Abstract:
The popularity and increase of migrant foreign workers have contributed to the rise of Filipino
Third Culture Youths who were raised and adapted to foreign cultures but have repatriated to the
Philippines and have faced issues and difficulties with the repatriation and reintegration process.
This thesis explores the experiences of Filipino Third Culture Youths and assesses whether
current existing policies are aiding in their reintegration into the Philippines. Previous studies
have primarily focused on the experiences of TCKs, and Filipino-oriented studies have primarily
focused on youth or migrant motivations for migration over the impact of current laws on a
Filipino TCY’s reintegration experience. As a subject with limited focus, we have approached it
as an exploratory case study to better understand the phenomenon. We held Focused Group
Discussions to investigate how these policies impact the repatriation experience of TCYs. This
exploration has found that current Filipino laws are lacking when it comes to the repatriation and
reintegration process of TCYs. Current policies are focused on the welfare of migrant workers
and their families, though TCYs are unaware of and unable to avail themselves of these benefits.
Furthermore, TCYs have identified ‘administrative and bureaucratic processes, education,
welfare and healthcare policies regarding TCYs’ as four areas in need of attention to improve
their reintegration process. We conclude that the current policies are lacking when it comes to
resolving issues faced by TCY during their repatriation and that most existing policies are aimed
at providing monetary support and educational and training benefits to returning migrant workers
and their families but ultimately ended up excluding TCYs from having access to such benefits.
It is significant because it opens up research on how much more existing policies could be
further amended and the key topics Filipino TCYs find to be the most relevant to them.
