MIGRATION COMMISSION REPORT

This week, after several years of submissions, visits to most regions, and public hearings, the Global Commission on International Migration released its findings in New York at the United Nations headquarters. I enjoyed the opportunity to serve on the Commission because few subjects are more important than migration. People have always moved on seeking a better life, we are a curious species, most enjoy the cultures and company of others, many people save so they can have the trip of a lifetime to soak up the pleasures of diversity as a tourist. Tourism is the world’s biggest industry and growing. Where there is the greatest movement of people you generally find the biggest tyrants, the worst economic conditions, the worst human rights, and the most closed economies and societies.

No Thais can be found in the sweatshops of Burma, French workers are not risking their lives to sneak into North Africa, and no-one from Florida has built a raft to drift to Cuba. No-one is bribing their way into Zimbabwe. Case made. Toppling tyrants was outside the Commission’s mandate. The anti-globalisation, anti-America, anti-capitalism mantra of some NGO’s (Non Government Organisations) missed the point. People are migrating to the most successful, growing, most globalised, economically open part of the world, not the other way around. Nearly 200 million people live in countries they were not born in - 86 milion in Europe, 49.9 million in Asia, and 40 million in North America. The Chinese diaspora is the largest at 35 million, followed by India at 20 million and Filipino at some 7 million. They are an economic gain to their hosts, they represent the success story of the U.S., the U.K., where they are worth more than North Sea oil. Few economists would argue that a world without walls would be a gain to the global economy, but that’s not going to happen. The Nation state reserves its legitimate right to determine who will be a citizen and resident. It’s one of the most cherished and basic responsibilities of the state. Common labour markets, where they exist, Australia, New Zealand, and some of the Pacific Islands, and Europe, are normally with like-minded cultures and historical experience. Yet diversity and migration is a common good, the fastest growing and most exciting cities and regions testify to this, Toronto, London, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, and Capetown.

This age of terrorism has not bought this movement of people to the West to a halt, but it has imposed great costs. Many governments are politically under siege. People are asking at what stage does a migrant accept that they are Dutch, Kiwi, British or South African? Should they accept local culture, respect local values? Yes, unless they live in unacceptable ghettos. Integration is not assimilation. Assimilation is what the cat does to the house. Migrants have rights but also obligations. It’s a super-charged issue which attracts the most appalling kind of politicians and politics.

But back to the report, the Commission came down with 6 principles and recommendations. The most obvious principle being that people should migrate out of choice not fear or desperation and in a safe and authorised way.

The next principle and recommendation was to reinforce the economic and developmental impact of migration. Up to US$300 billion is remitted annually, nearly triple development aid from governments, the top remittance-receiving countries are Mexico (US$16 billion p.a.; India US$9.9 billion; Philippines US$8.5 billion), the top 3 remittance-sending countries are the U.S. $28 billion; Saudi Arabia $15 billion; Belgium, Germany and Switzerland $8 billion.

The report, I’m sure to the relief of governments, confirms the sovereignty of states in this regard but has suggestions on how social cohesion can be advanced and gives examples of best practices and then moves to a simple yet profound reminder that we have in place now international laws, agreements and accepted norms of behaviour, yet frequently these agreements are breached, not upheld and not practiced. It’s quite simple really, migrants are entitled to all the benefits, obligations, rights that citizens of host countries are entitled to. Targeted assistance needs to be given to help build capacity in poorer countries to manage their bureaucracies and produce better governance. The Commission has not, to the surprise of many I’m sure, argued, as so many Commissions before, for a new world body but pointed out the costly inefficiencies of the lack of coherence between agencies and suggests an inter-agency facility to assist in the co-ordination of work already being done. If that facility ever became an organisation in itself, then the Commission will have failed.