ABSTRACT
Underlying most migration moves are substantial differences in development between places within and beyond the Pacifi c region. Centred on economic circumstances, but strongly infl uenced by a constellation of social, political and cultural factors, the migration rationale of SHWs in the Pacifi c varies only subtly between states and social groups. Where migration has been common in the recent past it is simply expected that others will avail themselves of the same opportunities. Indeed SHWs are as sensitive as any others about their rights to be mobile, as noted by Kuini Lutua of the FNA (Chapter 3). Migration poses no technical problems where islanders are also citizens of metropolitan states, as are Niueans, Cook Islanders and effectively most Micronesians, and is much more fl uid there. But increasingly, as dual ‘cultures of migration’ are consolidated, migration has become more widely normative.
