Why do pacific islanders migrate to australia

See here for details. From a policy point of view, Australia, via its visa-free travel agreement with New Zealand, is providing preferential migration treatment for Samoa.

Many more Fijians migrate to New Zealand through skilled pathways: they presumably do well in NZ, and so the economic imperative to uproot again is weaker. Tongans, like Samoans, migrate to New Zealand using mainly unskilled visas, but fewer Tongans migrate to New Zealand and, for whatever reason, a lower share make the onward journey to Australia.

Figure 6: Migration from the Pacific to Australia, average for Source: Australian Department of Home Affairs. Figure 6 also makes it clear that the New Zealand pathway is the dominant migration route for Pacific islanders coming to Australia. Only Fiji has significant numbers coming to Australia outside of the NZ pathway.

The countries that have preferential or open access to New Zealand are to be congratulated for taking advantage of it. It does seem though that Australia has outsourced its Pacific migration policy to New Zealand. This is the second blog in a two-part series, read the first post here.

See p. The average number of family and skilled employment permanent resident visas granted by Australia between and is derived from information from data from the Australian Department of Home Affairs. These data are used in Figure 4, and count only those born in Samoa. It seems to us that climate change might provide such unusual circumstances as to give rise to open access.

Howes said it was important to have a pathway to permanent migration for Pacific Islanders coming to Australia and New Zealand so they could form diasporas that could assist later generations of migrants. Open access migration for all Pacific Islanders has been proposed by a number of Australian thinktanks as a more effective mechanism than aid for lifting struggling Pacific states out of poverty.

In March the Menzies Research Centre said Australia had been slow to realise the potential of the Pacific and suggested Australia create two dedicated visa categories for Pacific Island workers — a skilled visa and a labour exchange visa for unskilled work in a variety of seasonal industries.

They are sectors with jobs that workers from the Pacific are potentially well-suited to fill. Launching the Menzies Research Centre report, the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, said Australia had a substantial aid program in the region, focused on infrastructure, health, education, security and defence.

Australia has run a seasonal workers program since — which has attracted some criticism over worker exploitation — and, since last year, a Pacific microstates-northern Australia worker pilot, which provides multi-year visas for up to workers from Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru.

As of end, refugees and 2, asylum seekers originated from Fiji associated with the coup of , while refugees and asylum seekers originated from Papua New Guinea.

The islands of the Pacific Ocean were settled later in waves moving from west to east around 3, years ago Lee, Inter-island migration and trade was a feature of the pre-colonial Pacific communities Choo, The only country to resist colonial appropriation was Tonga, which remained self-governing throughout Lee, Colonization instigated new waves of migration to the region, kicked off by missionaries and traders Matsuda, In this period, British colonialists also brought substantial numbers of indentured labourers from India to Fiji Lal, Current immigration trends.

The country has maintained a large immigration programme over many decades, recruiting migrants to tackle population concerns and address labour shortages since the end of World War II Richards, As a result, 30 per cent of the 25 million residents of Australia — or 7. While they now represent every country in the world, the main countries of origin are: the United Kingdom 1. New Zealand is the second major destination for migrants to the region.

Over 22 per cent of its population — more than 1 million of its 4. At mid-year , it hosted sizeable numbers of migrants from the United Kingdom , , China 95, , India 71, , Australia 66, , and South Africa 57, ibid. The remaining 75, migrants in the region are dispersed across the Pacific Island countries. Almost half of these live in Papua New Guinea including 13, Indonesians, 9, Australians and 1, New Zealanders , and another 14, migrants live in Fiji ibid.

Migration is key to the region's economy. Migration is integral to the economy of Oceania. The ageing populations of some countries rely on migrants to maintain the relative proportion of working-age adults, to counter the departure of citizens, and to compensate for low birth rates that fall below population replacement levels Australian Government Productivity Commission, ; Carrington et al.

International education is a significant industry for both Australia worth AUD The region is also reliant on a strong tourism industry, with some countries experiencing bursts of tourist arrivals that far outnumber resident populations.

These large numbers place particular demands on migration authorities, many of which are operating with modest human and financial capital. Meanwhile, as noted earlier, remittances make a substantial contribution to the economies of several Pacific Island nations. Seasonal labour schemes. Australia and New Zealand offer seasonal labour schemes that enable short- to medium-term migration to fill labour shortages in industries with seasonal demand Brickenstein, Australia offers two such labour schemes.

The Seasonal Worker Programme enables agricultural and accommodation companies in particular regions to recruit labourers from nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste to work for up to nine months over an 11 month period. Since , it has filled over 30, jobs. The complementary Pacific Labour Scheme , launched in , enables approved employers from a wide range of industries to recruit semi-skilled workers from 10 Pacific countries to migrate to Australia for up to three years.

The AUD COVID border closures have caused labour shortages which pose a serious risk for horticultural production Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, In New Zealand, the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme allows the horticulture and viticulture industries to recruit workers from Pacific Island nations for seasonal work.

Workers can stay in New Zealand for up to seven months. Implemented in , as of it is capped at 14, places annually. Australia has a national asylum system in place to determine whether people claiming asylum are refugees and are owed protection UNHCR, n. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs n. Between , over 4, people were transferred under these arrangements including children Australian Border Force, b.

As at 30 September , refugees, 23 asylum seekers, and 60 refused claimants remained in the community in Nauru or Papua New Guinea, while refugees had been resettled to third countries Australia Department of Home Affairs, c.

In addition, as of March , 1, were in Australia as transitory persons under medical treatment provisions Australian Senate, The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division publishes data on international migration including the international migrant stock for all countries including demographics, origin and destination, and net migration , analyses of key trends, and some analysis of relevant policies.

Its regional definition of Oceania includes nine territories not included here. Data is available for all countries, with capacity to segment based on protection status, demographics, and geography.

It does not focus on migration, but includes population and visitor arrivals, which are collated in the Pacific Data Hub. Meanwhile, the Border Crossing Observatory provides a database on deaths at the Australian border. Migration data in Australia and New Zealand is comprehensive and timely, with data continuously collected at border processing points and triangulated against current and historical census data.