Remittances transferred from Asian Americans to the origin country: a case study among Cambodian Americans

Abstract

Southeast Asians were some of the first refugees arriving in the United States of America with federal refugee assistance after the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. A large population from Cambodia entered the United States in the 1980s as a result of one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. In this paper, I investigate the scope and motives for remittances from the United States that are transferred to Cambodia, the country of origin of the refugees. This will be done by taking a closer look at trends in remittances between 1992 and 2013, factors that contribute to the decisions to send remittances, and the characteristics of remittance recipients. The study found out that: (1) around half of the total remittances in the world transferred to Cambodia were derived from the United States, while amounts from each individual sender depended upon the economic condition of Cambodian Americans and the financial needs of their target recipient; (2) factors influencing decision-making in sending remittances included regular communication, age, amount of time for arrival to the receiving country, and closer association to Cambodian communities in the United States; and (3) remittances were primarily transferred to senior and younger family members for use in daily expenditures, health care and educational support.

Keywords:

• immigration
• refugee
• remittance
• Cambodian-American and Asian-American

Acknowledgements

I greatly appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions offered from editors, the editorial board of the Journal of Migration and Development, and the anonymous referees. I also would like to thank for Dr Sara Curran, Director of Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology at the University of Washington in Seattle for her hosting and mentoring my research. This research has benefited from a visiting scholar research award from the Mekong Region Development Research Group (MRDRG), an initiative of the University of Utah's Asia Center. The research award and other MRDRG efforts are generously supported by the Henry Luce Foundation's Asia Responsive Grant program. During my fellowship at the University of Washington, Dr. Kim Korinek, Associate Director of the University of Utah Asia Center and Mr. Bryce Garner, Program Assistant, provided me with technical and administrative support. Moreover, I gratefully acknowledge Cambodian-Americans, namely Mr Sar Vann, Dr Tan Song, Mr Donn Kong, Mr Harch Mob, Ms Buphka Sorn, Mr Socheat Yi, Mr Channdara Sos, Mr Hatha Dam, Prof. Jonathan Richmond, Mr Eng Ratana, Mr Sckhoeun Khoun, Mr Thou Tim, Ms Dany Mot and Mr Sovanna Pov, Mr Marin Yann and Ms Kimmie Mack for their hospitality and support during my fieldwork in the United States.