How Did We Get Here?
The diaspora was created mostly by economic migrants who moved away for better paid work, to then send economic assistance to families in the Philippines through a process of remittances.
Remittances are a staple of the economy of the Philippines making up around 10% of GDP (around 30 billion US dollars). However, the Philippines does have other sources of income.
Does this make the diasporas work less important? No. Not at all. Remittances are continuous and stable and aren't seasonal like the tourist industry or agriculture. Remittances help the economy by being stable.
What's the End Goal?
The goal of the diaspora created from this is not necessarily focused on one day returning ‘home’. Although a lot of thought is put into reintegrating returning Overseas Workers, by and large, migrants tend to stay in their new host nations.
‘Remigration’ factors are similar to the conditions that influenced migration in the first place, and so those who successfully situate themselves into another nation tend to remain as part of the diaspora.
This is proven by the people of the Filipinos of the UK series, such as Trinidad Ramsoondar, who stayed in the UK to raise a family and have a meaningful career.
The diaspora is not a fleeting thing, it's here to stay.
Why Does it Need our Attention?
Diasporas, by their nature, become isolated in terms of representation as they are minorities within a country. As a result of this, diasporas become neglected and treated in a different way than other members of the state and become targets of racism from the wider community.
This can be seen as an obstacle facing the Filipino diaspora within the UK.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic, It came to light that a high percentage of Filipino health workers were dying, as a result of a lack of PPE, compared to other ethnic groups. Southeast Asians were 20% more likely to die after being admitted to hospitals as well which furthered the idea of mistreatment of the diaspora.
Whilst the lack of good PPE was a big issue for many key workers during the pandemic, disproportionately affected members of the Filipino Diaspora.
Currently, there are over 25,000 Filipinos working within the NHS (the 3rd largest distinct nationality).
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) noted that Filipino nurses felt privileged to work in the UK, and so were unwilling to speak up out of a 'sense of guilt' or 'sense of obligation' to do whatever was asked of them - despite the risks posed to them and despite how they had been neglected.
Fear in addition to the idea they were being neglected and had no one to voice their concerns to lead to great pressure on key workers' mental health as well as physical security.
As well as representational issues, there are also social obstacles that have arisen within the diaspora.
The Philippines is a diverse place. Naturally, therefore, the Filipino diaspora is also equally diverse. This has led to the problem of people excluding others from the diaspora on account of them not being “proper Filipinos”. And subsequently to the isolation of some who might have Filipino heritage, but do not want to interact with the diaspora, on the account of feeling as if they are detached from the community.
Bibliography
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Borgne, E. (2009). Remittances and the Philippines’ economy: the elephant in the room. [online] blogs.worldbank.org. Available at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/remittances-and-the-philippines-economy-the-elephant-in-the-room.
Ignacio, E. (). Building diaspora : Filipino community formation on the Internet. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
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Ford, M. (2020). High death rates among Filipino nurses in UK now on global radar. [online] Nursing Times. Available at: https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/coronavirus/high-death-rates-among-filipino-nurses-in-uk-now-on-global-radar-05-06-2020/
Commonwealth Office, F. and (2011). The South-East Asia Diaspora in the UK. [online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/384758/SE_Asia_II__2_.pdf.
Baker, C. (2021). NHS staff from overseas: statistics. commonslibrary.parliament.uk. [online] Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7783/.
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