MIGRANTS

Guess what’s the largest source of income for organised crime after drugs and weapons? It’s trafficking in people. That’s in part why Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, created a Global Commission on International Migration. I agreed to be a member of the Commission and recently attended a Commission meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

The Commission’s public hearings are revealing some chilling figures. Over 175 million people no longer live in their country of origin, among their numbers are the most vulnerable, exploited of people. In UN-speak, many are called ‘irregular migrants’, that is, illegal asylum seekers and desperate people escaping poor and dangerous conditions at home and seeking a better opportunity elsewhere. Europeans suggest they are home to 4 million irregulars, 300,000 of whom are seeking asylum, India 50 million, Libya with a population of 5 million is host to up to a million people in transit, waiting for an opportunity to slip across the Mediterranean, a night’s voyage.

Most refugees are internally displaced people or fleeing repressive conditions, fearful of their lives, over a million Zimbaweans in South Africa, up to 4 million in Pakistan. Imagine the costs, problems and internal conditions when 100,000 people in one month arrive in the wretchedly poor Yemen. Removing tyrants, alleviating poverty through sensible economic policies will do the most good, but that’s beyond the reach of this Commission.

Put a 100 economists in a room and 99 would say that migrants are a net plus to countries that receive them. It’s the oldest form of technology transfer, the dairy industry in New Zealand, the wine industry in Australia, the movie industry in the U.S., can be traced back to ambitious, energetic migrants. Migrants are worth more to the British economy than North Sea oil. Few European public health systems could function without migrants. Some argue that the rich countries are vacuuming up the best graduates from poor countries to maintain their competitive edge and to make up for the inadequacy of their labour market and training policies. Bit of truth to that, but remittances from Mexicans working in the U.S. are now Mexico’s 2nd largest source of foreign exchange. India has 5 million overseas workers sending billions home, Egypt gets nearly $4 billion (US) from it’s expats., and for many countries like Mali, it’s their biggest source of overseas funds. Migration will help fill the growing demographic hole emerging in many countries that will eventually break the back of their health and pension systems. Italy’s working age population is expected to decrease by 5 million or 17%, while North African Arab countries will grow by 25 million over that same period.

How to put order, predictability, provide justice and safeguard the rights of migrants is a great challenge. It’s a politically loaded question. There is little domestic political advantage for governments to be more open. Governments fall and the evil aspects of Nationalism and its populism trump logic and reality.

Some are arguing that it’s a basic human right to migrate. Indeed the UN Charter speaks of the right to leave your country of origin and the right to return. The state doesn’t own us. This was written at a time when many countries used the jackboot to prevent citizens leaving. However, do people have the right to go to the country of their choosing? I don’t think so. The Nation state in this instance jealously guards its rights to determine who comes and under what conditions, and with what obligations. However there are the rights of migrants. And these rights have been trampled and violated in an increasing climate of apprehension and fear. Navigating this, lifting standards, providing transparency, even for what could seem a small thing such as the rights of domestic migrant workers to seek diplomatic protection or the right to worship, is not as easy to implement as it seems.

What we do know is the problem is getting worse. A globalised telecratic world exposes the opportunities that exist just a few miles away. Throughout history people have moved on to better pastures. Indeed there were more people moving on a permanent basis 100 years ago than today. The U.S. enjoyed 1 million extra people every year for a decade from 1900. Passports are relatively new ideas. Alas, a sane, logical, dispassionate conversation is very difficult. The Commission’s mandate is a timely and important one.