DESCRIPTIONS
OF WORKING PAPER - No 7
Current
Trends in South Pacific Migration
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'Žtat. 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 Kerry Lyon for editing, formatting and
helping in finalising this volume.
Vijay Naidu
and Ellie Vasta December 2000
