Patterns of Migration in the South Pacific: The Case of Tuvalu 1945-2021

Christopher Evans

doi:10.25907/00152

This thesis presents a study of human migration within and from the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu in the period from 1945 to 2021. It demonstrates the great importance of migration in the lives of the people of Tuvalu, and examines the evolving patterns and drivers of human movement within and from that country. These are analysed against the wider background of migration on both a global scale and within the Pacific region. The study sets the evolution of Tuvaluan migration within the context of the country’s colonial and post-colonial history and physical geography, showing how each has contributed to the changing patterns of population movement, both within Tuvalu and beyond. Variations since 1945 in the patterns of overseas migration for employment are analysed, and related to such significant events as the establishment of the colonial headquarters at Tarawa (in the Gilbert Islands) in 1946, and the separation of Tuvalu (then the Ellice Islands) from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony in 1975. More recently, the development of seasonal employment schemes by both Australia and New Zealand is shown to have marked a fundamental change in overseas migration by Tuvaluans, as the older-established work opportunities, such as seafaring and phosphate-mining, have declined or disappeared entirely. By contrast, although their relative importance has varied, the main pathways of internal migration between Tuvalu’s nine islands are shown to have altered much less than international movements during the period of interest. The continuing urbanisation of Tuvalu’s population since 1945 is demonstrated to have resulted not only in a progressive increase in the proportion of Tuvalu’s people living on the capital island, but also in an absolute decline in the population of some of the outer islands. In particular, the annual migration of pupils to Tuvalu’s only boarding high school on Vaitupu Island is shown to have significant effects on both the structure and distribution of the country’s population. Existing literature on Tuvaluan migration tends to concentrate on the macro level, discussing the overall picture of general large-scale movements of population, while giving little consideration to the micro level. This thesis therefore seeks to fill in the detail within the main framework of population movement, by showing the human face of migration. It emphasises that migrants are not simply units in a statistical table, but a great variety of human individuals, each with their own emotions, ambitions and motives. The effects of migration on the individual migrant, their family at home, and their particular island community are illustrated and discussed. In particular, it is argued that financial gains resulting from migration for work or education are achieved only at the cost of considerable emotional stress arising from the long-term separation of loved ones. The author’s own impressions and experiences whilst living for three years among 1250 islanders on a remote outer island of the Tuvalu group are used as illustration of the effect of migration at the micro level. The intention of this is to add to the impact and originality of the study by describing actual individual migration situations, but such material is presented with the important caveat that it represents the reactions at that time (1980-1983) of an outside observer from a very different cultural background. Finally, this thesis seeks to trace the progress of the COVID-19 global pandemic in so far as it has affected Tuvalu since March 2020. This significant event immediately transformed the migration situation for Tuvalu at both internal and international levels, and seems likely also to have a major impact in the medium to long-term. Although the situation is still (August 2021) changing almost daily, every effort has been made to keep abreast of developments, and to trace their continuing effects on migration within and from Tuvalu.

Patterns of Migration in the South Pacific: The Case of Tuvalu 1945-2021

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