Don’t create barriers to migration,promote movement of people: World Bank expert

He said,“Since many countries are facing harsh economic conditions,they are tightening immigration controls. But,by and large,people do not like moving. Most people prefer to live and die where they are born. Worldwide,international migrants number about 200 million,which is only about 3 per cent of the world population and ninety per cent of the migrants are economic migrants. When faced with severe poverty and unemployment,a minority of them might move to find employment in foreign countries.”“Secondly,migration generates significant benefits to everybody involved:the migrant,the country of origin and the destination country. The benefits to the origin countries are realised mostly in the form of remittances. But migrants also provide trade networks,investments and enable exchange of skill and transfer of technology. Remittances reduce poverty. They finance education and health expenses and provide capital for small entrepreneurs. In addition,the diasporas from developing countries provide professional contacts,trade networks,technology and capital for their countries of origin,” he said adding that the brain-drain problem associated with emigration of skilled migrants is a small-country problem.

“Migration is a complex phenomenon. People tend to take this personally and policies are often made on the basis of personal likes and dislikes. We can deal with migration issues better if we paid more attention to facts rather than anecdotes. However,migration cannot be a substitute for development and governments must implement development efforts at home to take care of the majority of their population who stay behind,” Ratha said.