The Influence of International Labour Migration on the Family Institution in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a major migrating country in Asia, with a high proportion of female labour migrants employed as domestic housemaids in the middle East. Although Sri Lanka labour migration can be seen as two streams i.e Skilled, and Unskilled, When viewed in the historical context. It is evident that since the first half of 1980,a heavy and extensively large flow of unskilled labour was in progress, especially to the oil-rich middle eastern countries. This trend was a direct result of the disintegration of the rural agricultural economy. Its dependency on land was the foremost challenge that was detrimental to the Agro social system. As a result, the female labour marked in the present social strata flourished and became profitable and popular. In this context migration of mothers as unskilled labours was common and foremost. in addition to the middle eastern countries, there are other certain prominently noticeable areas in Sri Lnka that can be recognized as supplying a stream of migrant labour notably to Italy. Though mothers seem to prefer catering their labour to the middle east, Italy had turned out to be more attractive to their counterpart – the fathers. When a mother of a family migrate to the middle east, the general tendency of her children, left behind, seems to face various setbacks as socio economic problems ,While she has the risk of physical and sexual harassment by her employers. But in the situation of a father migrating to Italy, the family becomes affluent as a result of which the morality of the family is at stake as mother and children face the tendency to be attracted to anti-social and immoral activities – creating a situation to the institution of the family