Browsing by Subject "remittances"

Migration has increased exponentially since WWII. According to the World Bank in 2016, economic remittances sent from developed countries to developing countries have increased from $ 31.1 billion in 1990 to $ 441 billion in 2016. There is therefore a link between migration and economic remittances. The debate on the positive and negative effects of migration has swayed back and forth over the years. The effect of remittances on the development of a country is likewise a contested issue. Remittances can have both positive and negative impact. This thesis compares the lived experiences of Somalis in Finland with the theory of New Economics of Labour Migration theory (NELM). NELM views migration as an economic strategy of a household. The household invests in the migration of one or several members to other destinations where the migrant can work and send economic remittances to the household. The household uses migration as a strategy to overcome market restraints in the domestic economy. NELM has been criticised for being unable to account for the cause of migration when it comes to forced migration. It has also been criticised for seeing economic remittances to be the purpose of migration and for linking migration necessarily to development. Others have argued that remittances might not be the purpose of migration at the onset and migrants might not always send remittances. In this thesis, NELM has been broken down into seven assumptions that it relies on. The assumptions have been compared with the experiences Somalis in Finland where the interview questions have focused on the seven assumptions made in NELM. The empirical material have been gathered by using a semi-structured interview method. This thesis is therefore a qualitative study. To strengthen the findings a literature study of Somali history and of the academic discourse regarding the developmental effects of remittances have been included. The main conclusions of this study is that the decision to migrate is made by a household or community and not only by an individual. This is in accordance with NELM. However, the study shows that intra-household relations are an important aspect in the decision-making process. The power of deciding who can migrate and who cannot varies greatly. The empirical evidence shows that the unit of deciding and enabling a migrant’s migration varies along the flight trajectory. The decision to migrate, and the help to do so, is made jointly but not always by the same people. It also shows that when Somalis fled from Somalia as many as possible from the immediate family where enabled to leave. However, at the primary flight destination only few where enabled to migrate further according to the financial possibilities available. This thesis shows that NELM is unable to explain the cause of migration from Somalia but is able to explain the cause of migration from the primary destinations. Migrants found peace but no means of livelihood and therefore they had to migrate further. The empirical evidence shows that the purpose of migration is not to enable a migrant to send remittances but to seek safety, a new livelihood and to enhance the capabilities of the household left behind. The findings in this thesis suggest that the migrants sought to help their families in any way that they could after they arrived to Finland. Primarily, to help left-behind family members to migrate and by sending economic remittances. However, both options were not available for all the informants. Only the latter, sending remittances, was possible for all. The empirical evidence shows that all of the informants sent remittances. The purpose of migration differs from NELM but does support the view that migration is linked to development. This study suggests that the cost-benefit calculation of whether to migrate or not needs to be made visible in NELM. In addition to that, it needs to be enlarged to include an understanding of how migrants take into account the different kinds of societies that they aim for and how different types of immigration avenues grant different possibilities at these destinations. The restrictions of migration and integration are therefore crucial in understanding the choices migrants do. Furthermore, a better understanding of different types of capital needed for migration should be included in a theory that explains the link between forced migration and remittances. The thesis arrives to the same conclusions as NELM in assuming that there is an implicit family agreement of co-insurance that the migrants and the household rely on. It also arrives at the same conclusions for how remittances are used by the household and the developmental effect they have. NELM assumes that migration at large ends when there is sufficient market structures and this thesis supports that view. However, there cannot be a functioning market without peace and a functioning state. In the end, a new theory is proposed: the Economic Livelihood Migration Theory that is a further development of NELM but specifically aimed at explaining forced migration.