Family, Migration and Dignity

Among the many challenges that the world faces today, one is of particular relevance to international migration and development. The world faces significant demographic changes affecting the future developmental prospects of both developed and less developed countries. More developed countries are simultaneously facing low fertility rates and ageing populations, while less developed countries, in contrast, are experiencing higher birth rates and a significant “youth bulge.”

The fiscal, social, economic and political implications of these imbalances are obvious for both developed and less developed countries, while the policy interventions to attenuate these impacts, however, are not so obvious. More developed countries, for instance could increase productivity levels, significantly increase the age of retirement and eligibility for benefits and could potentially use other tax revenues to fund benefits. For less developed countries the policy choices are basically reduced to interventions seeking to increase the rate of economic growth in order to incorporate younger generations into the labour market and to expand the state’s capacities to provide basic social services such as health and education.

One of the single most accommodative policies that could potentially address these challenges is international migration. On average, migrants tend to be young people seeking for the most part better economic prospects to support their families. Migrants moving from countries with high unemployment rates, and dire prospects to better their lives, to countries with an increasing ageing population and low fertility rates could not only balance out these demographic imbalances but also improve the developmental prospects of both developed and less developed countries.

Though the most common source of long-term migration in countries which permit it, family migration has until recently attracted little attention from academics and policy makers due in part to its conceptualization as female and a dependent form of migration that is of little relevance to the labour market. However, during the past decade there has been a growing body of academic literature generated through a collective interest in transnational migration (Bryceson and Vuorela 2002); international marriages, including those by men moving as the imported spouse (Charsley 2011, Williams 2010); gender, generation and families in migration (Kraler et al. 2011); migrant families and multicultural societies (Grillo 2008), and families caring across borders (Baldassar et al. 2007).

This paper explores the impact of migration on families in South Africa, with a specific focus on self-settled Somali refugees in Johannesburg, South Africa. It argues that despite a progressive legal framework, which guarantees protection and rights to refugees and migrants in South Africa, conditions for migrant families and family life are bleak given the poor socio-economic conditions and xenophobic context that non-nationals find themselves in. Although international migration to South Africa continues to increase, as the country’s political stability, and economic dominance grows in the region, family-centered policy for migrants and public discourse on social inclusion and integration lags behind. At the same time, high levels of unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and social and economic inequality exist in this city, creating a context in which marginal groups like migrants, refugees and the poor experience multiple levels of exclusion and vulnerability. For Somali women in particular these difficult conditions are further complicated by the paradox they face between opportunity and risk given the collapse of social and family structures in the Diaspora.

Migrant workers bring an enormous contribution to the development of the Central Asia (CA) region by providing skills that fill labour market needs in countries of destination, and by providing remittances, return of talent and enhanced commercial activity in their countries of origin, i.e., Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan.

International labour mobility has become increasingly important in CA over the past two decades. The collapse of the Soviet Union and centralized employment system has entailed considerable changes in labour markets and growth of internal and external labour migration. The regional migration has affected all population strata, all age categories, men and women, various occupations and social groups in CA. Migration has strengthened economic linkages between actors in the regions as well as increased the development of speed gaps between various countries.

According to the Central Asia Human Development Report (UNDP), just within the period from early 1989 to early 2002, nearly 3 million people, or over 20% of the population, migrated from Kazakhstan; 694,000 people (11% of the population) from Tajikistan; over 1 million people (4%) from Uzbekistan, and 360,000 people (7%) from Kyrgyzstan.

Unlike many other parts of the world, it is possible to regard most of Europe as an emerging zone in relation to the conditions of entry for migrants who look to exercise family life. The European Union provides a transnational legal framework for the adoption and implementation of legislation concerning policy areas better addressed at Union level. One such area is family reunion and the respect for family life. An important legal basis in this field is the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, particularly Article 8 on the right to respect for private and family life1. The Rights of the Child Convention (CRC)2 and the International Convention on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR)3 also engage international obligations. Thus, the European Union can be seen as an experimental workshop for seeking common solutions in this field, a field fraught with challenges but also with considerable possibilities of confirming the primacy of family life in human society. The Directive on Family Reunification of Third Country Nationals was adopted by the European Council in 2003 and states in its preamble:

“Family reunification is a necessary way of making family life possible. It helps to create socio-cultural stability facilitating the integration of third country nationals in the Member State, which also serves to promote economic and social cohesion, a fundamental community objective stated in the (EU) Treaty.”

This paper focuses on those persons under 18 years old who, unaccompanied by their parent(s) or legal guardian, have left their place of habitual residence and are either on the way towards a new destination or have reached such a destination not long ago. These children move within the country or across international borders. Their ages differ and, in regions such as Africa for example, children as young as 10 years old are reported to have moved away, unaccompanied by their parents.

Today, estimations speak about millions of children on the move. These numbers are likely to increase in the years to come, driven by population dynamics in combination with the lack of development and employment opportunities—in particular in rural areas—and given the predicted rising impact of climate change. Most of the population growth will concentrate in the developing world. The largest urban centers are expected to be in countries where sanitation, health care, education, policing and employment opportunities remain scarce. Some argue that this will increase the emigration from these countries; while the decline of developed countries’ labor force will increase the demand for immigrant workers in such countries.

Today, there are mainly three specific situations when children move unaccompanied by their parent(s) and namely: • In the context of armed conflict or natural disaster (internally displaced children, refugees) • When trafficked • When migrating out of free will

In all three situations, the fact that the child is not accompanied by the parent(s) does not necessarily mean that he or she moves entirely on his/her own. Very often these children move in groups of peers or accompanied by adults other then their own parents. The risks and opportunities they face differ also from case to case.

It goes beyond the scope of this paper to discuss in details the risks and opportunities for the children in all the three above-mentioned situations. This paper will thus focus only on the risks and opportunities children face when migrating out of their free will. The paper will first explore the reasons behind the unaccompanied migration of children. Then, based on concrete examples, it will seek to identify some of the most serious protection gaps faced by children. The end of the paper will provide a number of recommendations on how to address such gaps and better protect children on the move.

This paper discusses how migration impacts families—from the specific perspective of gender in the context of employment. I shall give particular attention to those migrants who end up working in low-skilled, low-paid jobs in destination countries. Gender is treated here as a relational concept, comparing not only male migrants to female migrants, but exploring relations between generations (parents, children, grandparents), employer and worker, based on socially constructed understandings of specific roles and patterns of behavior according to sex, generational standing and socio-economic status. When a gender dimension is incorporated into the analysis, it also brings to the fore the social dimensions of the issues under debate.

I start this paper by outlining the main analytical framework used for the analysis of the issue of gendered labour migration, which is based on establishing a link between three feminisations—of poverty, work and migration—thus addressing the causes and consequences of migration, posing the question of what the implications of the three feminisations are for gender and family relations more broadly (dealt with in section II). The final section outlines the main rights issues and makes suggestions for policy intervention.

Immigration in the Southeast Asian region took place many decades ago when no official boundaries existed and crossborder migration was not a known issue. Chinese labourers were sent into Malaysia and Thailand to work as waged workers in the mining industry and on the construction of water and land transportation routes in 19th Century. Indonesian workers were also employed in the rubber plantation in Malaysia.

At the end of the 20th Century, new waves of immigrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos came to be labourers in Thailand. Countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand also sent their nationals to work overseas, making Southeast Asia one of the highest human mobility hubs in the world. Immigration regimes in the region have emerged within such context.

Focusing on the impacts, costs and issues of immigration with special reference to the family will be the theme of this paper. I will discuss the various impacts of immigration on both sending and receiving countries as well as address the related issues.

In Tunisia, several studies analyzed the phenomenon of migration. One strand of this literature focused on the causes, explaining migration flows (Mzali 1997, Zohry 2006, Fourati 2006, Hammouda 2008, Mghari 2007, Sadiqi 2007, Hamdouch and Khachani 2004). Another open debate concerns the importance of remittances and the role of international migration on the development of the country of origin (Haffad 2006, Hamdouch and Khachani 2004). However, there are few works interested in the family left behind. The paucity of studies on this theme can be explained by a lack of suitable data. Therefore, there is a pressing need to raise research interests on this question.

The goal of this presentation is to contribute to this literature. We try to analyze the situation of children left behind: “a child lives with one of his parents, while the other parent lives abroad”. Our paper will be structured around two broad themes. The first concerns the link between migrants and their families remaining in their country of origin. The second theme focuses on the education attendance of the children left behind. We will try to examine the effects of a mother’s or father’s absence on the school attendance of their children.

Our methodology is based on comparative analyses between male and female and between children of migrants and those of non-migrants. We developed a descriptive analysis using individual data from census 2004 and from the MIREM survey conducted in 2006 by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.