Migration and Development – The challenge of the 2

Patsy Robertson on the need to focus the world’s attention on the positive aspects of migration

A recent article in the New York Times has described the movement of peoples (migration) as the third wave of globalisation, after the movement of goods (trade) and of money (finance) that began in the last century. It is massive and “unprecedented in scale and implications”. People are on the move and nearly half of them are women who have left children behind, a phenomenon with vast implications for family life across the developing world.

These facts have implications for the Commonwealth, which has, among its member states, some of the world’s largest sending and receiving countries. According to the latest estimates of the United Nations, the Commonwealth is host to 45 million international migrants, approximately one-fifth of the global migrant stock of 214 million, an increase of about 37 percent in two decades.

It is against this background of a world where borders are crossed – legally and illegally – and of expectations that Governments will and must control this new and unexpected phenomenon, that the Ramphal Centre, based in London, established an independent Commission on Migration and Development to encourage Commonwealth Governments and agencies to take up the question of migration within the Commonwealth.

The Commission was established this year, under the leadership of the Hon. P J Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica, to study what is happening, in order to make recommendations on how Governments and agencies may adopt mutually beneficial and practical policies to maximise the benefits of international migration.

The Commission’s membership represents all regions of the Commonwealth. Besides Mr Patterson, its membership includes the Hon George Vassilliou, former President of Cyprus, Mr Farooq Sobhan, former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh and currently President of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Mr Will Day, Chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, United Kingdom, Miss Jill Iliffe, Executive Director, Commonwealth Nurses Federation, Professor John Oucho, from Kenya and Professor Brenda Yeow of Singapore.

In its first statement issued recently, entitled ‘A Call to the Commonwealth’ the Commission makes the case for Commonwealth action, and encourages it to take the lead in helping the world to begin a process of managing migration so that it can have significant and positive impacts on the development of the countries of origin. It is a key task facing Commonwealth governments and it needs to be shared by both countries of origin and destination – two categories which are well represented in its membership.

It is also a task which the Commonwealth, in a world in which many Governments are looking for solutions, is well-placed to undertake. As the Commission’s report states, the modern Commonwealth is a product of the migration of its peoples and the character of many of member societies have been shaped by migration from other Commonwealth countries. Many of the links between them – such as mutual understanding, the rule of law and the English language – have been built through migration.

In a report prepared by Dr Bela Hovy of the UN’s Population Division of the Department of Social and Economic Affairs, it is stated that today’s migration patterns are still Commonwealth related. Commonwealth countries are over represented for immigrants to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Migration from other Commonwealth countries is significant in the Caribbean and South Africa. While Commonwealth countries include less than one third of the world’s population, in each of the ‘old’ Commonwealth countries, one third or more (sometimes up to two thirds) of all immigrants come from within the Commonwealth despite the ending of preferential Commonwealth migration schemes.

In many countries, migration has been deemed a ‘toxic’ issue, with a rise in xenophobia and a lessening of tolerance. The Commission sees opportunities for the Commonwealth, while mindful of the sensitivities surrounding the issue, to take a leadership role in focusing the world’s attention on the positive aspects of migration. These include the improvement of the lives of people, with investment in training and skills development, in order to increase a country’s stock of human capital; the undoubted benefits of remittances which alleviate poverty, increase savings and significantly improve the lives of people left behind; and the impact which energetic and well organised diaspora groups can have on their homeland.

Over the next year, the Commission will be issuing two interim reports and a final report aimed at the next Heads of Government meeting in Perth, Australia scheduled for late 2011. These reports will consolidate the arguments for Commonwealth action. It will be interesting to see if the Commonwealth is ready to accept this challenge.

(These are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Commonwealth Secretariat)

Posted by Patsy Robertson at Jul 20 2010 2:58PM