TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘If you don't migrate, you're a nobody’
T2 - migration recruitment networks and experiences of Nepalese farm workers in Portugal
AU - Pereira, Cláudia
AU - Pereira, Alexandra
AU - Budal, Aashima
AU - Dahal, Sanjeev
AU - Daniel-Wrabetz, Joana
AU - Meshelemiah, Jacquelyn
AU - Carvalho, João
AU - Ramos, Manuel João
AU - Carmo, Renato Miguel
AU - Pires, Rui Pena
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund through the Alto Comissariado para as Migrações ( National High Commissioner for Migration ). The research was carried out in the Entrepreneurship Centre, AUDAX -IUL (grant number PT/2017/FAMI/158 ). The revision of this text was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the Strategic Financing of the R&D Unit UID/SOC/03126/2019 , of the research centre CIES -IUL.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund through the Alto Comissariado para as Migra??es (National High Commissioner for Migration). The research was carried out in the Entrepreneurship Centre, AUDAX-IUL (grant number PT/2017/FAMI/158). The revision of this text was funded by the Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia through the Strategic Financing of the R&D Unit UID/SOC/03126/2019, of the research centre CIES-IUL.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - This paper analyses the networks, experiences and aspirations of Nepalese workers in Southern Portugal's farms and greenhouses. The main research objective is to analyse how recruitment networks, which supported the move of Nepalese to Portugal, were established and have rapidly consolidated. These networks impacted not only the increase of irregular migration flows but also the migration experience and vulnerability in the country of destination, including the passive acceptance of a certain degree of exploitation. By highlighting the perspective of the migrants themselves, we examine the impact on their lives, both of the migration experience and of paying large sums to smugglers, usually obtained through indebtment, to enter Portugal. We relate this impact to a context of immigration where the existence of a large informal labour market facilitates these workers being hired as irregular migrants. The study employed secondary data, in-depth interviews and participant observation. As well as migrants, greenhouse owners and recruiters were also interviewed for the study. The main finding is that the disposition of Nepalese to migrate, in which the pressure of the family plays a key role, tends to be reinforced by the action of the networks of recruiting agents. Secondly, the costs of migration and labour exploitation tend to be accepted by the migrants as a way to fulfil their social aspirations and economic necessities.
AB - This paper analyses the networks, experiences and aspirations of Nepalese workers in Southern Portugal's farms and greenhouses. The main research objective is to analyse how recruitment networks, which supported the move of Nepalese to Portugal, were established and have rapidly consolidated. These networks impacted not only the increase of irregular migration flows but also the migration experience and vulnerability in the country of destination, including the passive acceptance of a certain degree of exploitation. By highlighting the perspective of the migrants themselves, we examine the impact on their lives, both of the migration experience and of paying large sums to smugglers, usually obtained through indebtment, to enter Portugal. We relate this impact to a context of immigration where the existence of a large informal labour market facilitates these workers being hired as irregular migrants. The study employed secondary data, in-depth interviews and participant observation. As well as migrants, greenhouse owners and recruiters were also interviewed for the study. The main finding is that the disposition of Nepalese to migrate, in which the pressure of the family plays a key role, tends to be reinforced by the action of the networks of recruiting agents. Secondly, the costs of migration and labour exploitation tend to be accepted by the migrants as a way to fulfil their social aspirations and economic necessities.
KW - Migration and agriculture
KW - Nepalese
KW - Networks
KW - Portugal
KW - Recruitment
KW - Undocumented migrants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106234505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.04.019
DO - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.04.019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85106234505
SN - 0743-0167
VL - 88
SP - 500
EP - 509
JO - Journal of Rural Studies
JF - Journal of Rural Studies
ER -