Commission Takes a Hard Look at Free-for-All Migration

Peter Richards

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Aug 9 2010 (IPS) – At 35, Daniel James has his mind set on leaving Trinidad and Tobago for greener pastures .
I want to improve my life, I want to ensure that my kids have a better life than me, he said, sitting on a bench just a stone s throw away from the United States embassy in the capital, Port of Spain.

But James, a mason, is not interested in living in [another] country for the rest of my life .

I want to send money back to my family and once I am satisfied that I am now able to satisfy the needs of my family, I would make my way back home, James told IPS, adding that if he fails to get a U.S. visa, he would aim for Britain, where as a Caribbean person things may be a bit easier .

Then there is Joan Bobb*, who insists that she will not leave her country and travel overseas to be looked down upon, or take a job in some fast food outlet .

I am a professional and I will not work in an environment where my professionalism will not be appreciated. I will not migrate just for migrating s sake and take a job cleaning people s homes, looking after kids and elderly people, it s beyond me, she said.
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Bobb, 29, just graduated with a bachelor s degree in social sciences from the University of the West Indies (UWI). She says that the U.S. green card granting legal residency which she obtained years ago has its advantages, but at the end of the day I am not going there to live .

I want to keep it because it will help my daughter, she told IPS.

James and Bobb are hardly alone in facing such difficult choices. To take just four Caribbean countries as an example Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago the percentage of their highly educated population living abroad now ranges from 40 to 70 percent.

Over the next year, a commission headed by former Jamaican prime minister P.J. Patterson will analyse the latest migration trends in hopes of encouraging Commonwealth countries to develop mutually beneficial policies to deal with this controversial political and economic issue.

The 54 members of the Commonwealth are host to some 45 million international migrants.

Emigration of health workers from developing countries affects local health systems and jeopardises the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, the commission noted, pointing to data provided in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Health Atlas that show emigration rates for doctors and nurses as among the highest, with more than 40 percent of those working in OECD countries coming from small island developing states and African countries.

Out of the 20 countries with emigration rates of nurses that exceed 50 percent, 19 are small island developing states, and eight of the 10 countries with the highest expatriation rates for nurses are in the Caribbean.

The Ramphal Commission on Migration and Development in the Caribbean is the first initiative of the Ramphal Centre, an independent think tank launched in 2008. It is named after the Guyanese-born Sir Shridath Ramphal, a former Commonwealth secretary-general.

The seven-member commission includes George Vassiliou, the former president of Cyprus and a member of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, Professor John O. Ouche, founder and chair of the African Migration and Development Policy Centre, and diplomat Farooq Sobhan, a former foreign secretary in Bangladesh.

Patterson said the case for Commonwealth action on migration is due to the fact that the modern Commonwealth, a grouping of former colonies of Britain, is a product of the migration of its peoples and the wise management of this powerful human force is one of the greatest challenges for development and governance in the 21st century .

Perceptions about migration are mixed, he added, and one of the tasks of the commission will be to highlight the positive aspects of international migration, including the boost to development by remittances sent back to countries of origin.

In 2007, the remittances received by Commonwealth countries totaled 73 billion dollars, with 85 percent sent to the 49 less developed Commonwealth countries. These remittances now constitute an integral part of many local economies, with Jamaica, for instance, receiving 2.1 billion dollars in 2007 19 percent of its Gross Domestic Product.

Patterson said that the commission will at the same time look at the negative aspects such as the brain drain of skilled people from developing countries, as well the fact illegal and undocumented migration can reduce a government s ability to regulate its economy and manage public finances and services.

Little is known about how best to promote return migration, encourage diaspora interactions or balance border security concerns with a need to attract migrants required by receiving countries economies, he said.

Patterson added that it is becoming increasingly clear that climate change will affect migration patterns, with research indicating that if projected temperature rises are not averted one billion people may be forced to move by 2050.

Climate-related forced migration will affect the Commonwealth in particular, due to the high proportion of member states which are small island nations. The prospect of climate changes make it all the more important that governments come together to address migration, and sooner rather than later, he added.

The commission plans to submit a report to Commonwealth leaders when they meet in November 2011.

The commission will present a vision statement for migration policy within the Commonwealth for the next decade, which may also influence policy at the global level, Patterson said.

*Name changed at the subject s request.