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Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being
Return migration is often assumed to be a return to ‘home’ and to be the end of a migration cycle rather than another turn in that cycle. This research examines the links between return migration, transnationalism and (re)integration, among Sri Lankan-born migrants who returned to Sri Lanka. I explo...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Sociology
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613332072038400 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Laan, Rianne Sujeewa Cornelia Elisabeth |
| author2 | Pande, Amrita |
| author_browse | Laan, Rianne Sujeewa Cornelia Elisabeth Pande, Amrita |
| author_facet | Pande, Amrita Laan, Rianne Sujeewa Cornelia Elisabeth |
| author_sort | Laan, Rianne Sujeewa Cornelia Elisabeth |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Return migration is often assumed to be a return to ‘home’ and to be the end of a migration cycle rather than another turn in that cycle. This research examines the links between return migration, transnationalism and (re)integration, among Sri Lankan-born migrants who returned to Sri Lanka. I explore this among a diverse sample of 13 migrants - 7 men and 6 women - consisting of 5 returnees who resided overseas for 10 years or less and 8 returnees who resides abroad more than 10 years before they returned to Sri Lanka. The unstructured interviews were conducted in May, June and July 2014. The findings suggest that the notions of home, ways of belonging and being are experienced by these returnees in different ways. The results reveal that participants migrated at different life-stages and under different circumstances, and their migration experience highlights their transnationality. The term transnationality is used to refer to the participants’ ways of being and belonging in transnational space. According to the research findings, the study identified that (1) return migration is not as permanent as it might suggest - although the participants were firmly established in Sri Lanka, half of the participants were moving back and forth between Sri Lanka and the respective country overseas or have re-migrated to another destination and returned a second time; (2) The notions of home, belonging and being operate simultaneously where multiple attachments in varying degrees develop and change over time and space; (3) Notions of home and belonging are multidimensional; (4) Transnational ways of being are highlighted through return visits and social ties that cross borders; (5) Return visits are significant in (re)integration as social ties are (re)established which enabled participants to find their place in Sri Lanka. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13704 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:34:27.383Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Sociology |
| publisherStr | Department of Sociology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13704 Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being Laan, Rianne Sujeewa Cornelia Elisabeth Pande, Amrita Sociology Return migration is often assumed to be a return to ‘home’ and to be the end of a migration cycle rather than another turn in that cycle. This research examines the links between return migration, transnationalism and (re)integration, among Sri Lankan-born migrants who returned to Sri Lanka. I explore this among a diverse sample of 13 migrants - 7 men and 6 women - consisting of 5 returnees who resided overseas for 10 years or less and 8 returnees who resides abroad more than 10 years before they returned to Sri Lanka. The unstructured interviews were conducted in May, June and July 2014. The findings suggest that the notions of home, ways of belonging and being are experienced by these returnees in different ways. The results reveal that participants migrated at different life-stages and under different circumstances, and their migration experience highlights their transnationality. The term transnationality is used to refer to the participants’ ways of being and belonging in transnational space. According to the research findings, the study identified that (1) return migration is not as permanent as it might suggest - although the participants were firmly established in Sri Lanka, half of the participants were moving back and forth between Sri Lanka and the respective country overseas or have re-migrated to another destination and returned a second time; (2) The notions of home, belonging and being operate simultaneously where multiple attachments in varying degrees develop and change over time and space; (3) Notions of home and belonging are multidimensional; (4) Transnational ways of being are highlighted through return visits and social ties that cross borders; (5) Return visits are significant in (re)integration as social ties are (re)established which enabled participants to find their place in Sri Lanka. 2015-08-12T04:03:40Z 2015-08-12T04:03:40Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13704 eng application/pdf Department of Sociology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Sociology Laan, Rianne Sujeewa Cornelia Elisabeth Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being |
| title_full | Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being |
| title_fullStr | Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being |
| title_short | Sri Lankan diaspora returning 'home' : transnational ways of belonging and being |
| title_sort | sri lankan diaspora returning home transnational ways of belonging and being |
| topic | Sociology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13704 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laanriannesujeewacorneliaelisabeth srilankandiasporareturninghometransnationalwaysofbelongingandbeing |