Leaving Home: Yemeni Students Discuss Study Abroad Migration

Howard Lorne Martyn

doi:10.5539/ach.v11n2p38

Abstract

The decision to migrate for educational purposes is often stressful, but for those leaving countries embroiled in major warring conflicts, the decision may be overshadowed by feelings of sadness, anger and loss. And for many, the ostensible purpose of migration - education, is overshadowed by the desire or need to leave for economic and security reasons. In such situations, migrants hope they can power through those negative feelings and emerge successful, and with familial honor intact. The narrative weapon used to defeat negative feelings are stories of pride and resourcefulness. In this study Yemeni students studying at a university in Guangdong Province, China were interviewed concerning their decisions to leave Yemen. Participants were between 20 and 30 years old: all were male. Most hailed from Aden or Sana&rsquo;a or areas adjacent to those major cities and all aligned themselves with pre-1990 South Yemen, as described by their fathers. Narrative analysis revealed a striking similarity: stories of hopeful future redemption through economic opportunities found abroad. Indeed, participants revealed a consuming desire for economic success - an obligation that was energized by feelings of pride in being trusted with custodial duties of familial honor. The results are discussed qualitatively in terms of categorical content and episodic form. This study is limited in that it only includes Yemeni males aligned with pre-1990 South Yemen, and those who hail from Sana&rsquo;a, Aden or nearby urban centers. Future studies should include women, and those who encompass wider political views and reside in rural areas.

Highlights

Yemen has a long standing tradition of vibrant trade relations in the Middle East, and more recently in Europe and Asia; this has continued to the present time and provides historical underpinnings for migration
At the beginning of the last century, in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, the crushing weight of violence and poverty contributed to negotiations in a new era of trade reforms in the Middle East
Along with uncles and other elder male family members, have been the propellants pushing these students toward successfully coping with whatever adversity comes their way

Summary

Introduction

Yemen has a long standing tradition of vibrant trade relations in the Middle East, and more recently in Europe and Asia; this has continued to the present time and provides historical underpinnings for migration. Yemen stood at the edge of these trade reforms, with Aden, governed as part of British India, standing at the junctures of communication and transportation between the Suez Canal, Mumbai and Zanzibar. A new wave of technology and construction brought about through the Hejaz Railway, running from Medina to Damascus, along with the Suez Canal, facilitated trade and the spread of Yemeni culture north through the region and into Eastern Asia (Blumi, 2003). This leap into modernity engendered a deep cultural crisis

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Conclusion