Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 17, Issue 3, 2015, Pages 885-894

Impact of Economic Labour Migration: A Qualitative Exploration of Left-Behind Family Member Perspectives in Sri Lanka (Article)

Siriwardhana C.* , Wickramage K. , Jayaweera K. , Adikari A. , Weerawarna S. , Van Bortel T. , Siribaddana S. , Sumathipala A.
  • a Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom, Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • b International Organization for Migration, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • c Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • d Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • e Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • f Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • g Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Department of Medicine, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale, Sri Lanka
  • h Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom, Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a major labour sending country in Asia, with a high proportion of female labour migrants employed as domestic housemaids in the Middle East with increasing remittances. Despite such financial gains for families and national economy, health and social effects on the left-behind families have had limited exploration. This qualitative study was carried out across five districts with high labour migration rates in Sri Lanka. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with participants recruited through purposive sampling. Data was analysed using content and thematic analysis and emerging themes were mapped. Pre-migration socio-economic situation, economic difficulties and higher earning possibilities abroad were considered to be the major push and pull factors for labour migration. Post-migration periods were shown to be of mixed benefit to left-behind families and children suffer the negative effects of parental absence. The absence of support mechanisms for dealing with adverse events such as serious injury, death, abuse or imprisonment were cited as major concerns. Post-migration periods affect the health, well-being and family structures of left-behind families. Promoting economic prosperity while ensuring health and social protection is a formidable policy challenge for ‘labour sending’ countries such as Sri Lanka. © 2013, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

Sri Lanka International labour migration Left-behind families Labour-sending countries

Index Keywords

male female Socioeconomic Factors Aged Emigration and Immigration Humans socioeconomics employment Sri Lanka middle aged human adult family migration
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84930086384&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-013-9951-0&partnerID=40&md5=eb4f372fd6c14db45bfad256ec2db7b3
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-013-9951-0
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 9
Original Language: English