Ties with those abroad fuel overseas migration

A survey done by Gallup Poll said international connections by would-be overseas migrants fan their desires to go abroad. Gallup’s data affirmed the established theory by migration scholars that “transnational social networks," or friends and family members abroad, pull people in origin countries to go overseas. Adults who could rely on help from friends and family in other countries were nearly three times more likely to say they would like to migrate (30 percent) than those who do not have these types of networks (11 percent). Regardless of whether a country’s development is high or low, Gallup said people with links to family or friends abroad are more likely to want to move permanently to another country. Gallup surveys conducted in 2010 also revealed that adults who receive help from abroad “in reality" — via remittances — were also more likely to find the idea of moving to another country desirable. Among households receiving overseas remittances, 36 percent of them said they would like to relocate permanently, while 12 percent of those remittance non-recipients would like to move to another country. These figures are based on Gallup’s interviews with 401,490 adults in 146 countries between 2008 and 2010 (of which these 146 countries represent more than 93 percent of the world’s adult population). Gallup’s respondents were as follows: urban sample of 1,000 respondents with the survey administered in Tagalog and done face-to-face (2008); another 1,000 respondents with the survey administered in Tagalog, Iluko, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Maguindanaoan, Bicolano, and Waray (2009); and another 1,000 administered in the same languages as the 2009 round, plus Maranao (2010). “Social support networks continue to play an important role in the migration process, from pre-departure to arrival and, ultimately, to integration. These family, friends, and community networks are a key influencer of people’s desire to migrate — one that cuts across socio-economic, geographical, and cultural boundaries worldwide," Gallup said. What some migration scholars referred to as network theory of migration was first formulated by renowned demographers Douglas Massey, Rafael Alarcon, Jorge Durand, and Humberto Gonzales in a 1987 book. The theory simply states that people related or not based abroad are encouraging those in origin countries to follow them in the host country. This also triggers a chain of more migration movements (what some scholars refer to as chain migration). — Jeremaiah M. Opiniano/OFW Journalism Consortium