Tonga’s economy depends on cross-border travel opportunities [1]
Saturday, May 15, 2021 - 17:01. Updated on Saturday, May 15, 2021 - 17:10.
By Pesi Fonua
Outward migration and growth in remittances are essential for the sustainable development of Tonga, concludes the first national ‘Migration and Sustainable Development Policy’, launched by the Prime Minister on April 28.
The new policy, two-years in the making, was passed by Cabinet in November 2020. However, its directions remain conflicted by the Health Emergency border restrictions.
The ongoing border restrictions were obviously not part of the reckoning, because of the fact that a great number of migrant workers who leave Tonga have to come home in equally-great numbers. But Tonga has bolted its door to keep out COVID-19.
For over a year, travel to Tonga has been effectively impossible for a majority of ordinary people, with the health emergency disrupting an essential migration flow at a time when the new migration policy underscores the country’s dependence on remittances and urges better management of migration opportunities.
It’s clear that very little of what the groundbreaking policy seeks to implement can be achieved without opening up better-managed cross-border travel opportunities.
Until Tongan citizens are granted the certainty of a confirmed seat home, or at least an alloted number in a transparent queue, they cannot entertain the risk of leaving Tonga. The opportunities the new policy seeks to facilitate may remain largely out of reach for all but a chosen few for a very long time.
Dependence on remittances
The ‘Migration and Sustainable Development Policy’ and its Roadmap for implementation notes that Tonga is ranked fourth in the world among the countries most dependent on remittances.
An estimated 126,540 Tongan diaspora who have left Tonga, outnumber the current population of 100,651, and remittances from diaspora working overseas are a major foreign exchange earner for the small economy, amounting to nearly a third of Tonga's GDP.
Within the first six months of 2018 (from January through June), remittances reached a new record high, when $344.7 million pa'anga was received through official channels, according to the Reserve Bank. The amount is even higher when cash and goods sent through informal channels are considered.
“One significant consequence of Tonga's proportionally large diaspora population is the high level of remittances flowing into the Kingdom,” the policy states.
In 2015, remittances comprised 27.9% of Tonga’s Gross Domestic Product GDP. By comparison in 2015, 18% of Samoa’s GDP came from remittances, and 14% for the Marshall Islands.
Over 90% of remittances destined for Tonga originate from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, where census data estimated the combined diaspora at 126,540.
Nearly all remittances entering Tonga (89.8%), are private transfers sent to relatives and friends.
In 2017, the NRBT reported that Tonga received a total of $300.9 million pa'anga, flowing through official channels. This sum represents an 11% increase from the previous year. This amount had been exceeded in the first six months of 2018.
A key aim of the policy is to improve data collection while making it more current to help decision-making and planning processes.
Adaption strategy
The policy documents were developed by a Technical Working Group in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over the last two years.
The IOM Pacific Strategy stresses that migrants and communities in the Pacific benefit from migration as a sustainable development and climate change adaptation strategy. It aims to link good governance of international and domestic migration to development planning.
The new policy also warns that alongside development opportunities, there are negative consequences of this great migration, and it needs to be well managed. It considers broader social issues, including people trafficking, and aims to learn more about the composition of the diaspora and long term departures.
The strategies will consider both external and internal migration, and forced migration due to environmental loss and unequal economic opportunities.
At a time when the Pacific Islands face increasing existential threats from climate change and other disasters, the role of migration and remittances in all contexts is being linked to government decision making and planning.
The PM said the government would endeavor to mainstream and implement the policy, “by fostering foreign relations at national, bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels.”
He said the prime objective of the policy is “for Tonga to have a system of public policy planning framework, enabling it to derive maximum developmental benefits from the nexus between migration and sustainable development.”
Aims to be more organised and productive
The Implementation Road Map spells out a need for Tonga to establish a new unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to manage migration and development issues.
It also calls for the establishment of a permanent working group on migration and sustainable development, and for annual reporting to parliament on those issues.
The objective is for “a substantially more organised and productive platform for dialogue and development action between the Tonga Government and community and the Tongan diaspora.”
It suggests that, “Migrant remittances have a tremendous potential to be invested successfully for economic growth. In particular, the establishment of small and medium sized enterprises and micro enterprises.”
Working group to be formed in July 2021
Meanwhile, Leonaitasi Kuluni for the Secretary for Foreign Affairs told Matangi Tonga Online that the establishment of the Foreign Affairs Unit for Migration and Sustainable Development Policy and the permanent working group would be formed following the introduction of the 2021-2022 National Budget at the beginning of July 2021.
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Commentary co-authored by Mary Lyn Fonua.