Bangkok--Nov 30--UNISBKK
International migration expanding, but policies falling short
An orderly, controlled migration of persons across borders benefits both sending and receiving countries on the whole, a UN report released today finds. However, migration's positive aspects intertwine with the difficulties it poses in a complex pattern.
This year's UN Economic and Social Survey sees an opportunity for well
crafted policies that, for instance, can help countries with ageing populations to shore up retirement systems teetering on the brink of insolvency, or maximize the benefits of remittances sent home by migrants to developing countries. Remittances to developing countries now total at least $79 billion and exceed levels of development assistance. In general, the authors say, international migration can serve as an agent for global interchanges of skill and knowledge as well as economic dynamism and efficiency.
Nevertheless, with the stock of migrants living outside their home country expanding to more than 175 million (see accompanying press release), the
share of world governments with policies to lower immigration grew from only 7 per cent in 1976 to 34 percent in 2003, the Survey reports.
The UN report is released as globalization, international security concerns and demographic trends are redirecting attention to migration. It also
comes in advance of the 2005 report of the Global Commission on International Migration and a 2006 high-level dialogue on development and migration to take place in the UN General Assembly.
"Beyond existing conventions and protocols, the international community
lacks a comprehensive international framework that addresses the wide range
of issues pertaining to international migration," the Survey says.
"Migration is a global and transnational phenomenon involving various
parties with differing perspectives and interests. It therefore calls for a
global approach and global framework."
On the frontier of globalization
Fears in receiving countries that incoming migrants will take away jobs or bring down wages are highly ingrained, and contribute to a restrictive
political and policy outlook. But the Survey finds that studies of the economic impact of migration indicate no significant reduction in wage and employment rates among natives. On the other hand, incoming migrants expand the demand for goods and services, add to gross national production, and generally contribute more to government coffers than they take out.
The Survey -- authored by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and drawing on the expertise of agencies across the UN system -- is also
concerned with the "brain drain" effect of emigration on developing countries. The average emigrant departing from Latin America or Asia possesses more than twice the years of schooling than, on average, residents of their home countries. From Africa, the emigrants have triple the schooling of those staying at home. The price paid by countries of origin is most of all in lost innovation and creativity. They also forego to a certain extent the return on their investment in education, estimated at $640 million a year for emigrants to the United States alone. In addition, workers abroad do not pay income taxes in their home countries an estimated revenue loss to India, for example, of $700 million in 2000.
But these emigration-related losses tend to be offset by positive effects. These include not only an inflow of remittances, but often also a relaxation in over-supply of labour in home countries and the knowledge and skills that return migrants bring with them. Overseas migrants are also known to be major investors in their home countries. Studies show that 70 per cent of foreign direct investment in China originates in the Chinese diaspora, and expatriate African technology workers are supporting high-tech start-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa, via a programme linked with the UN Information and Communications Technologies Task Force.
Policymakers in developed countries with ageing populations are looking at the ameliorative effect of increased immigrant flows to support pension
programmes and other social and income benefits for the retired. UN experts caution, however, that while the introduction of temporary or permanent immigrant workers may be one factor in a solution, it cannot by itself eliminate the labour market effects of population ageing or ensure solvency of pension systems.
All in all, migration remains one of the last frontiers of globalization.
"For the past 50 years, governments all over the world have undertaken
various liberalization measures in the areas of goods, services and capital, multilaterally and unilaterally," says UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo. "The basic premise of such policies is to maximize economic efficiency at the national and global levels. Yet the current international movement of people is largely shaped by restrictive migration laws and policies."
Privileging capital over labour
Despite prevalent assumptions, migration inflows to developed countries are in fact currently less than prevailed in major receiving countries in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. And its growth since the 1960s has been much more gradual than that of international finance flows and trade. This asymmetry in the treatment of international flows of finance and trade in comparison with international flows of labour has favoured payments for capital over payments for labour, while the national emphasis on attracting skilled immigrants has benefited skilled over unskilled labour.
The perceived impact of migration may be magnified by concerns as to
maintenance of national identities and cultures. Policymakers must wrestle with differing mixes of assimilationist and multicultural approaches, the Survey notes. In the 1970s, multiculturalism tended to replace the "melting pot" paradigm, but the last few years have seen a resurgence of efforts to integrate migrants into national cultures. This trend has become conflated and sometimes confused with post-September 11 efforts to take a harder look at potential immigrants in regard to security concerns.
Points of policy
Other points presented by the Survey for policymakers' consideration:
Protection of the workplace and human rights of migrants is a
paramount responsibility.
Safe, orderly and rule-governed migration should be established
within a framework where States understand their obligations to protect the
rights of migrants, and migrants recognize their rights and obligations.
Given the attraction of human capital of developing countries that
migration generates, there is a strong argument for destination countries
to support education and labour training programmes in countries of origin.
Non-portability of migrants' acquired retirement benefits as well as
educational and employment credentials need to be addressed. This lack is
not only a specific social inequity, but is discouraging to migrants
considering a return to their home country.
Transaction costs of overseas remittances should be reduced. Lower
costs and more efficient operation of formal mechanisms can reduce the sway
of informal networks sometimes associated with money laundering or
terrorist finance.
Networks of migrants in host countries lend each other mutual support
and maintain their culture. They also constitute a useful bridging
mechanism with the host society.
Policies for the successful integration of migrants into host
societies should be complemented by programmes that ensure education and
appropriate job training.
Almost every new and numerous migrant group will elicit some degree
of opposition or stigmatization. Governments should counteract
discrimination by informing the public of the benefits and rationales of
migration.
One option for managing gaps between supply and demand of skilled or
unskilled labour in developed countries is through temporary inflows. The
result is fewer problems with social integration in the host country and
less of a brain drain on developing countries. A multilateral framework for
this cooperation is already in place, in the form of Mode 4 of the General
Agreement on Trade in Services of the World Trade Organization. The current
global trade negotiations offer an opportunity to consider widening the
scope of this agreement.
Bilateral and regional arrangements on international migration have
proven to be useful in responding rapidly to changing migration trends and
needs and improving cooperation, and their use can be expanded.
Countries of origin should enhance the benefits of outward migration
by supporting business and academic networks that link emigrants with their
home country; facilitating return migration; promoting exports of
culturally valued products to overseas migrant communities; and allowing
dual citizenship and participation of emigrants in their domestic political
life.
Since international migration is not likely to decrease in volume or
importance in the foreseeable future, Governments have an interest in
continuing to seek new forms of international cooperation. Broad based
ratification of existing conventions and protocols would be a major step in
that direction.
The UN Economic and Social Survey is published annually by the UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which monitors, evaluates and
analyzes relevant trends and upon request of Member States sets standards
and goals. Part I of the Survey reports on economic and macroeconomic
conditions of the past year and projections for the next. Part II covers a
selected theme of international significance and timeliness.
The full text of the Survey is available on the web at
www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/index.html.
For more information, contact the Development Section of the UN Department of Public Information, through Tim Wall, 1-212-963-5851, or Ellen McGuffie, 1-212-963-0499.
World Economic and Social Survey 2004: International Migration (Sales No.: E.04.II.C.3; ISBN 9211091470) is available for $45.00 from United Nations
Publications, Two United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-853, Dept PRES, New York,
NY 10017, USA, Tel. 800-252-9646 or 1-212-963-8302, Fax. 1-212-963-3489,
E-mail: [email protected]; or Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, Tel. 41-22-917-2614, Fax. 41-22-917-0027, E-mail: [email protected]. Internet: http://unp.un.org/ End.