Overseas Filipino workers, remittances and sustainability: a study of Filipino migrant workers in Papua New Guinea : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

The chronic economic problems of the Philippines have resulted in the underdevelopment of that country compared to many of its Asian neighbours, forcing millions of its citizens to seek work abroad. Insufficient employment and economic oppo rtunities await returnee migrants once their foreign contracts have expired, meaning that a significant number of migrants revert back to subsistence living upon returning to their home communities. When they have exhausted their savings in meeting the families' basic needs, they often find no alternative means to source an income. This desperate situation causes many returnee migrants to endure more poverty and desolation or to migrate once more.

This thesis is a study of the Filipino migrant workers in Papua New Guinea. The primary objective of this research is to identify the measures adopted by the Filipino migrant workers to ward off the potential effects of unemployment and economic hardship which may bring poverty and desolation when workers eventually return to live in their home communities. This study aims to establish how the migrants manage their remittances to make these sustainable in terms of providing income generating opportunities at home. In particular, the study examines whether part of their remittances are transformed into new forms of income-generaitng schemes that may deliver the same or similar levels of income when workers return to live in their home country.

This research also explores the different factors that influence people's decision to migrate. Typical migration movement is from the poorer Third World countries to the wealthier industrialized First World countries. This study, however, was a Third World­ Third World migration relationship which is different from the conventional migration movement. The reason for this movement - why Filipino workers migrate to PNG, a Third World country, in search for employment is also examined.