Migration is quickly becoming an important economic sector for Pacific Island countries apart from tourism and fishing, according to the latest Pacific Economic Update released in Suva this week.
Titled: Recovering in the Midst of Uncertainty, the report included a special focus on: Harnessing the Benefits of Pacific Migration, based on a survey of over 2000 workers from Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu.
“Alongside the natural resource (particularly fishing) and tourism sectors, international labour mobility has been one of the most important income sources for Pacific countries, especially during the pandemic. Remittances finance essential household consumption and strengthen financial resilience in times of income shocks,” the report said.
“Labour migration also enhances knowledge transfers and can be complementary to skills enhancement.”
Labour migration from the Pacific to the more developed economies had intensified in recent times with the opening up of Australia and New Zealand through their respective workers’ schemes that have increasingly become more accommodative to semi-skilled and low-skilled workers from the Pacific region.
“In 1950, there were fewer than 15,000 Pacific-born migrants in developed countries. By 2020, there were approximately 460,000 Pacific- born migrants residing in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Nearly all the Pacific diaspora is situated in three countries: Australia (about 38 percent), New Zealand (about 34 percent), and the United States (about 27 percent),” the report said.
“While there are challenges with labour migration, on balance it offers significant benefits to those involved, the broader community, and the entire Pacific.”
The report recommended that fully maximisation the economic benefit of migration requires appropriate skills investment, inclusivity in access to migration pathways, protection of migrants’ welfare in host countries and management of migrants’ return and reintegration.
