Table of Contents
For many Pacific Islanders, migration is a positive opportunity for individuals to obtain higher standards of living and material possessions not available in their homelands. Pacific states, like many small countries, have come to depend increasingly upon larger metropolitan states such as New Zealand. However, this chapter shows that the consequences of individual migration decisions invariably impact upon the state of Niue, a small Pacific Island state known by its people as ‘the rock of Polynesia’. Niue is one of the most extreme cases of depopulation in the Pacific region, in fact there are more Niueans living abroad, mainly in New Zealand, than on Niue. There are now real questions about whether a state with such a small population is economically and socially viable.
This chapter provides an outline of the effects of transnationalism on Niue and the Niueans who have settled in New Zealand. The reasons why Niueans have migrated in large numbers overseas especially to New Zealand is discussed, and the chapter also examines a number of key strategies currently being implemented in Niue to encourage Niueans abroad to return to their homeland.