The Bhutanese Leading the way.
While the numbers have reduced by half this year, still large numbers of Bhutanese are heading to Australia.
This is not even taking into account Canada and other destination.
The first reality check should be for young Bhutanese aiming to build a life in Australia.
Thanks to the various visa and work hour restrictions, Australia is rapidly turning into an unsustainable destination with limited working hours, strict monitoring, high rentals and high cost of living.
Youths are unable to find jobs for months and even when they find one it does not pay well.
The students can barely manage to pay their fees thanks to their partners there otherwise they say it is next to impossible for a lone student.
Apart from Australia even Canada and UK is tightening its visa rules making it even more difficult than Australia.
The booming post pandemic times are over and all these countries wants the excessive numbers of students to head back as their own people are disgruntled with the high rentals and cost of living.
New destinations are being touted but each has its own drawback. For example, Germany appears to the next big destination but students should know that if you do not know German then your prospects of earning are not very good.
The second reality check is for us back home.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the majority of Bhutanese in Australia are either not coming back or not coming back anytime soon.
Even if visa conditions tighten up there they can go for courses and jobs that will enable longer stay or they can simply apply for other countries.
The majority will not come back because while their hearts are here they have no jobs and economic activities to come back to.
The trend of global migrations also proves this.
Instead the Australia group are starting to sell their properties in Bhutan, will transmit their money and savings to Australia and also take their children, parents and relatives over time.
Instead the lower qualified and paid middle east group will remit more faithfully in the long run and even come back with skills.
“- What do you want to be when you grow up?, asked a Macedonian father his child. -A foreign citizen.”
Ljupka Cvetanova