Theoretical Analysis of Narrative of Migration - example of a Philippine immigrant to the UK.

by omzie (student)

Theoretical Analysis of Narrative of Migration

Hannah is a migrant from Philippines who came to UK in 1985. This analysis will review the original narrative of migration and determine the topics that will be examined in depth. In addition, the analysis will explore the historical and socio-cultural aspects of Philippine migration and the formation of Filipino diaspora in the UK. The concept of identity and the idea of homeland and hostland will be analysed in the context of diaspora community. Furthermore, this analysis will reflect on the issues related to cross-cultural transmission of values and identify the influence of diaspora communities in contemporary British society.

Hannah migrated to UK together with her mother and three brothers as dependents of the father who came few years earlier for employment in London. According to available data of Philippine Embassy in London (PEL), there are approximately 250,000 Filipino migrants in the UK (PEL, 2011a). However, the original narrative lacks detailed description of the Filipino diaspora in the UK to support a conclusive definition of this community. This analysis will review all available information from the narrative and other data gathered about the history of Philippine migration to UK.

The first wave of Filipino labour migration took place from 1900 to early 1940s with USA as main destination (Gonzales 1998, p.26). The second wave was from 1940s to early 1970s. After World War II, Filipino war veterans and their families, business people and specialists such as medical personnel or engineers left their devastated country and migrated to Canada, West Europe or the USA (Gonzales 1998, p.30). Political and economic instability in the Philippines at the end of the 1960s, caused by corruption as well as declaration of martial law in 1972 by President Ferdinand Marcos, influenced more decisions to migrate. It was chiefly the urban middle class who migrated primarily to the USA but European countries during the 1960s and 1970s also became destinations to Philippine migration (Gonzales 1998, p.31). The third wave of mainly temporary migrant followed the energy crisis of 1973-74. The Philippines was hard-hit by the crisis and thousands lost their jobs in the economic turmoil (Gonzales 1998, p.33). With high demand for workers by oil-exporting countries in the Gulf, the Philippine government saw an opportunity to solve the problem of unemployment (Gonzales 1996, p.301). The temporary labour migration was encouraged by the government and viewed as source of foreign exchange that would relieve the balance of payments deficits of the Philippines (Carino 1992, p.6). In 1975-1983, about 90 percent of Filipino contract workers were in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates. This changed again in the 1980s with the rise of fast-developing Asian countries such as HongKong, Taiwan and Singapore (Opiniano 2004, p.5). Instead of construction workers, there was an increased demand for domestic servants during this period with jobs mostly filled by women.

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This third wave carried the Philippine migration to Europe, especially in households and hotel business (Gonzales 1998, p.35). Hannah’s father came to the UK in the early 1980s as part of this wave. With the historical and demographic description of the Filipino diaspora in the UK, it is easy to conclude that Filipinos came and settled in UK primarily for economic reasons and therefore considered as labour diaspora (Cohen 2008, p.7, 18).

Domestic and hotel work were the most common jobs for Filipinos who came in late 70s and early 80s. However, the identity of Filipino diaspora in ...

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Domestic and hotel work were the most common jobs for Filipinos who came in late 70s and early 80s. However, the identity of Filipino diaspora in the UK is also a “production” which is never complete and always in process (Hall 1990, p.235). It started as a small number of temporary migrants with collective identity of mainly domestic and hotel workers but it evolved to a more permanent community with its members widely distributed in different sectors of society especially in healthcare.

It did not take long for Hannah’s family to settle and put roots in their new homeland (Brah 1996, p.182). They gave up their Filipino citizenship in order to become British nationals which Cantle indicates to be “more complex, with national identity supplemented, supplanted, by other identities” (Cantle, 2008, p.128). According to Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), the number of recorded Filipino permanent migrants in the UK doubled in nine years from 45,713 in year 2000 (CFO 2000a) to 91,852 in 2009 (CFO 2009a). With UK as one of the top-ten destination of Filipino migrants, the number of temporary migrants also increased from 5,450 in year 2000 (CFO 2000a) to 99,135 in 2009 (CFO 2009a). In 2007, 10,840 Filipinos gained British citizenship, the second largest number of any nation after India (Freelove 2008, p.6). This is 782 percent increase compared to only 1,385 in 2001 (Dudley 2002, p.20). As Cohen described, the trend in recent years indicate that instead of returning to homeland, initial temporary migration often transition to permanent settlement (quoting Marienstras, Cohen 2008, p.16).

The ways in which homeland is conceptualised is essential in the conception of identity (Cohen 2008, p.120). Hannah is generally identified by people from the same background and other diasporic groups as a British-Filipino. However, she is often referred by white-British people as a ‘Filipino migrant with British passport.’ This social seclusion brought some feelings of insecurity and ‘otherness’ (Hall 1990, p.395) that often leads to double consciousness (Gilroy 1993, p.127). Exposure to different cultures through centuries of colonial rule by Spanish, Americans and Japanese makes Filipinos very adaptable. Consequently, this flexibility can lead to an ‘identity crisis’ especially in a cosmopolitan city of London with lots of transcultural openings and multicultural dialogues happening alongside new divisions and old hatreds (Back 2007, p.52)

All members of Hannah’s immediate family and some relatives reside in UK. For them, there may be desire to visit Philippines but not the same thing as desire for a ‘homeland.’ (Brah 1996, p.180). However, this may not be the same case for other permanent migrants who have strong family links in the Philippines. Another distinctive of Filipino culture is their strong ties with immediate and extended families. This is usually expressed in supporting parents, education of siblings or other relatives, medical emergencies, living expenses, and many other financial-related needs in the homeland. UK is one of the top-five source countries of overseas Filipinos’ remittances to Philippines. According to Central Bank of the Philippines, Filipino migrants in the UK remitted a total of more than 2.5 billion US dollars to families in the Philippines in a period of seven years from 2000-2007 (PMSDA 2011). This validates Cohen’s description of diaspora’s sense of empathy and co-responsibility with co-ethnic members in other countries of settlement even where home has become more vestigial (Cohen 2008, p.17). In the case of Filipinos, this is best expressed through their remittances to the Philippines.

Hannah still speaks Filipino language fluently because she lived the first ten years of her childhood in Philippines. She maintains many Filipino cultural forms and practices. Strong values such as respect to elderly and those in leadership position also retained. However, this is not the case for her nephews, nieces and cousins born in the UK. For the second generation, there is struggle to retain those cultural forms and values (Cohen 2008, p.130). But it is coming back due to globalisation. Ease of travel and migration allow more travel between home and host land. In addition, internet-based communications such as emails, Skype, and Facebook are easily accessible. Internet and Satellite TVs allow families in the UK to watch Philippine TV channels anytime anywhere. Because of increased contact and participation with current events in the homeland, the opportunity to transmit values is also increasing.

In addition, there are many established Filipino groups in the UK such as The Centre for Filipinos, a Filipino advocacy and outreach charity; Lahing Kayumanggi dance company focusing on traditional Filipino dance; EA Doce Pares, a martial arts school promoting and educating the community on the Philippine warrior arts and culture; Phil-UK, a group for young and second-generation Filipinos in the UK; Philippine Generations, a second generation led non-profit organisation promoting the Philippines, its people and culture in the UK; The Philippine Centre, a charity promoting culture and community spirit; and many more.

‘Barrio Fiesta’ is a two-day annual festival held in West London, is perhaps the best known and largest gathering for the community in the UK. It is organised and run by The Philippine Centre that draws Filipino community groups and businesses from all over the UK.

Although still under-researched, Filipino migrants make an important contribution to economies of their ‘host’ land. The Philippines sends the biggest number of nurses to the UK to ease its health crisis. Filipino nurses in the UK are estimated to number 30,000 (PEL 2011b). About ten percent of Filipinos in the UK (PEP 2011a) are domestic workers and care givers with housekeeping responsibility. Their services in homes release those employers with young children from parental responsibility so that they can go back to work, thus contribute indirectly towards building the economy.

The primary objective of this analysis has been to examine the issues affecting the Filipino diaspora in the UK. Looking at the history of migration, it is clear that it is mainly a labour diaspora. The issues of dual-identity and social seclusion that can cause feelings of insecurity in diaspora communities have also been discussed. Analysis of data shows that initial temporary migration often transitions to permanent settlement. The main connection to the homeland is strong family link and it is usually expressed through remittances. Also, globalisation and established migrant groups in the UK are identified as two major vehicles of transmission of values to the next generation. Lastly, this essay explored some of the direct and indirect ways the Filipino diaspora is positively influencing the British society.

Word count: 1,610

REFERENCES

Back, L (2007) The Art of Listening. Oxford and New York : Berg Publishers

Brah, A. (1996) Cartographies of Diaspora. New York : Routledge

Cantle, T. (2008) Community Cohesion: A new Framework for Race and Diversity. Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan

Carino, B. (1992) Migrant Workers from the Philippines. Quezon City: Scalabrini Migration Center

Cohen, R. (2008) Global Diasporas: An Introduction. 2nd edn. New York : Routledge

CFO (2000a) Stock Estimates of Overseas Filipinos as of December 2000. Available at: (Accessed : 02 December 2011)

CFO (2009a) Stock Estimates of Overseas Filipinos as of December 2009. Available at: (Accessed : 02 December 2011)

Dudley, J., Hesketh, K. (2002) Persons granted British citizenship, United Kingdom, 2001. Available at: (Accessed : 01 December 2011)

Freelove, J. (2008) Persons granted British citizenship, United Kingdom, 2007. Available at: . (Accessed : 01 December 2011)

Gilroy, P. (1993) The Black Atlantic : Modernity and double-consciousness. London and New York: Verso

Gonzales, J. (1996) The Philippine Labour Diaspora. Trends, Issues and Policies. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Gonazales, J. (1998) Philippine Labour Migration. Critical Dimensions of Public Policy. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

Hall, S. (1990) Cultural Identity and Diaspora. London : Wishhart

Opiniano, Jeremiah. (2004) Our Future Beside the Exodus: Migration and Development Issues in the Philippines. Pasig City : Scalabrini Migration Center

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite Them Right. 8th edn. UK: Palgrave MacMillan.

PEP (2011a) Profile of the Filipino Community in the UK. Available at: (Accessed 01 December 2011)

PEP (2011b) Overview of Philippine-British Bilateral Relations. Available at: (Accessed 01 December 2011)

PMSDA (2011) Top-5 OFWs Remittances. Available at : (Accessed : 28 Nov 2011)

Schwalgin, S. (2004), “Why locality matters: diaspora consciousness and sedentariness in the Armenian diaspora in Greece” Kokot, W., Khachig, T. and Alfonso, C (2004) Diaspora, Identity and Religion: New Directions in Theory and Research. London and New York: Routledge.

ED 1015 Diaspora Communities in the UK

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NARRATIVE OF MIGRATION

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