Marriage Choices and Traditions among the Sri Lankan Migrant Workers in Bahrain

Abstract

Family and marriage in Sri Lanka have endured far-reaching changes in recent decades. Starting with the migration from Sri Lanka, particularly after the 1970s, is one of the contributing factors in such family changes. Given that Sri Lanka has been giving greater importance to family and marriage, the present paper attempts to investigate changes in marriage choices, traditions, and marital relationships due to migration. The qualitative research method was utilized, compiling data through semi-structured interviews with thirty Sri Lankan migrant families using a purposive sampling technique, which was analyzed on a thematic basis. Based on the findings, migration was the cause of change in marital choice and traditions since migrants become economically independent and cherish new cultures. The marriage contracts and couple matching among migrant workers had not been spelt out their ancient traditions of Sri Lanka, which leaned more toward love matches. The study has identified the women who migrated as housemaids had formed families with Pakistani and Indian migrant workers, even accepting religious exogamy after arriving in Bahrain based on self-desire. These migrants concealed their personal choice and married without their parent’s concerns and presence. The present study identified that wedlock without proper documents caused their children to be undocumented. Furthermore, the current study revealed that migrant workers who married other nationalities failed to establish fruitful families as their lives ended in divorce due to the lack of knowledge about marital partners and cohesive relationships with them. These findings are significant because of the dearth of literature on marriage migration among Middle Eastern migrants and the range of post-marriage challenges that migrants face in that particular destination. The information explored enriches the literature with a new sociological and empirical study.