"If I do not provide for my family, who else will?" : A qualitative study on motives behind remittances and the impact it has on Iraqi and Somali migrants in Sweden

Sammanfattning: According to the World Bank’s (2019) latest Migration and Development Brief, remittances to low and middle-income countries reached a record high in 2018. This study examines Swedish migrants’ motives behind remittances and their experience with the social and economic impact of sending remittances. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to a research-based study on Swedish-migrants’ remittances practice since Sweden lacks research about remittances. We have conducted eight semi-structured interviews with Somali and Iraqi migrants to understand their motives and experience with remittances. The results are analyzed with theories such as Lucas and Stark’s altruism, self-interest, and tempered altruism, or enlightened self-interest, as well as transnationalism. We have also analyzed the results with the social exclusion concept to understand the migrants' experience in the host country in relation to remittances. In our study, we found that the respondents’ social and cultural resources were limited. Our interviewees were socially and economically impacted by sending remittances. They are in a state where their economy is limited because of sending remittances, which makes it hard for them to maintain a certain social presence in the host country, due to their lack of free time. They do not have the same opportunities as non-migrants in Swedish society, because they prioritize work and providing for their families in Sweden and the homeland. The respondents are living in two worlds where they are keeping their transnational ties with the origin country and therefore, they are comparing their living standards with families and relatives in the home country. This prevents them from seeing or identifying themselves as socially excluded individuals of the host country. They perceive themselves as socially excluded when it comes to their economic situation, however, in general, they see themselves as socially included as they learned the language, got an education, work, provide for their families, etc.