The Comparative Study of the Influences of International labour Migration in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the influences caused by the International labour migration imposed on the institution of the family. After introducing the open economy in 1977 in Sri Lanka a large number consisting of both men and women migrated to take up jobs in the Middle East, on the other hand the numbers migrating to Italy in search of employment also increased. Labour migration as migrant worker is someone who leaves one geographical location to another with the intention of supplying labour for wages. The aim of the study is the examination of what problems and situations had to be faced by the labour migratory Sri Lankan family. It was mothers who were mostly induced by the Middle East, but it was the Italian labour migration that attracted the males. Within this background the research problem in this study was, What is the impact of parents in migratory foreign employment to the functions of the family institution? The hypothesis was “families of parents engaged in foreign employment are faced with more negative links than positive links. Both Survey method and the Case Study method were utilized. Data was assimilated by Interviews, Questionnaire and Observation method. Finally it can be stated that the results of foreign employment have brought much more social disruption than social benefits.