty
5. Summary of Pacific Migration Workshop, Suva, November
1999 Richard Bedford and Ellie Vasta
Introduction: Contemporary Pacific Islander
Migration: Developing a Research Network
Vijay Naidu and Ellie Vasta
This Working Paper comprises four articles and a documentary section
that is a synopsis of the first Pacific Migration Research Network
(PacMRN) meeting held at the Marine Studies Complex of the University of
the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji between 25-26 November, 1999. Two of the
articles are based on presentations at the meeting with the papers on
Tonga and Fiji being received subsequently.
The Suva Meeting
The meeting was attended by Dr Malama Meleisea (PROAP/UNESCO, Bangkok),
Professor Richard Bedford (NZMRN and University of Waikato), Dr Ellie
Vasta (APMRN Secretariat, University of Wollongong), Dr Unasa Va'a
(National University of Samoa), Dr Satendra Prasad (Fiji Public Service
Commission and University of the South Pacific), Dr Kesaia Seniloli
(Population Studies Programme, USP), Dr Manoranjan Mohanty (Centre for
Development Studies, USP), Mr Tolu Muliaina (South Pacific Geosciences
Commission) and Professor Vijay Naidu (Centre for Development Studies,
USP).
The objectives of this gathering of scholars of international migration
in the South Pacific region were threefold: first, to chalk out signposts
for a more cohesive Pacific Migration Research Network by identifying
problems and prospects for such a network; second, to take steps towards
the establishment of a data base on Pacific Migration researchers; third,
to provide a forum on contemporary migration research including potential
areas of research. The summary of the meeting at the back of this volume
provides details of the various subjects that were discussed but it is
worth our while to highlight a few salient aspects of this
deliberation.
The initiative of the APMRN Secretariat and UNESCO support made it
possible for the researchers to hold the Suva meeting. There was
enthusiastic support by those present to establish the Pacific Migration
Research Network (PacMRN) although there was a sobering recognition of the
vastness of the region to be covered and the rather small number of
scholars involved in migration research. Unlike Asia, the Pacific region
did not have a "critical mass" of migration researchers. It was agreed
that immediate steps be taken to establish a data base on Pacific
migration researchers. The group also agreed that with the Pacific
Migration Researchers' data base operational, there would be much greater
scope for researching and potential for both an increase in research
efforts in general as well as collaborative research. Professors Bedford
and Naidu, and Dr Ellie Vasta were given the responsibility of compiling
information on Pacific Migration Researchers.
In order to stimulate research in Fiji and to strengthen links with the
UNESCO national commission, Professor Richard Bedford, Dr Malama Meleisea
and Vijay Naidu approached the UNESCO representative in Fiji so that a
Participation Project (PP) on a migration research topic could be
submitted to the Fiji National Commission, and forwarded by it to Paris.
Such a PP project based on Dr Satendra Prasad's paper was subsequently
submitted to the UNESCO representatives.
Papers and Presentations
Participants at the meeting heard and discussed five presentations
which covered such diverse topics as public sector reforms and migration
of skilled personnel from the Cook Islands and Fiji; the displacement and
relocation of Indo-Fijian farmers with the expiry of agricultural leases;
the instability in the Solomon Islands which was giving rise to internal
refugees; the use of remittances in Samoa and the future supply of
remittances; an initiative of PROAP UNESCO led by Dr Malama Meleisea to
develop trial materials on country/area specific migration curriculum;
multiculturalism in Thailand, India and Fiji; and the Pacific Vision
conference paper on Pacific meta societies in the information age.
Professor Richard Bedford briefly spoke of the impact on migration of
retrenchment as a result of structural adjustment policies being applied
to the public sector in the Cook Islands. Similar reforms were underway
throughout the Pacific with implications for population mobility. Dr
Satendra Prasad in his oral presentation identified the building of human
capital as pivotal in the development of Pacific island societies. He
pointed to the view that migration had been seen in the Pacific context as
a positive social phenomenon as it reduced pressure on limited resources
in the islands and contributed to revenue generation through remittances.
However, in the Fijian case he expressed strong reservations about the
scale and speed of emigration of skilled and professional people because
it seriously undermined the ability of the state to provide satisfactory
services and facilitate development. The exodus of nurses, doctors,
engineers, teachers and managers in both public and private sectors meant
that basic services including health care, public utilities such as water
supply and education were unsatisfactory and in danger of collapse. He
pointed to the increased presence of recruiters from abroad who were
taking nurses from Fiji by the "plane load" as most worrying. With the
enormous differences in employment conditions, especially emolument, Dr
Prasad said that this trend was likely to continue to the detriment of the
country. He said that systematic research was needed to provide
information and analysis of the rate of emigration of skilled and
professional personnel and how the labour market and society as a whole
responded to this apparently negative trend.
In the discussions that followed the possibility of a research proposal
on the migration of skilled labour from Fiji was raised as was the
potential of considerable fruitful collaboration on such a topic between
Fiji and Australasian scholars.
Professor Vijay Naidu and Dr Satendra Prasad presented an outline of a
research proposal on another topical matter in Fiji. This related to the
vexatious matter of the expiry of agricultural land leases and the plight
of thousands of sugar cane farmers and their families left without
livelihoods. As 18,000 of the 22,000 affected farmers were Indo-Fijians,
with the Native Land Trust Board as the main landlord on behalf of
indigenous land owning groups, an ethnic dimension further complicated
this issue of expiring leases. Discussion on this topic ranged on
alternative livelihood for displaced farmers, relocation, farmers'
perceptions about their future, the future of Fiji's sugar industry and
the prospects for international migration. The possibility of an emergency
research project on this subject was also raised.
A lively discussion followed the presentation on the situation on
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, which was led by Professor Naidu.
Thousands of people lost their livelihoods with up to 900 Malaitan
refugees in shelters in Honiara as the conflict between Guadalcanal people
and the Solomon Islands state intensified and took the form of attacks
against Malaitans and other "foreigners". Subsequent to the Suva meeting
the situation in the Solomons further deteriorated with some 20,000 people
being uprooted as the government was ousted in an illegal para-military
coup d'état. An openly violent conflict ensued between the Guadalcanalise
Isatabu Freedom fighters and the Malaitan Eagle Force to the detriment of
the country. The Suva meeting agreed that the situation in the Solomon
Islands could be researched under APMRN emergency research funds.
Tarcicius Kabataulaka was identified as the possible leader of a team of
researchers.
There was considerable interest in the paper presented by Tolu Muliaina
on the use of remittances in Samoa and the future prospects of remittances
to this Pacific Island country. Tolu had observed that much of the
remittance income was frittered away in non-productivity and in
ostentatious consumption. Giving to the church collection and for the
upkeep of pastors was a significant demand on Samoan families. It was
maintained that the faa'a Samoa or Samoan traditional ways of doing
things and the values associated with it was portent. It was difficult for
Samoans to utilize remittances in productive enterprise. However, Tolu
also commented on the apparently less enthusiastic attitude towards
remittance giving on the part of the New Zealand-born younger generation.
The debate on this issue was intense and was inconclusive. It was
recognized in this regard that a continued supply of new immigrants helped
to reinforce commitments to family back in Samoa. It was also pointed out
that female migration was encouraged these days as women tended to be more
reliable in sending remittances regularly. The trend towards tightening of
immigration rules and the preference for skilled and wealthy immigrants
has put a squeeze on Pacific Island migration. This will have negative
consequences for overseas employment prospects for younger islanders and
also reduce the remittance income of families and national revenue of
Pacific Island countries.
Crystal ball gazing about the future of international migration and the
establishment of Pacific Island diasporas in metropolitan rim countries of
Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada was the subject of
the paper by Professors Richard Bedford, Paul Spoonley and Clunie
Macpherson, which was presented to the meeting by Professor Bedford.
Entitled "Pacific Communities in the Information Age", this paper is
included in this volume. Originally presented at the Pacific Vision
Conference in Auckland it covers many facets of international migration
from PICs, the transnationalization of Pacific family and kinship networks
with the flow and exchange of people and other resources, the
establishment of Pacific Island meta societies through the
interconnectedness of the dispersed diasporas and the societies of origin,
the transformation of and challenges to meta societies including the loss
of language and cultural complexes and strategies to maintain social
cohesiveness in the future and the great potential for using the cyber
network in this regard. This is an encyclopedic paper which provides
readers with a profound understanding of the complex nexus between
international migration, community building in host societies and the
challenges posed to migrant communities by the adaptation process. The
prospects of return migration to the islands was raised in the paper as a
consequence of policy change with respect to pension schemes.
Dr Mohanty's paper on contemporary emigration from Fiji included in
this working paper was a direct outcome of the PacMRN meeting. Enthused by
the discussions at the meeting, Dr Mohanty set about updating himself on
post-independence emigration trends and issues in Fiji. He has identified
several gaps in our understanding of Indo-Fijian emigration and has
disaggregated gross numbers to identify the characteristics of the
emigrants and migration trends. A significant issue in the understanding
of international migration is the accuracy of the official statistics. Dr
Mohanty echoes Professor Bedford's observation made a decade earlier that
reliance on completed arrival and departure cards is not an adequate basis
for the compilation of statistics on migration. Of particular interest, in
this regard is Dr Mohanty's finding that migration figures for ethnic
Fijians and other non-Indo-Fijian citizens are grossly underestimated. He
identifies the negative consequences of military coups, political
instability and the failure of Fijian governments to resolve land lease
arrangements as efficacious push factors, particularly for professional
and skilled personnel. It is likely that proportionate to their smaller
numbers, a significant component of professional and artisan ethnic
Fijians and non-Indo-Fijian citizens have emigrated.
An analysis of the costs and benefits of migration from Tonga is the
subject of the paper by Fisi'iahi, received after the Suva meeting. In
considering labour migration, he points to the rather small resource base
of the Kingdom and the very limited prospects for employment. He echoes
the dominant official view that the emigration of Tongans generally, and
especially of qualified and skilled individuals, contributed positively to
Tongan families and the state. A degree of ambivalence in this regard
emerges with respect to the loss of medical doctors and health care
givers. However, seen in the context of searching for better opportunities
and survival strategies, the out-migration of Tongans is a necessity.
Conclusion
It is evident that the Suva meeting of the PacMRN was successful in
initiating deliberations towards the establishment of a formal network of
international migration scholars in the Pacific. Steps have already been
taken to collect information to create a database on the scholars and
their research. It is hoped that such a database will contribute to
information sharing and collaborative work.
Another dimension of the Suva meeting pertinent for the development of
future research activities was the identification of potential research
topics. The expiry of agricultural leases in Fiji and the civil unrest in
the Solomons were put forward as critical research topics. The accelerated
migration of skilled personnel from Fiji in both the public and private
sectors was another potential area of research. A PP project proposal was
submitted to the Fiji UNESCO office on this topic. Professor Bedford was
in the midst of organizing a conference/workshop on the environmental
impact of international migration in the Polynesian island states in Apia.
The meeting agreed that there were numerous areas of research with
considerable scope for collaborative research in the Pacific.
The papers presented at the meeting together with two others received
later provide a small sample of the diversity of migration research issues
that can be studied in the Pacific Island countries themselves and in
Pacific rim-countries as well as further afield. Such research can be most
useful for policy formulation. It is hoped that this Working Paper is the
first in a series that PacMRN will be able to encourage in the coming
years with continued support from APMRN.
Finally, we would like to thank the Asia Pacific Migration Research
Network (APMRN) and the Centre for Development Studies, University of the
South Pacific, both of whom co-hosted the Suva workshop. We would also
like to extend our thanks to the UNESCO-MOST Program and the UNESCO Apia
office for their financial support. Our thanks also to Patrick Brownlee
for his earlier work on this project; and University of the South Pacific
staff, in particular Ms Reshmi Prasad, who assisted in the organising of
the meeting. Our special thanks to Charles Hawksley for editing,
formatting and helping in finalising this volume.
For more information, please contact:
APMRN Secretariat Migration &
Multicultural Studies Centre for Asia Pacific Social
Transformation Studies University of Wollongong Northfields
Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522 Australia Telephone: +61 (02) 42
213 780 Fax: +61 (02) 42 286 313 E-mail: apmrn@uow.edu.au On Internet: http://www.capstrans.edu.au/apmrn/ |