Tourist Visa Research Articles

Overseas-born female inmates in Australia: A prison within a prison

Based on national prison census data and interviews with 56 overseas-born women in Australian prisons, the article profiles this sub-group of inmates. The overseas-born women were found to be older, more educated, and more likely to be married; they were less likely to be drug addicts or to have been in prison before. For some, particularly those arrested on tourist visas and those who migrated to Australia as adults, the prison subculture was experienced as particularly alarming and alien. This culture shock was exacerbated by a lack of multicultural policy in the prisons and by restrictions related to nonresident visa status. The effect may be that of a prison within a prison, especially for the non-English speaker.

The migrant family: subsistence strategies in Dominican families in Venezuela

This study of migration to Venezuela from the Dominican Republic used sociological and anthropological techniques to study fragmentation and regrouping of families before and after migration, family subsistence strategies, entry into the labor force, and mutual aid networks among migrants. A 44-item questionnaire was administered in 1987 to 50 heads of households born in the Dominican Republic and residing in Venezuela with their families for at least 1 year. The survey took place in metropolitan Caracas. Its findings were complemented by use of traditional participant-observation. 43 respondents were male and 7 were female. 30 were married, 1 divorced, 16 in consensual unions, and 2 widowed. Respondents' ages ranged from 26 to 57 years. 38 had resided permanently in their place of birth before migrating to Venezuela. 36 had lived in Venezuela for 5-10 years and 9 for 11-15 years. 39 stated that their principal reason for coming to Venezuela was to find employment. 36 entered on tourist visas, 11 on transient visas, and 2 with no documentation. 29 entered the country alone, 12 came with spouses, and 8 with most of their family group. Only 3 planned a future move within Venezuela. The migrants were of relatively low educational status. 16 had incomplete and 19 complete primary educations and 11 had some degree of secondary education. 41 were employed at the time of the survey, 5 were unemployed and 3 were temporarily disabled. 16.3% were vendors, 12.2% were office workers, 8.2% were transport workers, 8.2% were artisans or operators, 8.2% were in domestic service, and 12.2% were in other personal services. 22 worked in enterprises with fewer than 5 workers or were self-employed and only 6 worked in enterprises with 21 or more employees. 11 had had 3 jobs since their arrival, in Venezuela, 8 had had 4, and 25 had had 5 or more. 16 migrants had found their jobs through a direct search, 16 had obtained them through recommendations of friends or relatives, and 2 were contracted abroad. Total time spent unemployed was low. 41 stated that their current employment situation was better than that in the Dominican Republic, 4 that it was about the same, and only 1 that it was worse. 13 of the households contained some type of nuclear family, 13 contained an extended family with spouse, children, and other relatives, and 22 a compound family of some type with relatives and nonconsanguineally related persons. Organization into compound families was found to result from complex networks of assistance and reciprocity among migrants. The average time elapsed after migration by the household head until the family reformed in Venezuela was 1 or 2 years. 38 persons stated they had relatives in other parts of Caracas or elsewhere in Venezuela. There were only 6 households in which wives were not also economically active. 40 respondents reported they gave some type of assistance in money or goods to other relatives outside the household.

Occupational Hazards: Palestine Ethnography

One of the first days after I had moved to Nablus, in November 1984, I had an experience that has now become a daily routine for Israeli settlers in the West Bank. I was driving downtown, when suddenly, bam! the car shook under the impact of a heavy blow to its side. A Palestinian youth, whom I never saw, had darted out of an alley, hurled a large stone, and rapidly vanished. He only managed, luckily, to put a large dent above my gas cap and did not break the windshield, the usual goal of hurled stones. I guess he singled out my car as a target from all the others on that busy street because its yellow license plates and my appearance led him to believe I was an Israeli settler. (As the holder of a tourist visa, I had to register my car in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, so its yellow plates stood out amidst the distinctive blue-plated vehicles driven by West Bank Palestinians.) I was so shaken that I was ready to give up fieldwork and go straight home. My immediate thought was that I, of all people, should never have been stoned. After all, unlike those Westerners one saw in the West Bank-the settlers, tourists, and embassy officials-I was a foreigner, working in the best interests of the Palestinians. My response was typical of a mentality I shared with Westerners who worked as teachers, journalists, or researchers in the occupied territories and sympathized with the Palestinians. This was a frame of mind that I shared but also, in calmer moments, criticized. We good foreigners practiced constant rituals of self-purification, designed to guarantee that we-unlike the settlers, tourists, and diplomats-were part of the Palestinian community. We spoke Arabic, dressed modestly (no shorts, low-cut blouses or wild haircuts), avoided tourist haunts, rarely ventured into Israel proper and, whenever possible, purchased Palestinian rather than Israeli products. We were often more obsessive about these latter practices than our Palestinian friends. My point is not that these actions were incorrect, but that insomuch as they demonstrated our radical difference from other Westerners, they allowed us to disavow our real connections to the centers of power. My response to the stoning was emblematic of a reluctance to acknowledge my implication in the forces of domination in the West Bank. My Palestinian friends' reaction to the incident, which was much less sympathetic than I had ex-

The impact of Chilean migration on employment in Patagonia.

This paper discusses the employment situation of Chilean migrant workers, their impact on labor markets in Patagonia, Argentina, and the government's past and projected responses to this phenomenon. In 1980, Chilean inhabitants of patagonia comprised 11% of the area's population. Chilean migration to patagonia was closely linked to economic activities that began to flourish in the 20th century, such as livestock raising, fruit and vegetable cultivation, and mining for coal and petroleum. No Chilean migrants work in a wide range of sectors. In Patagonia's southern provinces availability and ability to withstand rigorous climate conditions are the main factors which account for the prevalence of Chilean manpower. Chilean migrants do not in general displace local manpower. Legislation and the permeability of the border ensure that most workers enter the country as tourists. Clandestine migration is not an issue. Illegal migrants have provoked negative reactions for several reasons: 1) they comprise a marginal population without formal citizenship; 2) being employed as clandestine workers, they pay no social security, nor do their employers; 3) being illegal, they are obliged to accept lower wages and inferior working conditions which creates unfair competition within labor markets; and 4) as a result of these conditions, xenophobic and endophobic attitudes in relations with Argentine nationalists are reinforced. The government has attempted to solve these problems through various measures. Beginning in 1934, most foreigners entered Argentina with a tourist visa, becoming illegal when they stayed beyond authorized limits. Several measures over the years provided amnesty to illegal migrants. Currently, the law promotes immigration, monitors the admission of foreigners to the country and stipulates their rights and obligations. The law lists 115 articles on immigration promotion and on regulation of the movements of foreigners. Because of the present economic crisis in Argentina, authorities are investigating the effect of Chilean manpower on Argentine labor markets.