Present generation of migrants are young people

MANY young people are now migrating to join their parents working and living abroad.

According to Fr. Edwin Corros, CS, executive secretary of Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), the exodus of young generation of migrants is a current trend in migration.

European countries which host a vast number of overseas Filipino workers have a migration policy of family unification that allows children of migrant workers to come and live with their parents.

A policy which the Catholic Church encourages in a bid to keep families united.
However, a host of family problems have also arisen out of the situation.

Corros said parents tend to be over protective of their children, an action young people resent.

“The parent(s) maybe absent in their children’s lives ten or fifteen years, and all of a sudden [they] impose restrictions. It is actually a culture shock for the children and vice-versa,” Corros said.

Aside from the shock of having parents around to check on their activities, the children also had to struggle to adjust to a different culture and learn a different language.

“They are exposed to a culture that is not welcoming to them because of the language barrier. [In] school they also suffer discrimination because their classmates look down on them because they can’t speak the language,” said Corros.

According to Corros the said phenomenon is a challenge to the Church to respond to the needs of these young migrants.

“The challenge to the Church is to look after the young arrivals. That’s why the message of the Holy Father is to accompany them,” he said.

In his message on the 2008 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the Holy Father pointed out the reality of a clash in culture between parents steeped in traditional ways and children who have imbibed the lifestyle of the host country.

“It is necessary to aim first of all at support for the family and schools. In families, the traditional roles that existed in the countries of origin have broken down, and a clash is often seen between parents still tied to their culture and children quickly acculturated in the new social contexts,” said the Holy Father.

Corros also mentioned the tendency of some parents to send their children back home when the children have already become acculturated to a new lifestyle.

“There is also a trend that migrants are sending their children back to the Philippines, because they do not want [them] to absorb the negative values of the host country,” he said.

Asked what the Commission is doing in response to this concern, Corros said some dioceses have implemented a program designed to help children of migrants. Called Sons and Daughters of OFWs the program is centered on value formation and guidance counseling. It has been adapted by some Catholic schools in the dioceses where migrants’ ministry is most active.

The National Migrants Sunday celebration on February 10 aims to create public awareness on this phenomenon by adopting the theme “Show Concern to the young generation of migrants,” looking in particular into the situation of young migrants in their host country.

ECMI said there is no exact information on the number of young migrants joining their parents abroad but statistics state that the migrating population is young, 20-39 years old.

Migration facts and figures estimate 8.09 million Filipinos are currently living and working overseas.