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Abeyasekera
overseas employment has met and can meet the aspirations of youth. However, some existing studies suggest that young people are willing to migrate mainly for economic gain for themselves and their families. The ILO Inception Report on Youth Employment states that parents encourage migration as a way for their children to improve their quality of life through access to a wider range of employment opportunities (2004:39). The National Youth Survey conducted in 2000 reported that almost half of those surveyed wanted to migrate because they felt the situation in the country was getting worse (Hettige 2002:37). According to one of our interviewees, a significant population of young Muslim women migrated to the Middle East to save money for their dowries. While loneliness, homesickness, and social isolation often characterize the on-site experience of migrant workers, for young people migration may allow a new sense of freedom. The absence of social inhibitors such as authority figures, peers, and relatives usually provides an opportunity for young people to experiment and create alternative lifestyles (Asian Migrant Centre 2004:2). But it can sometimes lead to high-risk behavior and make young people vulnerable to HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, a promotional strategy should present overseas employment as an opportunity to explore while educating young people about potential risks. A media campaign can focus on the positive impact migration can have on the character formation of youth. The desire for freedom, economic independence, and the ability to help one’s family may be motivating factors that can be used to promote migration. In his concept paper “Youth: Addressing the Absences,” Sasanka Perera reflects on key areas that existing research on youth in Sri Lanka has neglected. Perera notes that adolescence as “a period of wandering and exploration” is absent from the analyses (2004:3). It is important to consider to what extent the Western theoretical frameworks that Perera is referring to explain the behavior of youth in Sri Lanka and then to pay attention to the deviations. While the desire for independence is considered synonymous, even in Sri Lanka, with adolescence and youth, these desires must be analyzed within the context of cultural practices and norms. The National Youth Survey found that economic dependence was high among youth in Sri Lanka. Only 7 percent of women and 25 percent of men considered themselves economically independent; 85 percent of women and 61.7 percent of men relied on parents for basic material needs (Hettige 2002:18). Further investigations must be done to explore the cultural underpinnings of this trend, before an employment promotion strategy, especially one involving overseas