The effect of migration on development in Tuvalu : a case study of PAC migrants and their families : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand
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Date
2009
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Massey University
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Abstract
International migration and development have been traditionally treated as separate
policy portfolios; however, today the two are increasingly viewed as interlinked. While
the development status of a country could determine migration flows, migration can, in
turn, contribute positively to national development, including economic, social and
cultural progress. Consequently, if migration is not well managed, it can pose
development challenges to a country’s development and progress. Therefore,
partnership through greater networking between countries of origin and destination is
needed to fully utilise the development potential of migration.
For Tuvalu, migration has remained a vital ingredient for economic development and
more importantly, the welfare of its people. The implementation of New Zealand’s
Pacific Access Category (PAC) scheme in 2002 offered for the first time a formal
migration opportunity for permanent or long-term migration of Tuvaluans. The PAC
scheme allows 75 Tuvaluans per year to apply for permanent residence to work and live
in New Zealand, provided they meet the scheme’s conditions. The goal of this research
is to investigate, more than five years after PAC’s implementation, the ways in which
long-term migration of Tuvaluans, through the PAC scheme, has benefited Tuvalu. To
give a broader perspective on the issues explored in this study, the views of Tuvaluan
leaders, as significant players in traditional Tuvaluan society, are included, in addition
to the perspective of migrants’ families in Tuvalu and the migrants themselves in New
Zealand.
Combining transnationalist and developmental approaches as a theoretical framework,
this thesis explores how Tuvalu’s mobile and immobile populations, through
articulation of transnationalism, enhance family welfare, and grassroots and national
development. The eight weeks’ fieldwork in Tuvalu and Auckland demonstrated that
the physical separation of Tuvaluans from one another through migration does not limit
the richness of the interactions and connections between them. In fact, the existence of
active networking between island community groups and other Tuvaluan associations in
Auckland and in Tuvalu strengthens the Tuvaluan culture both abroad and at home, thus
ensuring strong family and community coherence. Maintaining transnational networks
and practices is identified as of great significance to grassroots and community-based
development in Tuvalu. However, the benefits of long-term migration can only be
sustained as long as island loyalty, or loto fenua, and family kinship stays intact across
borders, and networking amongst families, communities and church remains active.
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Keywords
Emigration and immigration, Economic development, Tuvalu, New Zealand