Tomorrow is Princess Diana's 15th death anniversary:

Unfading English Rose

Princess Diana's death 15 years ago this week made the British monarchy more attuned to their own image and changed forever the way the young royals behave to their subjects, royal watchers say.

Diana died in a car crash in a Parisian road tunnel on August 31, 1997 alongside her companion Dodi Fayed, triggering an extraordinary chain of events.

On her Wedding day

Princess Diana with Prince William and Harry

Within hours, a carpet of flowers began spreading from her home at Kensington Palace in London as Britons threw off their reserved reputation and mourned openly. In one of the defining moments of his time as prime minister, Tony Blair described her as the "people's princess", striking a chord with the grieving nation.

Yet Queen Elizabeth II appeared to have misjudged the public mood, initially choosing to remain at Balmoral in Scotland instead of returning to London.

Amid accusations she was out of touch and acting coldly towards her former daughter-in-law - Diana and Prince Charles had divorced in 1996 - the queen eventually made an unusual televised address.

Diana's funeral was heavy with emotion, not least when her brother Earl Charles Spencer used his sermon to attack the press who had pursued her throughout her adult life and who might have contributed to the crash which killed her.

Perhaps nothing illustrates the passage of time since Diana's death better than the bewildered little boy who walked behind her coffin - the grown-up Prince Harry, now 27, made a very different public impression in recent days after his wild 'strip billiards' holiday in Las Vegas.

Despite her younger son's sometimes raucous behaviour, Diana's legacy can be seen clearly in her two sons and in William's wife Catherine, the former Kate Middleton, according to royal historian Kate Williams.

Diana in the early years of her marriage

The People’s princess

"In the last three or four years the young princes have really taken over a lot of the mantle of Diana, so we think less about Diana and more about William, Harry and Kate," Williams told AFP.

"It seems as if the young royals are very much in Diana's mould. They are giving to charity, they are very caring and they are out there meeting the people and seem much less stuffy."

Even before her divorce from Charles, Diana had thrown herself into charity work, especially championing the plight of landmine victims. Shortly before she died she visited Bosnia to meet people maimed by landmines.

Williams believes that if Diana were alive today she would be heading up her own charity.

"Diana had a very good divorce settlement and she was a great humanitarian and it is my belief that she would have spent that divorce settlement on setting up her own charity in which she did work for the poor, the sick and landmines victims."

She would have taken a role akin to a UN Goodwill Ambassador, such as Queen Rania of Jordan or Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, Williams believes.

Diana's death continues to resonate. Tourists visiting the memorial fountain to her in Hyde Park this week vividly recalled the shock.Stephanie Cooper, a tourist from Billericay in Essex, said: "It was one of those moments like the New York attacks, it is one of those things like the death of JFK, you will always remember where you were and what you were doing."

Princess Diana’s grave

Filming has started on a new movie starring British actress Naomi Watts as Diana. Based on the recollections of her long-time bodyguard Ken Wharfe, it shows her being hounded by the paparazzi.

Diana's death was not the only factor in the royal family's lack of popularity in the late 1990s - a succession of divorces and scandals had also eroded their image.

"It made people in Britain very confused about what people expected from their royal family - were they not expected to set an example?" Williams said. "But things have changed - the royals' popularity has really soared and the queen is at her most popular since she came to the throne in 1952."

Landmark events such as the wedding of William and Catherine last year and the queen's diamond jubilee this year have boosted the royals' standing - the queen even appeared in a spoof film parachuting into the Olympics opening ceremony.

"The royal family have tried very hard to market their image since Diana," Williams noted.

AFP

Mobility orientation of Sri Lankan migrant workers

Senali s. Perera

The mother or the father of the family is leaving for a foreign country with a heart full of hope, praying that they will be able to provide their family -their children with a better life ahead. But have you ever wondered what exactly drives people to migrate?

Professor Tudor Silva explored this issue at the Thirteenth National Convention on Women's Studies which was held recently at the Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF). The convention was organized by the Centre for Women's Research (CENWOR) Sri Lanka.

According to Professor Silva, mobility orientation can be discussed under two dimensions. Spatial mobility, which means a person moving from one place to another and social mobility. The desire to move up in society. The desire to move up particularly from a low social background. "This is a very important drive in our society as we know, at least from the 50's onwards. But in this instance, the desire to move up is combined with a desire to move out of their existing social and spatial configuration," says Prof. Silva. He states that in trying to understand their mobility orientation, we need to firstly understand why they need to move out of their existing social and spatial setting.

"In order to do well you have to get out of where you are." Professor Silva said that this can be right in most cases. But why do they want to go? Don't the stories about children of migrants getting abused and the bad press that this whole migration issue has been getting recently scare them away? It seems they don't. But why, in this scenario, would people want to leave their homes? Let's explore.

"According to 2009 reports from Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, the gender gap in migration for overseas work has reduced from 2000 onwards. Now it's almost 50/50 and now actually more males annually migrate compared to women. But still women's migration is quite significant," Prof. Silva stated further.

Significance of female migrants

"When it comes to female migration purposes, most of them are employed in domestic work," says Professor Silva. "In some ways, the difficulties they're facing in this global economic market remain unchanged." They come from different social backgrounds -urban poor, rural poor, ethically marginalized, Muslim/Tamil communities and depressed caste balance. "They find that their opportunities are restricted in the local labour market. So they're looking for ways to get out of the oppressive and in some ways restrictive environment in which they live." s

Personal attributes of the female migrants

According to Prof. Silva, mostly the female migrants have low level of educational achievements. "A study by the National Institute of Social Development in 2010 shows 77% of the migrant workers in the certain sample has had only primary education. Also, the migrants have limited employment opportunities, a particular orientation toward social mobility and/or they can be temporarily running away from alcoholic/abusive husbands. "Not only they're from low social backgrounds but their opportunities are also restricted because of the oppression by male power."

Mobility Orientation

People see that by immigrating they have the advantage of quick earning. They might believe that "the only way of progressing in life is getting a high income in a short period of time," says Prof. Silva. And the advertisements put up by employment agencies take advantage of this mobility orientation. They show the bright side of migration and sometimes even exaggerate it. And people -women are persuaded to make this certain decision.

They repay their loans after getting wages. Their housing is improved. "Often migrants from social backgrounds like urban poor, rural poor include housing as one of the things they want to quickly achieve. Their first investment is towards building or expanding the houses," says Prof. Silva further. "A house is not just a place for living but also a status symbol."

And they buy household possessions such as jewelry, TVs and mobile phones. And the education of their children is secure.

Then what are the omissions? Are there any? According to Prof. Silva, most immigrants have no plans for investment. No plans for livelihood developments. They might have many plans how to spend their earnings, but more often than not, they are not interested in investing.

Risk assessment

The risks of migration can be observed as neglect of children - when children of the immigrants are left without parental care, disruption of children's education, abuse of girl child in particular -when a mother is not with her daughter; the security and the protection of that child are at risk. There are risks of that child getting abused in the absence of her parent. Then what about the male child? We can hear stories about sons of immigrants being abused as well. "This is a largely unexplored issue in Sri Lanka. It requires further attention and it must be prevented," said Prof. Silva.

More risks are potential abuse of workers in the work place, wastage of remittances by spouses/family and incomplete housing - housing development started but never completed. They might have grand housing plans that are unrealistic and their earning will go straight for it but in the end it will be left without any more attention, a plan that simply didn't work out. A solution has to be found as to how to encourage a shift from consumption to investment. Mutual support and exchange of information among migrant workers should be promoted because this information can be more accurate and new migrants can be guided more successfully by the information provided by more experienced migrants.

It is also important to know how to promote skilled migration. A shift from less remunerative employment to more remunerative employment should be encouraged. All types of abuse by agencies and employers must be prevented.

"Family migration instead of migration of men and women separately is something we should look at. Perhaps that will be better for mutual protection. And perhaps it might bring better benefits for the migrants and the country at large," concluded Prof. Silva.

Leaving one's family and home behind and emerging into a whole different, unknown world is by no means easy. It can be risky and it might require boundless courage and sacrifice. It is a struggle for survival. So in the end, the struggle should not go to waste. Everyone deserves a brighter, happier life.