Facilitator Frederick Kempe, Editor and Associate Publisher, The Wall Street Journal Europe, Belgium, framed the discussion from three fluid vantage points: the view from countries exporting people, the interests of countries receiving migrants and transit countries. Kempe also asked participants to keep in mind the primacy of demographics and diverging demographic patterns in the US and Europe.
Bassem I. Awadallah, Minister of Planning of Jordan, said his country has been a repository for both voluntary and forced migrants, from Israel and from Iraq and other Gulf countries as a result of war. Each migration wave has transformed Jordan, a country of few resources, but the Gulf War produced the largest burden, increasing almost overnight Jordan’s population by 10%. The likelihood of another war against Iraq poses a severe crisis for Jordan, which cannot afford the cost of harbouring Iraqi refugees, estimated at US$ 75 million for the initial 100,000 alone. "Our existence as a country has largely been determined by forced migration," observed Awadallah.
Other discussion leaders geared their remarks towards US migrant issues. Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, USA, observed a change in political will towards absorbing immigrants from Mexico and other countries since 11 September. This was a paradigm shift - immigrants are seen within a national security prism instead of a labour issue. One result is that the US immigration service is being subsumed in the new Homeland Defense department. Herminio Blanco Mendoza, Chairman, Proder SC, Mexico, pointed to NAFTA as an example of how bilateral free trade agreements can stem immigration strain by creating new jobs in source countries. North America was also the subject of discussion about the brain drain, a problem in particular need of attention in India, said Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, India.
Another theme of the discussion addressed how to divert migrant remittances to their original countries into sources for development. Susan F. Martin, Director, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University, USA, pointed out that up to 25% of remittances, which remain the largest source of foreign earnings for many countries, are consumed by transfer costs. This diaspora model, making migrants central actors in development, was recommended by several discussion leaders, including Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor, Columbia University, USA. Bhagwati also praised the situation where migrants work on contract across porous national borders. Rick Menell, Chairman, Anglovaal Mining, South Africa, likewise noted that the country’s mining industry, once exploitative, is responsible for funding practically the entire infrastructure development in neighbouring Mozambique. Bhagwati also spoke about bilingual education and assimilation, discouraging the former and encouraging the latter.
While much of the discussion was devoted to the nuts and bolts of migration policy, Homi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of English and American Literature, Harvard University, USA, made an elegant and well received argument for seeing the issue of migration in the context of culture. "We must talk of the effects of citizenship: notions of loyalties, patriotism, dignity. These are fundamental questions." Bhabha reminded participants that many current immigrant policies in the West are informed by old colonial impulses and policies. |
