Skip to main content
Rebordering Britain & Britons after Brexit

Making Money, Missing Home: Reflections on Timorese Informal Labour Migration to Britain

Abstract

In the two decades of economic recovery in post-Independence Timor-Leste (2002-2022), there has been a growing interest and commitment, especially among young people, to pursue temporary and circular labour migration. In this paper I draw on a survey of returned Fataluku-speaking labour migrants who have spent varying periods of time working in the UK (Britain) and reflect on their experiences and the benefits or otherwise that have resulted from these efforts. The survey was undertaken in late 2019, just before the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The subsequent lockdown and border closures marked the effective end of this remarkable, two-decade long, informal Timorese circular labour migration to the UK. A post-Covid landscape may yet see a lively resumption of this livelihood pathway, but it will do so in the uncertain terrain of a post-Brexit landscape in the UK and the prospects of new labour migration options available closer to home in Australia under the Seasonal Workers Program and Pacific Labour Schemes (PLS).

You might also be interested in :

On Brexit Worries: Migration and remittance landscapes in Timor-Leste
This chapter explores the characteristics and impacts of the unexpected and spontaneous East Timorese labour migration flow to Western Europe. It focuses on Fataluku migrants and their households of origin in Dili and home district of Lautem.

Journal

ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Author

Andrew McWilliam (Australia)

Article meta

Country / region covered

Population studied

Year of Publication

Source type