migration

One in five Pacific Islanders would move to Australia under new migration proposal

The proposal, from international policy think-tank the Lowy Institute, was prompted by what it describes as a “bleak” economic outlook for the region and a call from Malcolm Turnbull for a “step change” in engagement.

It also includes a more modest suggestion in which Australia attracts around 3000 Pacific Islanders per year to work permanently to deliver more benefits to the region by 2040 than the current aid program.

Jonathan Pryke, one of the report’s authors, said there was a “real need for change in the way we engage with the Pacific”.

More Pacific people opt to migrate due to climate change

It's the first and largest survey of its kind to be done in the Pacific by the United Nations University, and the results were released at the margins of the UN's 21st Conference of the Parties currently underway in Paris. A total of 6,852 individuals in the three islands participated in the study, who represented 852 households in Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu.