Exploring the Link between Moldovan Communities Abroad ... - Iom

RemittancesThe issue of remittances, like that of trafficking, is one that has generated a considerableamount of research and popular attention. Despite the centrality of these two issues to theMoldovan migrant experience, they are beyond the purview of this research. To be sure,much has been written about the economic scope of the remittances of Moldovanmigrants and their implications for the Moldovan economy. It has also been widelylamented that while remittances to Moldova constitute a significant portion of the GNP,they are almost never channeled beyond personal consumption, for example into schemesfor economic development (i.e. micro-financing).What is important to mention here is the symbolic significance attached to the issue ofremittances by migrants and by official Moldova. Remittances are, after all, the principlemeans through which Moldovan migrants express their enduring link to Moldova, albeitfocused chiefly on family members. In our discussions with migrants, remittances areoften interpreted as, among other things, their contribution to the economic well being ofMoldova. At the same time, many argue that these same remittances arouse moreempathy and interest in Moldovan government quarters than do migrants themselves.Many spoke of a government that is at best indifferent to the plight of migrants andworse, outright callous. In sharp contrast to the very considerable sums of money flowinginto Moldova in the form of remittances, funds at the disposal of the Moldovangovernment are, by all accounts, rather paltry. Thus, its extremely limited economicwherewithal makes any kind of meaningful, sustained government intervention on behalfof migrants unlikely – even in the event that such political will actually existed.One contribution this research can ideally make is to introduce into the ongoing discourseon contemporary migration the symbolic significance of remittances and related issues.Indeed, its symbolic import must not be underestimated, for when contemplating themulti-layered dynamic between migrant community/diaspora and homeland, subjectivedimensions such as identity, sense of belonging and perceived sensitivity are very muchintertwined with the more structural factors of remittances, OCV, patterns ofcommunication, travel, etc.Perception of the Moldovan identity among migrantsInterestingly, some of the Moldovans surveyed expressed an unmistakable ambivalencewith regard to Romania and Romanians. One municipal official in Rome noted thatMoldovan males, working primarily in construction, often prefer to present themselves asRomanians. The explanation offered was that "Romanian" nationality resonates moreamong Italians than does that of Moldova. This was substantiated in the observations ofa doctor in Bologna whose patients included many migrants. "Moldovans often introducethemselves as Romanians, assuming few [Italians] know where Moldova is".While most of those interviewed unhesitatingly identified themselves and the languagethey speak as "Moldovan", there was a minority opinion expressed, according to whichthe distinction between "Moldovan" and "Romanian" was largely false and stemmedfrom either ignorance or political considerations. In the words of one of the interviewees,"I see myself as a Romanian who was born and raised inside Moldova. I speak Romanian– I don’t refer to this as 'Moldovan'… I think that many Moldovans don’t really know17