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Africa: Migration and Development
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Sep 16, 2006 (060916)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"[The] potential benefits [from international migration] are larger
than the potential gains from freer international trade,
particularly for developing countries," notes an extensive recent
United Nations report on migration. But while the liberalization of
the flow of goods and capital continues to increase, restrictions
on the movement of people are leading to thousands of deaths in
border areas such as the U.S. southwest desert and the sea routes
between Africa and Europe.
The Report of the Secretary-General and extensive additional
documentation, too long to conveniently excerpt here, is available
at the website of the High Level Dialogue on International
Migration and Development
(http://www.un.org/esa/population/hldmigration).
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the executive summary from
another report presented at the summit by the Economic Commission
for Africa (http://www.uneca.org), on the implications for Africa
of international migration and development, and a UN fact sheet on
Sub-Saharan Africa prepared to the Dialogue..
Another AfricaFocus Bulletin sent out today contains recent reports
on treatment of African immigrants in Spain and in Libya.
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++
International Migration and Development: Implications for Africa
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
http://www.uneca.org
Executive Summary
[For full text of report, visit http://www.uneca.org]
Migration of people across national borders and continents is
crucial for peace, stability and development at the national,
sub-regional and regional levels. The potential for migrants to
help transform their native countries has captured the imagination
of national and local authorities; international institutions and
the private sector. There is an emerging consensus that countries
can cooperate to create triple wins -- for migrants, for their
countries of origin and for the societies that receive them.
On 14 and 15 September 2006, high-level representatives of all
member States of the United Nations will gather in the General
Assembly to explore the relationship between migration and
development. For Africa, this meeting and the process leading up to
and following it is important as international migration plays an
important part in the continent's struggle to develop and improve
welfare, peace and stability for its growing population.
This report, International Migration and Development: Implications
for Africa, aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions on
migration by providing background data and analysis from an African
perspective. Drawing on the ongoing debate about migration and
development, the report argues that maximization of the benefits
requires better management of international migration, and sound
political and economic governance in the context of the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The report expounds
this argument in six analytical chapters covering the dimensions,
and economic and social implications, impacts on the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), harnessing remittances for
development, and security aspects of migration. The report's final
chapter charts a way forward, providing suggestions for better
management of international migration in Africa.
Migration streams are larger within Africa
Migration flows within and out of Africa display a wide range of
patterns, modulated by strategies to cope with factors such as
economic and ecological problems, intra-regional disparities in
economic well- being, political instability, and restrictive
migration policies. African international migration involves a wide
range of voluntary and forced cross-border movements within the
continent, as well as regular and irregular migration to
destinations outside the continent. Migration streams within Africa
are much larger than those out of Africa, and forced migration
plays a significant part. African nations, already struggling to
provide for their own populations, were harbouring about one-third
(three million) of the world's refugees at the end of 2005. The
first three chapters of the full report expand on African migratory
patterns and their social and economic implications, particularly
for attainment of the MDGs.
Depletion of Africa's human resource pool
International migration impacts development in Africa in a wide
range of ways such as loss of human capital, but also remittances
and the acquisition of skills. A key challenge for African States
who already face serious human resource shortages is skills
migration or 'brain drain'. The African human resource pool is
continuously depleted as the educated choose to emigrate and apply
their skills abroad. In the case of the health sector, where
African countries are facing increasing demand as a result of
HIV/AIDS and other diseases, several countries experience a net
depletion of their health work force. For example, 926 Ghanaian
doctors practice in the OECD alone, representing a much-needed 29
percent of the doctors still practicing in Ghana. In Chapter 4, we
examine these trends, and suggest mitigation strategies such as
setting up mechanisms for compensation for lost skills.
African migrants contribute to African development through a number
of channels. Diaspora remittances and the income multipliers they
create are becoming critical resources for the sustenance
strategies of receiving households as well as agents of local and
national development. In 2004, remittances to Africa amounted to
$14 billion, with Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria being the largest
recipients. Based on existing research, Chapter 5 describes how
households that receive these migradollars tend to use the proceeds
primarily for current consumption (food, clothing) as well as
investments in MDG-related areas such as children's education,
healthcare and improvement in household food security through
investments in agricultural technology.
Migration and security
Chapter 6 examines how migration is closely linked to security
concerns, at the individual, national, and global levels. Conflicts
and violence spur population movements, while migrants can
experience threats to their individual security while in transit,
as well as at their points of destination. Some countries are
concerned that migrants may constitute a security threat.
Importantly, unlike goods and services, the movement of people
abroad involves a wide range of social issues, such as human
rights, family unification and social integration, that would need
to be efficiently and appropriately managed, to increase human
security, ensure respect for people and human rights, and harness
resources for development.
The response of African Governments to migration challenges has
been very limited and fragmentary. Few countries have implemented
international conventions and related policies on migration.
International migration barely features in national development
plans and strategies, and has not been adequately addressed in any
of the regional development frameworks such as the NEPAD, MDGs, and
PRSPs. However, international migration is increasingly gaining the
attention of African leaders. In this regard the African Union (AU)
has put in place a policy framework to stem the brain drain through
the creation of employment opportunities, and to mobilize the
African diaspora for the development of their countries.
In the concluding chapter of the report, we argue that the way
forward should be based on sound management of international
migration, which requires capacities for greater collaboration
within and between countries and regions. However, in Africa, this
is largely constrained by lack of data/information and knowledge on
international migration and development. These are issues that
would need to be addressed in order to understand the scale and
dimensions of international migration and the labour market for
development in Africa.
Based on available knowledge, the report proposes a range of
actions and policies necessary for minimizing the harms and
maximizing benefits and opportunities of international migration.
Key among the recommendations is the promotion of all human rights,
particularly the rights of the international migrants and their
families, through ratification and implementation of the relevant
international conventions, and through bi-lateral and multilateral
agreements between sending and receiving countries.
Coercive policies work against peace and security
International migration involves diverse cultures. Therefore there
is a need for action to bring about tolerance and coherence to
nurture integration and support multiculturalism. Coercive policies
in both sending and receiving countries work against peace and
security at all levels, and against the maximization of the
benefits of international migration. Therefore, governments will
need to cooperate more to eliminate the coercive polices and to
enhance the contribution of the migrants and their families to
international development.
The contributions of international migration to development extend
beyond economic gains to encompass cultural enrichment, social
welfare, health and education, and political stability. Therefore,
it is imperative that these neglected dimensions be harnessed for
sustainable development. There is need for constructive engagement
between countries to bring international migration more to the
arena of international development cooperation.
Also, it is necessary for countries to harmonize their national
policies and the roles of various ministries and agencies involved
in international migration. Finally, human and institutional
capacity building is important for maximizing the benefits of
international migration.
Continuous investment in education and health will bring about
long- term benefits that would need to be realized through the
creation of employment opportunities and commensurate wages.
Way forward
In an increasingly globalized world, the way forward in managing
migration for increased benefits of sending and receiving
countries, and of migrants and their families may be found in:
- Promoting the ratification of international conventions and
protocols and aligning national policies to such international
obligations;
- Promoting advocacy and awareness creation, especially in the
receiving countries and highlighting the positive contributions of
migrants to sending and receiving countries;
- Emphasizing that the contribution of international migration to
development touches many dimensions of development including
economic advancement, social welfare and cultural enrichment,
health promotion, and political stability;
- Supporting bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements between
sending and receiving countries as channels of enhancing the
contribution of international migration to international
development;
- Promoting coherence among different national policies and
increasing the capacity of all stakeholders to implement policies
geared towards improvement of legal and statistical systems on
international migration;
- Building human and institutional capacity for maximizing the
benefits of international migration and minimizing perceived
disadvantages;
- Promoting regularized consultative processes on international
migration at global, regional and sub-regional levels;
- Providing improved social and economic conditions in the sending
countries to minimize factors that make people leave their
countries in search of self-improvement;
- Promoting international, regional and sub-regional partnerships,
including those organized in the diaspora;
- Focusing investment into areas which optimize the generation of
jobs for available skills; and
- Continuing the dialogue on global trade, with emphasis on
complementing the notion of open markets with complete elimination
of subsidies.
United Nations
International Migration and Development
Regional Fact Sheet
Sub-Saharan Africa
Produced by the UN Department of Public Information, in cooperation
with the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and
Social Affairs
[This and other documentation available at
http://www.un.org/esa/population/hldmigration]
In 2005, there were nearly 16 million international migrants living
in sub-Saharan Africa countries, constituting 2.1 per cent of the
total population, and a Diaspora of migrants from the region living
overseas who have contributed to the sub-continent through
remittance of earnings and economic interactions with their home
countries.
The slow growth in migrant stock in the sub-continent (in 2004
2005, increasing by only 265,000) is in large part accounted for by
the ongoing reduction in the number of refugees, which declined
from 5.4 million in 1990 to 2.75 million in 2005. The drop-off
reflects the return of refugees to their home countries, in the
wake of successful resolution of conflicts during the 1990s.
The most significant receiver of migrants within the sub-continent
is South Africa, which uses bilateral agreements to manage the
temporary admission of migrant workers from neighbouring countries
for employment in the mining sector. According to one study,
poverty would increase by about 15 per cent in Lesotho if migrant
workers in South African mines were to stop sending remittances
home.
Outgoing migration from the region has attracted international
attention recently because of desperate efforts by Western African
migrants to enter Europe clandestinely via sea lanes, and resulting
deaths, which have led to new efforts at regional cooperation (see
below).
The diaspora of sub-Saharan Africans living overseas has returned
a considerable amount of their earnings to families in home
countries. See table 1.
Table 1: Ten top Sub-Saharan African countries according to
remittances received in 2004
Source: Population Division, UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs
Ranking Country Remittances Percent of GDP
(millions USD)
1 Nigeria $2,751 3.6
2 Sudan 1,403 7.0
3 South Africa 521 0.2
4 Senegal 511 6.7
5 Kenya 494 3.3
6 Lesotho 355 25.9
7 Uganda 291 3.7
8 Mauritius 215 3.4
9 Mali 154 3.1
10 Togo 149 7.2
In a report to a UN symposium (Turin, Italy, June 2006), the UN
Economic Commission for Africa stated: "Although the debate on the
impact of international migration on development in Africa has
largely been shaped by the loss of skilled Africans to the
developed world, growing evidence shows that international
migration has positive effects on social and economic development
in Africa."
Remittances from the wages of migrants abroad, and the income
multipliers they create, are critical resources for the sustenance
strategies of receiving households, according to the ECA. The extra
resources at the disposal of these households in turn make them
agents of local and national development. An increasing number of
overseas migrants in conjunction with hometown associations,
investment groups and religious groups are involved in
transnational activities that help to integrate African countries
with the global economy; hundreds of small and medium scale
factories, commercial businesses and agricultural enterprises have
been established by returnees, initiating knowledge spillovers from
migrants, employment opportunities, profits and additions to the
local and national tax base.
The ECA cites studies showing that Kenyan families receiving
remittances amassed greater productive capital than families not
receiving them; in Burkina Faso, the population living beneath the
poverty line was reduced by 7.2 percent in rural households as a
result of international remittances; Zimbabwe families that managed
to diversify their household portfolios through migration tend to
have higher levels of educational attainment as compared to
households without migrants; and South African children living in
household with a migrant worker and that received remittances
were significantly less likely to drop out of primary or secondary
school than those in a household without a migrant worker.
Nevertheless, not all outward migration produces a "brain gain".
The UN Conference on Trade and Development estimates that each
professional leaving Africa costs the region $184,000. The ECA
notes that departures of health workers from Africa to richer
countries have led to a significant deficit of essential skills in
the health sector. In some countries, the proportion of doctors
trained at home who have left for OECD countries is quite high.
More than 12,000 doctors trained in South Africa now work in an
OECD country, according to 2006 World Health Organisation
statistics. In comparison, there are slightly less than 33,000
doctors working in the country. More than 900 physicians trained in
Ghana are working in an OECD country, compared with 3,240
practising within Ghana, according to WHO figures.
Intensifying humanitarian crises caused by a growing stream of
sub-Saharan migrants towards Europe led to the convening in July
2006 of an African Union-European Union conference in Rabat,
Morocco. This first ministerial-level meeting between Europe and
Africa to discuss migration, it approached the issue in the context
of the promotion of development and by considering how migration
can be a positive factor. Along with promoting assistance for the
victims of trafficking victims and coordination on security
measures to stem the flow of unauthorized migration across borders,
measures were discussed to also stem the brain drain from Africa
through partnerships between technical and scientific institutions
and strengthened cooperation on professional training.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
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