The Link Between Migration, Globalisation and Development Report Novib Expert Meeting Noordwijk a/d Zee, The Netherlands March 13-14, 2003 Content Novib Mission Statement Introduction   1. Presentation day (March 13, 2003) 2. Discussion day (March 14, 2003) 3. A preliminary agenda for action Annexes 1. Expert meeting working paper expert meeting (Novib) 2. Presentation paper D. Bagasao 3. Presentation paper H. Entzinger 4. Background paper P. Emmer 5. Presentation paper P. Stalker 6. List of participants Acknowledgement      Related Information

Annex 1. Expert Meeting working paper

Is there a Link Between
Migration, Globalisation and Development?

By Leila Rispens-Noel
Novib

Rationale

The terrorist attacks of 11 September changed the course of public discourses on migration as they left an important mark on the immigration history world-wide. Refugee movements and other forms of mass migration have assumed a greater degree of political importance due to their impact on national and regional stability. Security has become a paramount concern that tends to justify all efforts to prevent the increasing number of refugees and economic migrants crossing borders. The United States has adopted several administrative policies and measures which include the arrest and detention of suspected terrorists, interrogations of friends and families of the terrorists, questioning of temporary visitors from Middle Eastern countries.

The measures taken by the United States have been replicated to a certain degree in many West European countries which readily formulated their own anti-terrorist measures. In other countries like in Latin America, fighting terrorism became a plausible excuse to exert pressures on civil society groups and other forms of people’s organisations by categorising any form of mass actions as threats to political stability. Malaysia has started the deportation of 600,000 undocumented migrants, mostly Indonesians and Filipinos. Officials say more than 300,000 illegal immigrants have fled or been expelled from Malaysia in recent months, as tough new laws that obligate judges to sentence offenders to caning, prison terms and fines have come into force.

After 11 September, the issue of security emerged as a primary argument of policymakers in Europe to restrict migration. In his working paper Migration Trends and Migration Policy in Europe , Peter Stalker explains that “patterns of immigration are also shaped by government policy, which attempts to control immigration flows in the national interest. At its simplest, this can be seen as an attempt to balance conflicting objectives. On the one hand, governments welcome immigrants as a valuable labour force, either as workers whose skills are in short supply, or as unskilled workers who are prepared to do some of the jobs that native workers shun – the “dirty, dangerous and difficult” tasks. On the other hand, they also try to dissuade immigrants if they consider that they will bring social and political problems and they usually restrict immigration on the grounds of preserving ‘national identity’ or maintaining social stability.”

However, the aspect of security could not be isolated from the prevailing discussion on migration issues. In fact, security has become one of the central themes in the whole issue of migration. This is brought about by the reality that in this age of globalisation and increasingly interdependent economy, political instability in one country has a causal effect on the rest of the world. Therefore, to fully understand migration and its corollary effect on national security issues, it is imperative to analyse it within the context of globalisation and development processes.

In the wake of the events of 11 September 2001, migration issues caught the attention of media and policymakers. In the Netherlands the discourse on migration was subsequently heightened during the recent elections. It has been observed, however, that the emphases of all these discussions are mainly on security issues, the negative impact of migration and how to tighten immigration laws to counter the negative impacts of migration. Migration is most often associated with rising crime, congestion of the inner cities, fraud committed by migrants and refugees on social benefits, pauperisation of a segment of the Dutch society, unemployment, displacement of native-born Dutch when it comes to jobs, illiteracy, and drug and human trafficking. This negative image makes people feel and think that migrants are a threat to the social, economic and political stability of the country. With the tightening of immigration laws and the lack of perspectives of refugees and migrants in their host countries, what measures do we take to ensure that meaningful structural changes would take place in developing countries to regulate migration and to guarantee durable political stability and security? It is against this backdrop that Novib conducted an expert meeting titled Migration, Globalisation and Development: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. The primary reason for this meeting was to improve the quality of the prevailing public discourses on migration.


Objectives

The project intends to conduct an experts’ meeting on 13-14 March 2003 on the theme “Migration, Globalisation and Development: Multidisciplinary Perspectives”.

The objective of the meeting is to gather individuals from different fields of expertise to discuss the real processes and impact of migration and the relationship with globalisation and development.

Specifically, the project aims to allow participants to:

1. come up with coherent multidisciplinary analyses of the issues surrounding migration
2. design a program of action to implement short and long-term goals to address the identified issues


The results of this expert meeting will be used by Novib and others in their advocacy, lobby and partner-related activities with regard to migration issues. The information will likewise be disseminated as wide as possible to influence policymakers in the aim that it will contribute to the conduct of more analytical, impartial, comprehensive and constructive approach to migration issues. The results of the expert meeting would also guide Novib in shaping its future work among migrants and refugees in the Netherlands and in alleviating poverty in the developing countries where most of the migrants and refugees originate. The expert meeting is the culmination of the series of local consultations which Novib conducted among migrant and refugee organisations since 1998 within the framework of Arc Mundi. Novib is responsible for organising the meeting. The Centre for International Development Issues (CIDIN) in the person of Lau Schulpen provides technical advice.


Migration and Globalisation

According to the Centre for Development Research in Copenhagen “contemporary migration may be seen as an effect of globalisation. Globalisation involves a number of related processes, of which the most important are i) the movement of capital, production and goods, ii) the global penetration of new technologies in the form of means of transport, communication and media and iii) regional and transnational political developments and alliances such as the European Union, NAFTA, the European Court of Human Rights, and grassroots politics.” The barriers of capital, goods and information have been eased to a large extent but the passage of people remains restricted. The current state of European borders is illustrative of the trend.

More often than not labour migrants are treated as undesirables or “fortune hunters” and resistance to migratory movement increases as a consequence. It is clear that in the whole of Europe, as a reaction to the globalisation process, the tendency of the policymakers is to come up with more stringent immigration policies to prevent (illegal) migrants coming into the countries. The present centre-right coalition government in the Netherlands has already taken several drastic measures to prevent the influx of migrants to The Netherlands.


Migration is a natural phenomenon. The movement of people from one place to the other in search of safety or in pursuit of a better life is a trend that is as old as mankind itself. Since time immemorial, nation states and modern civilisations have been established through the movement and interaction of people. Immigrants from Europe founded the New World. The Polynesians braved through high seas with their ancient craft and sails and reached the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand and Easter Islands. History tells of many heroic movements of people from the early pioneers, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan to Captain James Cook in search of pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Barter trade and commerce flourished as a result of these voyages but not without adverse socio-economic, cultural and political consequences.

Replacement Migration

If properly managed migration could supplement the labour sector in countries suffering from acute labour shortages. This was true in Western Europe during the period 1960s to late 1970s. The Middle East is highly dependent on foreign workers without which its economy will suffer. Migrants may solve the ageing problem. The low and decreasingly fertile history coupled to a continuous decline in mortality means that all populations have aged rapidly.


In its report Replacement Migration the United Nations Population Division conducted a study into whether replacement migration is a solution to population decline and population ageing. According to the UN Population Division replacement migration refers to the international migration that would be needed to offset declines in the size of a population of working age as well as to offset the overall ageing of a population.

United Nations’ projections indicate that between 1995 and 2050, the population of Japan and virtually all countries of Europe are very likely to decline.

Major findings of this report include:
• In the next 50 years, the populations of most developed countries are expected to decrease and age as a result of low fertility and increased longevity. In contrast, the population of the United States is projected to increase by almost a quarter. Among the countries studied in the report, Italy is projected to register the largest population decline in relative terms, losing 28 per cent of its population between 1995 and 2050 according to the United Nations medium variant projections. The population of the European Union, which in 1995 was larger than that of the United States by 105 million, will be smaller by 18 million in 2050.
• Population decline is inevitable in the absence of replacement migration. Fertility may rebound in the coming decades, but few believe that it will recover sufficiently in most countries to reach replacement level in the foreseeable future.
• Some immigration is needed to prevent population decline in all countries and regions examined in the report. However, the level of immigration in relation to past experience varies greatly. For the European Union, a continuation of the immigration levels observed in the 1990s would roughly suffice to prevent the total population from declining, while for Europe as a whole immigration would need to double. The Republic of Korea would need a relatively modest net inflow of migrants - a major change, however, for a country which has been a net sender until now. Italy and Japan would need to register notable increases in net immigration. In contrast, France, the United Kingdom and the United States would be able to maintain their total population with fewer immigrants than observed in recent years.
• The numbers of immigrants needed to prevent the decline of the total population are considerably larger than those envisioned by the United Nations projections. The only exception is the United States.
• The numbers of immigrants needed to prevent declines in the working-age population are larger than those needed to prevent declines in total population. In some cases, such as the Republic of Korea, France, the United Kingdom or the United States, they are several times larger. If such flows were to occur, post-1995 immigrants and their descendants would represent a strikingly large share of the total population in 2050 - between 30 and 39 per cent in the case of Japan, Germany and Italy.
• Relative to their population size, Italy and Germany would need the largest number of migrants to maintain the size of their working-age populations. Italy would require 6,500 migrants per million inhabitants annually and Germany 6,000. The United States would require the smallest number - 1,300 migrants per million inhabitants per year.
• The levels of migration needed to prevent population ageing are many times larger than the migration streams needed to prevent population decline. Maintaining potential support ratios would, in all cases, entail volumes of immigration entirely out of line with both past experience and reasonable expectations.
• In the absence of immigration, the potential support ratios could be maintained at current levels by increasing the upper limit of the working-age population to roughly 75 years of age.
• The new challenges of declining and ageing populations will require a comprehensive reassessment of many established policies and programmes, with a long-term perspective. Critical issues that need to be addressed include: (a) the appropriate ages for retirement; (b) the levels, types and nature of retirement and health care benefits for the elderly; (c) labour force participation; (d) the assessed amounts of contributions from workers and employers to support retirement and health care benefits for the elderly population; and (e) policies and programmes relating to international migration, in particular replacement migration and the integration of large numbers of recent migrants and their descendants.


However, the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) argued that migration does not solve the ageing problem. According to NIDI, the ageing problem as reported by the UN Population Division does not apply in the Netherlands, at least not for now. The baby boom in 1950s and 1960s has ensured that people between the ages of 20-64 remain active in the labour force until 2010. It will only be in around 2020 that the potential working population begins to decline.

The Netherlands’ Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that there were some 2,775,300 foreigners living in the Netherlands in 2000, or about 17.5% of its total population. Of this number, an estimated 1, 498,775 are from non-western countries, mostly from Africa, Asia and Latin America. While the European Union feverishly debates how to stop migration, hundreds of refugees in search of a better place to live in may well be drowning in the Mediterranean seas, Australia, etc.

The dilemma we face today is the fact that migration flow – labour migrants and refugees - is unstoppable and will increase whether it is regulated or not. Based on the estimates of the International Labour Office (ILO), “the rate of growth of the world’s migrant population more than doubled between the 1960s and the 1990s, reaching 2.6 percent in 1985-1990. There is every indication that this is just the beginning of a trend that will most likely accelerate in the 21st century, driven by a rapid decrease in fertility in the more advanced regions, a higher rate of urbanisation, technological change and the forces of economic integration.

ILO estimates that there are roughly 20 million migrant workers, immigrants and members of their families all over Africa, 18 million in North America, 12 million in Central and South America, 7 million in South and East Asia, 9 million in the Middle East and 30 million across Europe as a whole. In Western Europe alone there are approximately 9 million economically active foreigners along with 13 million dependants.

“Migration is the missing link between migration and development.”

The link between migration and development is another important aspect that deserves important attention. It is generally recognised that international migration and development are closely interconnected. Migration studies conducted in different parts of the world to assess the development impact of migration have produced quite conflicting results, which would make it difficult to draw meaningful general conclusions.

Does migration indeed offer development potential? Experts are divided on this issue as well. Some argue that the ‘brain drain’ is unethical as Western countries deprive developing countries of their best human capital. On the other hand, a huge mass of educated but unemployed and underemployed people in the developing countries does not serve any purpose. Medical specialists for instance could not practice their profession if there are no hospitals in their countries. If they decide to practice in the developed countries, they would have a chance to hone their skills. In the meantime, structural changes must occur in the developing countries to create favourable economic and political condition that would entice them to go back.

In the study conducted by Janamitra Devan and Parth S. Twari of McKinsey & Co. titled “Emerging Markets need not Ignore the Resources and Contributions of their Expatriates when the Best Brains go Abroad” reports the following:

Around the world, approximately a third of the Research and Development professionals of developing countries have left them to work in the Unite States, in member countries of the European Union, or in Japan. As the war for talent heats up, this flow of the brightest from developing countries is likely to increase. Singapore is recruiting in China, India, and Malaysia to fill positions in information technology. Japan forecasts that it will have to import at least 30,000 high-technology workers over the next five years. The Unites States has nearly doubled the annual quota of temporary work visas for foreign professionals – to 195,000 from 115,000.” Germany, through its “Green Card policy, has started hiring IT specialists from abroad, particularly from India.

To harness the development potential of migration, sending countries must not ignore the resources and contributions of their expatriates. To take advantage of the knowledge and capital of the Diaspora, the sending countries need to develop plans to attract expatriate support, such as the creation of networks of emigrants, an infrastructure that enables them to exchange information easily with people in the home country and targeted incentives that generate productive business investments there.


Thailand’s Reverse Brain Drain Project for instance, gives expatriates who want to invest in their home countries information about investment incentives, business and residence regulations, local business seeking foreign joint-venture partners and targeted investment opportunities. In its long commitment to building a market-oriented economy coupled with initiatives such as the creation of a venture capital industry and investments in research and education, Taiwan has prompted many expatriates to return.

In 1999, 70% of China’s US$ 50 billion in foreign direct investment came from Chinese people abroad. Non-resident Indians have deposited US$5.5 billion with the State Bank of India, adding to their home country’s investment capital while the Filipino overseas workers remit an average annual amount of US$ 6.5 billion. Based on ILO studies, migrant workers’ remittances represent the second largest international monetary trade flow, exceeded only by petroleum.

Positive actions like the ones mentioned earlier are hardly tackled during migration debates and discourses. Too much emphasis is given to the negative impact created by migrants and refugees on their host countries such as rising crime, security and the high cost of keeping them. For several years now, large organisations, such as UNCTAD, ILO and IOM, which openly recognise the positive contributions of migrants and refugees, are advocating positive measures to harness the development potential of migrations. However, instead of heeding the calls of the international organisations, European governments are more bent on stopping the flows of migration while espousing trade liberalisation and promote globalisation. This is a one-sided affair.

Migration is a complex issue and there is no one-size fit all policy. It is an extremely complex phenomenon which involves economic, social, demographic and political factors. The expert meeting hopes to analyse critically the many facets of international migration, present best practices, and to possibly come up with a constructive action agenda.

Annex 2. Background paper - Philippine case study

The Impact of Migration on the Sending Country

By I. Bagasao

Allow me to congratulate Novib for having organised this meeting on globalisation, migration and development, themes that have far-reaching implications for millions of peoples world-wide who are working or residing in countries other than their own. It is a privilege to participate in this initiative and hopefully be able to contribute to the discussions and the action agenda. Even from a Philippine perspective, the issues are so wide-ranging that it is physically impossible to cover everything in the time allotted. So what I would like to do today is to present a background to the Philippine migration situation, an overview of the major issues and problems currently facing Filipino migrants in the Philippines and overseas, an analysis and assessment of the strengths, resources and responses that the Philippine government, civil society and the migrants themselves have taken to address these problems and the possible strategies and courses of action that could be employed to tap migrant resources to develop the home country, from the perspective of a migrant advocate and within the context of development cooperation.

Background

Overview of Migration. With an estimated 7.4 million Filipinos working and residing in at least 150 countries world-wide, the Philippines is said to be currently the second largest migrant sending country in the world after Mexico The number of Filipino migrants has increased more than 216 times in 24 years - from 30,000 in 1975, to over 6.5 million in 1999. Whereas before, only relatively small numbers of Filipinos travelled to foreign lands in pursuit of trade and contract employment, a sense of adventure, to seek higher learning or improve one’s skills and profession in more developed countries, Filipinos now migrate in droves and in very large numbers of about 800,000 per year. This represents an average of about 2,500 people being legally processed per day.

Nowadays there are also two types of migrant workers present in large, unprecedented numbers: These are (1) the irregular workers or those who leave the country with the intention of finding work overseas and are able to do so without the proper work permits. (2) More and more women workers have also joined the overseas work force, mostly concentrated in previously non-traditional destinations in Asia, such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Korea, of whom the majority are domestic workers, entertainers, or engaged in semi-skilled or unskilled work. Filipino seafarers now numbering about 300,000 constitute an estimated third of the world merchant marine population.

Remittances. Remittances by the total number of overseas Filipinos around the world are officially recorded at about 7 billion US dollars, although the actual total, if amounts sent through unofficial channels are factored in, could be between 8 and 10 billion and maybe even more. By region, the United States is the leading source of remittances, followed by Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa. The top countries that account for European remittances are the UK, Germany, and Italy, in descending order.

Recruitment Procedures. At present, legal recruitment is done through two main institutions: the government, through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and licensed recruitment agencies and ship-manning agents who charge fees for the service. Labour export has likewise spawned the trafficking and illegal recruitment of Filipinos for the global sex trade, marriage through the so-called mail order brides, the entertainment industry and domestic work. Sometimes, even overseas Filipinos themselves, in collaboration with Philippine recruiters participate in the recruitment process by providing employment networks or facilitating the entry process of domestic workers.

Monetary Costs of Migration. The total cost of migration, which may include documentation fees, passports, contributions to the migrant fund, recruitment fees and facilitation fees depending on the legitimacy of the recruitment process, could range from about P25,000 to about P300, 000. (Fast Facts on Filipino Labour Migration, Kanlungan Center Foundation, 1998) For instance, a migrant leaving for Taipei would be expected to pay about P125,000, while a migrant leaving as a tourist for Italy, or other countries in Europe reportedly pays his recruiters about P300,000, which includes the cost of ticket, visa, and facilitation expenses.

How did the Philippine situation get to where it is now?

Factors affecting Migration

Push Factors

Studies have indicated that there are both pull and push factors. In the Philippines, I would like to classify the push factors into three broad types: poor economic conditions, political unrest and perceptions. They might also be considered to be both man-made and natural, or internal and external.

Economic. In the last three decades, the Philippines has gone through periods of internal and external destabilising developments that have greatly influenced the economic situation it finds itself at present. These consisted of economic crisis situations attributable to corruption and cronyism, massive capital flight and a foreign debt crisis, followed by boom and bust cycles that slowed down growth, and structural adjustments. Activities such as mining and quarrying, garments and textiles and some of the promising exports in the 1980s have been on the decline, while low-wage countries such as China, India and Bangladesh were taking exports away. The slump in the coconut, sugar and other agro-based products world-wide affected large sections of households and communities in the rural areas. The lack of unemployment benefits and restricted social welfare and safety nets has caused massive suffering especially among the lower income and middle income groups. (Lim, J., The Economy in a Globalised setting, State and the Market, 1998)

The growth period from 1994 to 1996 involved a fascination with achieving NIC status in the shortest possible time using quick portfolio money which could not be supported by institutions. While growth rates were registered, it was unequal growth. There is a huge gap between the poorest 40% and the richest 10% of the 74 million Filipinos, which worsened during the last quarter of 1998, as 2799 firms closed down in the aftermath of the Asian crisis.” The unemployment rate also rose to almost 11% towards the end of 1998, as 150,000 workers lost their jobs. The underemployment rate increased to almost 24%. (Asian Migrant Yearbook, AMC, 1998)


The Philippines is grappling with a huge external debt that now reportedly stands at about 5,288 trillion pesos and for which about 30% of the national budget is earmarked annually. As will be explained later, globalisation has exacerbated the economic situation.

Political. The Philippines has gone through political upheavals, foremost of which was a long and repressive martial law regime whose legacies of corruption and cronyism, violation of human rights, and the disintegration of moral values and the work ethic, are still being felt to this day. Governments that have followed have also proven inadequate or inept in solving the political and economic problems of the country. The Philippines has also shown itself weak or accommodating to international political and economic pressure, depending mainly on big business and foreign investment to trickle down into jobs and livelihood opportunities. In the past five years, the Philippines has been the showcase of excessive politics including a second popular uprising that resulted in the impeachment of a President. Political patronage has also spawned the breakdown of law and order, corruption, near anarchic conditions and the disintegration of the work ethic.

The war in Mindanao, in the Southern Philippines, which has been going on sporadically for three decades now, has caused the massive physical and economic displacement of persons, the destruction and loss of business and livelihood, and a drain on the national budget due to military spending. Losses in investor confidence and tourism are immeasurable.

Even natural disasters had a hand. Typhoons, earthquakes, and a volcanic eruption of global proportions, and semi-natural disasters such as floods and droughts have resulted in the destruction or loss of property, income and infrastructure, lives and displaced people.

Perceptions. All these have contributed to a highly negative perception among Filipinos that the only way to a better quality of life is to live and work abroad. Pulse Asia issued a survey last year that purported to show that 1 out of 5 Filipinos wanted to leave and work overseas. This perception is reinforced by a media that sensationalises the negative aspect of current events. But the most powerful factor that probably influences perception, are the large houses, real estate, appliances, signature items, cellular phones, and other perks that people see have been the result of working overseas.

Pull Factor

Wage Differentials

Much has been said about the draining of skilled professionals by developed countries from sending countries which shouldered the cost of educating them. The most recent example of this is in the nursing and care sector for which there is now a massive demand in affluent countries like the US and Canada, maybe even the UK. Caregiver Jobs Clearinghouse, a US based website, advertises that the US presently needs to fill about 100,000 positions and 800,000 over the next seven years. A recent article suggests the reasons for the high demand are both the result of the internationalisation of contract hiring for cheap labour and the preference of the insurance companies for home care which is cheaper than hospitalisation, a result of the privatisation of the health sector in developed sectors under a globalised regime.

According to the Philippine secretary of health, “with the average monthly salary of a nurse in the Philippines of P5,000, which is 3 times lower than a nursing aide in the US (at USD18 per hour) or 17 times lower than that earned by a caregiver in Ontario, Canada (at USD7.85 per hour), it is not hard to understand why Filipino nurses, doctors and other (medical related) professionals are leaving the country at a rate of more than 10,000 annually. “(Migrant Watch Special Report).

We are now seeing the exodus not only of nurses, but also of doctors who are undergoing a one-year special course for registered nurses so they can qualify under the program. Besides jeopardising the country’s health situation these developments reflect the problems of brain drain and de-skilling.

At the lower end of the spectrum, a survey carried out in Southern Philippines involving 123 migrant contractual workers in three urban poor areas indicated that the typical income of an unskilled worker was P2,500 (US68 at the rate of US1 to Php37) prior to migration and had ballooned to as high as Php39,999 (US1,081), or an increase of about 1,589 percent. (Empowering Filipino Migrant Workers, DFA Final Report, 2002)

Globalisation

How does globalisation come into the picture? What is its effect on development? Globalisation exacerbates a number of already poor economic conditions such as:

a. Unemployment and Underemployment. Many Philippine economists point to the fact that globalisation and liberalisation have contributed to the marginalisation of local industries, and has resulted in a loss of employment and the introduction of new modes of labour contracting and casualisation that offer no job security or benefits. (Sta. Ana, F., The State and the Market, Essays on a Socially Oriented Economy, 1998) In that sense, globalisation could be said to be the indirect though proximate cause of migration.

b. Agriculture. The same economists have also attributed to it the stonewalling of an already stymied land reform program, through its advocating the promotion of cash crops for export that will supposedly generate more profits for farmers but which presupposes expensive farm inputs. Cheap imports of agricultural products that have been dumped in the Philippines have affected the livelihood of millions of farmers who depend solely on their crops for survival, as correctly predicted earlier. (Stalker, P., The Impact of Globalisation on Migration, quoting Oxfam) The concept of globalisation has also prompted the massive conversions of prime agricultural land both as a result of the lucrative real estate market in the early 90s and also to make way for special economic zones, and the residential subdivisions, golf courses and recreation centres that serve the needs of those working in these zones assigned to the assembly line of re-exports. Although a few displaced people have been absorbed by jobs in these zones, many of the farmers who have either been enticed or pressured to sell their lands, have joined the ranks of the unemployed rural poor and used the money for consumption purposes or for migrating abroad.

c. Privatisation. The concept of privatisation as advocated by strong proponents of liberalisation such as the World Bank and the ADB, particularly in the energy and water industries, has resulted in higher energy and water prices that are shouldered by industry and ultimately by consumers, many of whom are already reeling from excessive poverty.

Push-Back Factor. In contrast to the pull factor there is a push-back factor where host countries go into an economic slowdown as a result of global economic forces and are forced to cut back on imported labour, as happened during the Asian currency crisis when there were an estimated 900,000 deportations of migrants of different nationalities from the NICs affected by the recession. Nationalist or political motives, such as the deportations of Filipinos from Sabah in 2002, or the Saudisation or Emiratisation of jobs in the Middle East may also motivate some push back factors.

Threats: The WTO and GATS. In the meantime, the group of developed countries in the WTO, particularly the Cairns group, are forcing a new round of talks in Cancun, where they are expected to impose further unequal treatment for agricultural products. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) will have a direct effect on migration. A recent leak revealed that the EU now wants to get developing countries to open up completely or substantially in the service sector, a sector which includes legal services, accounting and bookkeeping, telecommunications, construction and engineering services, maritime transport and environmental services (Bello, W. Business Week, December 2002)


Major problems and concerns


Workplace Related

Violence. There have been quite a number of reported and unreported cases of violence resulting in death, physical and sexual abuse, or maltreatment. These cases have mostly taken place in countries employing large numbers of women engaged in domestic work or entertainment. Having legal status is no guarantee of security from such abuses, although those without documents are considered more vulnerable and in addition have no health insurance or job security. The countries in question include Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East countries where there are large concentrations of migrants in vulnerable occupations.

Labour Exploitation. Although there are exceptions, there have been many reports of migrant workers in jobs characterised by low wages, long work hours, illegal demands and deductions from salaries and excessive levies. Again this seems to affect women engaged in domestic work or low-skilled occupations and workers without documents more. Many have hesitated to report abuses for fear of losing their jobs, or their life, but there are also cases of migrants who could no longer bear the abuse and have run away and sought refuge with friends or the Philippine diplomatic post. In Geneva, where our organisation provides counselling for migrants in distress, we have monitored at least 30 cases of Filipino women who escaped from their Middle Eastern employers when they were brought to Geneva during the summer. Their tales are common - physical, verbal or sexual abuse, long working hours serving not only their principal employers but also their parents, grandparents and other households in return for salaries as low as USD 150.00.In Taiwan, where recruitment agents are authorised to deduct certain percentages from migrants’ salaries supposedly as forced savings, there are reports that many workers are not able to recover these amounts before they return to the Philippines because the companies have been discontinued or their officers have run away with the money or could not be located.



Policy-related

Lack of Protective Mechanisms. There are bilateral labour agreements between the Philippines and a few host countries, but these serve mainly as guidelines, recommendations or procedures for recruitment and seldom have anything to do with the enforcement and compliance with fair labour laws in workplaces. Although host countries have ratified a number of ILO conventions, there are still gaps either in getting national legislation in place, in enforcement, or in flagrant discrimination of migrants in host countries. There is a Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families which is still awaiting complete ratification by the 20th country. The fact that no migrant receiving country has signed it indicates the unwillingness of said countries to subject their immigration laws to international scrutiny.


Inherent Difficulty in Protecting Filipinos Abroad. Although a law was passed by the Philippine congress in 1995 that mandates comprehensive mechanisms aimed at protecting Filipino migrants, there is an inherent problem in enforcing it beyond Philippine jurisdiction. A very good example of this is a common practice in Middle Eastern Countries called ‘contract substitution’ whereby a work contract is signed in the Philippines specifying minimum wage levels and other terms mandated by the government only to be substituted by a new contract when the worker arrives at the overseas destination, which contract specifies wages and other terms lower or less favourable than the government approved terms. As a result, a large number of migrants who could not bear the abuses are driven to abandon their employers and seek refuge with friends or the Philippine Embassies. (Empowering Filipino Migrant Workers, DFA, 2002) Very recently, vigilant Filipino NGOs in Saudi Arabia assailed a new agreement reportedly signed between the Saudi Arabia National Recruitment Commission (Sanarcom) and some Philippine deployment agencies, evidently made without consulting Philippine labour officials, introducing a ‘unified contract’ that is required of all workers seeking work in the kingdom. The contract reportedly gives a freehand to employers and recruiters to impose terms and conditions lower than Philippine standards and in effect legitimises ‘contract substitution’ and criminalises acts carried out by migrants who flee abusive employers. The track record of government in enforcing contractual labour rights is not that encouraging, as it seems to fear losing lucrative labour markets to other nationalities that may offer cheaper wages and thus do not have the leverage to negotiate better conditions and terms of work for migrants. The policy in Philippine migrant law that the government must not send workers to countries where workers do not have adequate protection could not be implemented because the Philippines could not absorb workers who are entering or re-entering the labour force.


Excessive numbers. As I mentioned earlier, the numbers are excessive and the resources scant. In the Middle East alone and the UAE, there are more than a million Filipinos, many of whom are scattered or located in faraway work camps. In Japan the estimated stock is about 140,000 Filipino migrant workers with about 37,544 estimated to be overstaying and of irregular status (Cabilao, M., Studies on Filipino Labour Migration to Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, Philippine Foreign Service Institute, 1998). In 1993, there were an estimated 60,200 migrant workers in Singapore, 94% of whom were women domestic helpers. In Malaysia, based on the figures of the Philippine labour office in Malaysia, there are some 360,750 Filipinos in peninsular or West Malaysia.
Of this figure, 49,000 are documented while the rest are undocumented. Sabah is another special case, where Filipino migrants are mostly those who had gone for barter trade in the 1970s, or fled to escape the secessionist war in Mindanao. The Philippine labour office reveals that as of July 1996 there have been about 10,000 undocumented Filipino household workers in Sabah, although the unofficial estimate by the same labour office hovers between 300,000 and 500,000.


Social Costs.

Studies, including widespread anecdotal evidence shows the powerful and deleterious impact on the family of separation and absence of one or both parents from the country in question. Such developments lead to the break-up of families, early marriages, drug abuse, infidelity, and an excessive dependence by families on remittances from abroad. The problem is not only that families are broken up. As families and communities break up, so do cultures and social ties that bind communities and ultimately the whole country. Not only has the concept of nation-state lost its meaning under the new economic regime, even the internal fabric that binds a nation’s citizens is in the process of disintegration.

A 1995 study by advertising company McCann Erickson focused national attention on the impact of migration on young Filipinos. The study cited that children of Filipino migrant workers were more likely to engage in premarital sex and substance abuse than other young people. “(Estopace, D, Issues and Concerns on Labour Migration in the Philippines: Inputs for Media Reportage, 7 Dec 2002) Kakammpi, a Filipino NGO that runs study centres for children left behind or abandoned by their migrant parents, maintains that there is a dearth of data on the number of children left behind, but offers a formula that estimates some 5 million of them. (Ibid) However, Atikha, another Philippine based NGO maintains that these are also the same children that could become migrants in the near future, as government policies that tend to make labour export permanent could leave a widespread perception that overseas work is the way forward. Alternatively, as has been the case to date, ageing migrant parents could mould their own children as their replacements. According to Atikha, it appears that the whole town is engaged in widespread recruitment of their residents for Italy. It was observed that some 10 to 12 year olds are sent to Rome for vacation and after two weeks are goaded into work in lieu of education.

Special Context - Seafarers

Filipino seafarers constitute more than 70% of the total number of seafarers directly and indirectly employed by European shipping states. They also make up between a quarter and a third of the merchant marine crews world-wide.


Although in relative terms they are more highly paid than their land-based counterparts, the occupation itself is vulnerable as it is highly contractual and offers no job security. For example, claims for injuries may be ignored and wages withheld, particularly by unscrupulous ship owners who fly flags of convenience which mean that poor countries rent out their flags to real ship owners who are based in developed countries. 80% of salaries are retained or sent back automatically to their families by the manning agents, although remittances are usually delayed.


Tapping the development potential of migration

Remittances as a Resource. Remittances are probably the most potent resource of migrants that could be tapped for development. They are sent on a regular basis and in huge amounts that frequently dwarf foreign direct investments. They are also net capital inflows that cost the government nothing. Commercial banks profit from remittances in three ways: through remittance fees, profits on rates of exchange and through floating remittances. Remittances are already definitely earmarked for household expenses and other items and savings could be the last priority. How then could these remittances be channelled for productive use? It would be naïve to try to convert all migrants into entrepreneurs. Besides, there are serious obstacles that lie in the way of initiatives that are intended to tap the development potential of migration, foremost of which are the ever-present structural problems, including the aforementioned adverse effects of globalisation. Getting migrant resources to influence development in the home country almost equals an attempt to solve the country’s economic problems.

Among the measures advocated by economists who promote safety nets to assist sectors marginalised or excluded by globalisation, and to which migrant-related development initiatives might be directed are:

(1) The increasing of domestic savings and investments,

(2) The retooling and retraining of labour with new multidimensional skills that will enable them to cope with a global environment,

(3) Counteracting the negative cultural and psychological effects of a fast-paced and materialistic global regime through education that emphasises human and social values, and

(4) The increased participation of civil society and non-governmental organisations not only in lobbying government for correct policies, but also directly in community development and livelihood programs and in the facilitation of alternative trade and international links and assistance. (Lim, J., The Economy in a globalised setting, The State and the Market)


Philippine Government Response

Tapping the development potential of migration needs the leadership and strong commitment by government. This is clear from cases such as Mexico, certain Latin American countries, Portugal, South Korea, Taiwan and now India. The governments in these countries have responded to migrant initiatives or have taken it upon themselves to introduce programs and incentives to encourage their expatriate nationals to bring back capital, skills and technology to develop their home countries.


These examples could be replicated in the Philippines, and might consist of any or both of the following processes that are already being started:

(1) Reintegration, or the preparation of its migrants, particularly those who have limited contracts abroad, to save and use their savings for investment in a source of livelihood upon their return.
(2) Programs to mobilise and encourage more migrant savings and investments and redirection and use of remittances for the amelioration of specific troubled enterprises, displaced labour and countryside development that could resuscitate and develop local economies-the so called multiplier effect of migration.

It is almost 30 years since the Philippine government started promoting the exportation of Philippine labour, but its responses to both has been almost nil compared to what needs to be done.

The reintegration programs started by OWWA in the late 1980s consisting of small livelihood loans to returnees, skills training, and scholarship programs for migrant children, have proved ineffective or amateurish (Bohning, W. R., The Impact of the Asian crisis on Filipino employment prospects abroad, ILO-Seapat, 1998) In 1998, the Migrant Workers Law Congress passed laws that mandated the establishment of Re-placement and Monitoring Centres to assist returned workers to find new employment and a livelihood. However, the organisation exists only on paper (ibid) and has operated simply as a referral centre. (Empowering Filipino Migrant Workers, Final working paper, 2001) The OWWA has billions of funds from migrant contributions which it is administering and investing and this money could have been used for this purpose.

In 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs conducted two assessment missions in Japan and Hong Kong to launch a migrant economic empowerment program and a possible flotation of US dollar denominated bonds as a viable savings alternative for migrants. In 2002, the Department of Labour and Employment created a new post of Under-secretary for Reintegration to improve reintegration services. It is still too early to evaluate these initiatives.

Ironically, it is a small and under-funded agency of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), that has programs which capture the true essence of effective repatriation of migrants’ resources, skills and technology for the development of the Philippines.

Through their Linkapil program, they have managed to repatriate and mobilise donations of money, technical, medical and infrastructure assistance to needy areas which donations have amounted to more than 1 billion pesos over the past ten years. (Post conference Assessment Report, ERCOF conference, April 2002)


Responses from Migrant NGOs

NGOs have been more vigorous in addressing development problems through lobbying for economic and political reforms to address the poverty situation. Migrant NGOs have also been more forthcoming than the government in starting initiatives and programs for the greater protection of Filipino migrants, as well as the effective repatriation of migrant resources for development.

Reintegration. NGOs, such as the Hong Kong based Asian Migrant Center in Hong Kong, and Philippine based NGOs such as Unladkabayan, Atikha and Balikkabayani, have pioneered the formation of migrant savings groups in Hong Kong, Italy and Japan, which have consequently invested the accumulated savings in enterprises of their choice within their regions or hometown. Their programs prescribe the formation of values, the culture of savings, entrepreneurial skills and the preparation for the migrant’s return or reintegration to Philippine society.
These groups have also been strong advocates and have lobbied vigorously, both in host and sending countries, for the protection of migrant rights on general and specific issues. Although Filipino-led, the Asian Migrant Centre has also been joined by Indians, Bangladeshi, Indonesian and other migrant nationalities.

Filipino Migrant networks in Europe, Asia, the United States, Japan, and the Middle East and other parts of the world have used E-groups and the internet for networking, monitoring of abuses, advocacy with regard to the interests of Overseas Filipinos and the linkaging of migrant initiatives for development of rural communities. For instance, an E-group running a rural IT literacy campaign, composed of Filipino IT professionals called Fil-IT group, collects used computers, books and peripherals and sends them to the Philippines to various beneficiaries in rural areas. The recent law signed by our President allowing Overseas Filipinos to vote in Philippine elections by 2004, a constitutional right which Congress had denied Overseas Filipinos for the past 13 years, could not have been passed without the vigorous lobbying work carried out by migrant communities. Courses on investments, business skills and enterprise formation, are being taught in various countries such as in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, mainly through the initiative of the private sector.

Media. The OFW Journalism Consortium comprises a pool of journalists who are engaged in research, analysis and publication of in-depth issues on migration. They cover a wide range of migration issues not usually written by the mainstream press.


Preparing a Conducive Environment to maximise migrant resources for development

Consultations with migrant communities, various studies and anecdotal evidence on savings and investment choices have revealed to us the following issues:

(1) Failed Migrant businesses. A large number of small businesses started by migrants with the intention of eventually making the families self-sufficient or preparing an alternative livelihood upon their return, have failed due to the lack of business skills and values, and sometimes dishonesty on the part of family members or friends entrusted with their management.
(2) Passive Investments. Migrants’ earnings for savings and investment are heavily influenced by the migrants’ level of income and education, as well as the actual needs of the family left behind. Those with higher education and more experience may sometimes invest in stocks and money market placements, but many still opt for secure but passive investments such as time deposits, treasury bills, real estate, or jewellery.
(3) Legal Problems. Large numbers of migrants, at least in the communities we met in Europe, have legal problems in the Philippines, several involving members of their family (drug problems, criminal offences, domestic quarrels, broken marriages) which have exacted heavy financial and psychological burdens on the migrant due to a lack of information or access to legal services. Impulse or absentee buying of certain real estate investments that turned out to be unproductive, bogus or problematic also account for a number of such legal cases.

(4) Conducive Investment Climate. A question is inevitably asked, “ Why are you asking us to invest in the Philippines when everyone, foreigners and Filipinos alike are leaving because it is not a safe place to invest? It is a sensible question that is difficult to answer. Asking migrants to part with their hard earned money carries with it a burden of responsibility on the advocate’s part to help ensure that, in the event they do so, they are making an informed decision and that there are sufficient monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the investment climate is safe and viable.

I would like to share with you how our organisation has approached this whole idea of tapping migration’s development potential. First it has attempted to address the concerns just mentioned through personal and Internet networking. We have set up a website (www.ercof.org) where migrants with access to computers can ask for guidance and assistance on business, finance, investment and legal problems. When resources permit, we conduct forums or one-on-one counselling, but ultimately refer the parties to our links and partners in the Philippines. These links are community-based financial and micro finance institutions, lawyers with expertise in various fields, government agencies and migrant NGOs. Our website also contains a section on legal questions frequently asked by migrants, which we intend to develop, publish and disseminate as a migrant’s legal manual sometime this year. Resources can be maximised by helping migrants to make informed decisions about spending.

In order to carry out a scan of the environment, we convened an international conference in April last year in the city of Davao in Mindanao, on the theme of the Economic Linkaging of Overseas Filipinos and the Rural Communities in the Philippines. Close to 150 participants from various sectors-individual and networks of NGOs, People’s Organisations, Confederations of Rural banks, micro finance institutions, Overseas Filipino organisations from 10 countries and seafarers and women’s organisations discussed and exchanged ideas and information on how overseas Filipino remittances and resources could be transferred and converted in order to improve development work in the Philippines. This also generated an opportunity to discuss basic migration issues and engage in confidence building, not only with government agencies involved in the delivery of services to migrants but also those that deal with issues related directly to economic development, such as the National Anti Poverty Commission, the Department of Trade, Finance and Agriculture, whose heads of offices or representatives were present.


At the end of the day, an action agenda was formulated, and a technical working group (TWG) was formed by people from the sectors represented whose task was to implement the agenda. This conference was supported by various organisations including the Office of our President, but I would like to take this occasion to issue a public word of thanks to the Dutch organisations Novib, Cordaid and Mama Cash, who were the first ones to support the conference.

Resources and distance have limited the TWG to working on some simple but effective long-term tools for linkaging. Although this is still work in progress, I nevertheless wanted to share some thoughts on these:

- The forming of an E-group through which the exchange of information and materials on savings, investments and economic matters in the Philippines that concern migrants are discussed and disseminated among different members.
- Databases of overseas Filipino organisations and support organisations in the Philippines.
- Database of the range of savings and investment instruments as well as access to micro finance in the Philippines that could be availed of by overseas Filipinos or their families.
- Linking with other Overseas Filipino organisations pursuing programs for the IT linking of Baranggays (the smallest political unit in the Philippines).
IT, which is itself a tool of globalisation, could be utilised for example by the farmers cooperatives to give quick and accurate feedback on market prices of their crops.

Ercof strategy. The strategy of Ercof and the TWG is to mobilise migrant savings and investments and influence its use to support countryside development and the informal sector. We are currently identifying viable alternative arrangements and mechanisms whereby savings are deposited in community-based financial institutions such as rural banks and institutions engaged in microfinance. Two years ago, a consortium of Philippine rural banks went into partnership with a Hong Kong-based NGO to handle remittances for Filipinos using Western Union facilities. During the first year of operations, about 2 billion pesos were processed which were remitted by migrant Filipinos in Hong Kong and claimed by beneficiaries from the participating rural banks. The only problem was that the banks only facilitated and earned commissions from the transactions. It would have been better for a savings component to have been incorporated so that portions of that 2 billion could have formed part of the portfolio of the rural banks for re-lending activities to small enterprises. Since banking was liberalised in 1995, large commercial banks have eaten into their already limited market as their provincial branches siphon off deposits by rural people to their urban headquarters for re-lending to big business. Rural-based banks have also been affected by liberalisation and need support.


Why the informal sector? First because it absorbs all the victims of globalisation - displaced workers, forced retirees, educated unemployed, etc. “ (Yuzon, I., The Informal Labour Sector Amidst Globalisation, as quoted in Intersect Magazine, June 2002) Second, because it is ‘the womb’ of small entrepreneurs. Self-employment and small scale entrepreneurship is the coping mechanism of poor countries in the era of accelerated globalisation. Third, because the active promotion of rural industrialisation will complement informal sector entrepreneurship (ibid)



Tripartite/counterparting mechanism. To pursue a strategy of rural development reform with the participation of migrant workers. Ercof and its TWG are in the planning stage as regards the convening of a small conference in Manila sometime in the mid year involving (1) Overseas Filipino and seafarer organisations that have existing or potential economic linkaging projects, (2) Local Government Units (LGUs) and (3) Development Agencies. The conference is going to discuss a tripartite partnership with each party coming up with their own contributions or counterparts. For every unit of capital or material inflow by Overseas Filipinos into a community (savings, investments, or material donations) the LGU concerned will put up its counterpart in the form of cash, fiscal incentives, property or infrastructure. Development agencies who may wish to participate in the program could also come up with their own counterparts such as capital support for rural infrastructure or capability building. We have already identified a number of migrant linked projects that need support and will be inviting their representatives to make their respective presentations and participate in the needs assessment, in the presence of LGUs and development agencies. The objective is for these migrant stakeholders to be able to pilot the counterparting scheme soon after the conference and assuming that we are able to obtain commitments from the stakeholders. I would like to take this opportunity to ask the participants present here, particularly those who are present in the Philippines, to join us at this meeting.


The Role of Micro finance

The question has been asked: “Is there a role for micro finance institutions in linking informal remittances to development? “ (Puri and Ritzema, Migrant worker Remittances, Micro-finance and the Informal Economy: Prospects and Issues, ILO, 1999)
The answer is ‘Absolutely’. In fact, our organisation is currently negotiating a partnership with a nation-wide network of micro finance cooperatives and NGOs, for the mobilization of migrant investments in micro finance activities. Micro finance helps more marginalised people more directly and quicker than foreign direct investments. It also awakens or instils a spirit of industry and work among the people. An investment of say a hundred thousand pesos (about Euro 2,000), given the usual 2 micro finance cycles of 6 months each, could in one year directly benefit about 20 micro entrepreneurs. The estimated return on this investment is comparable to the highest offered by commercial banks and is also safe because our potential partner has a bank, the first micro finance bank registered and therefore monitored and regulated by our Central Bank. The network has a training institute for micro entrepreneurs which, together with the bank, could give guidance to family members of migrants who may wish to go into business. The lack of such guidance has been one reason for the failures of businesses started by migrants. In short, this partnership has all the components to support the effective linkaging of migrants with their communities, through investments that are safe and viable and which contribute to the formation of social capital.


Conclusions

In some ways it would be better to explain many of the prescriptions and issues I have mentioned here to a Philippine audience, particularly one including the Philippine government. However, a lot could certainly be achieved through strong advocacy and support by development agencies. As the song goes, “Yes, we can get by with a little help from our friends.” To my mind, one of the ways by which development cooperation could be best felt is in the area of strong and more vigorous advocacy work aimed at the selective and prudent application of immigration laws. This has proven very difficult since September 11 and in fact I almost did not make it here because Filipinos have been put on a special monitoring list. Even our ambassadors and diplomats have to wait one week instead of one hour to obtain a Schengen visa. Of course, I refer mostly to the laws in host countries which exclude and restrict migrants, particularly the irregular ones, from basic social services such as health, legal assistance, or discourage or disallow them from forming cooperatives or other self-help organisations and even access the formal banking system that could facilitate economic activities and encourage savings instead of consumption. Linking irregular migrant labour to host country mainstream labour organisations has also been tried by a trade union with some success in Europe. It resulted in the standardisation of wages in the construction industry through the so-called posting directives. A similar initiative is now being tried in Asia for irregular construction workers using a similar strategy.

I know that due to the effects of 11 September there has been an increased restriction on the sending of money, particularly those watchlisted by the intergovernmental body on money laundering or the FATF, which again includes sanctions against the Philippines that could delay the sending of remittances.

Maybe this meeting could come up with alternative but legally sanctioned ways of remittance that could reduce costs, and better still, could channel remittances directly to community-based financial institutions. Irregular workers are still looking for a safe and secure remittance system. What about an international migrant savings card they could use to be administered and operated by a conglomeration of international bodies, development agencies and banks?

Programmes of the EU indicate its realisation that a policy that aims to control immigration does not offer a long-term solution. Efforts have been made to link various aspects of Union policies and those of member countries in the fields of international migration, development cooperation, trade and human rights, including development aid to reduce poverty in the countries of origin. Efforts have not worked effectively with regard to reintegration programs involving refugees who have refused to return to their countries despite incentives. It takes a long time to rehabilitate countries ravaged by war and civil strife. However, economic reintegration programs for economic migrants could work.

I can draw inspiration from the Society for International Development (SID) Netherlands Chapter and the Declaration of The Hague on the Future of Refugee and Migration Policy, which to the best of my knowledge, captures comprehensively, from an international rights perspective, the issues on migration, and offers fresh insights, particularly on the beneficial effects of migration, on which host countries could reflect on. Truly, migrants contribute not only to the country that they left behind, but also to the host countries, in more ways than these countries would be willing to admit, and probably for the same reasons why sending countries need migration.

Summary

Citing the Philippines as a case study, Ildefonso F. Bagasao, Chair of the Geneva-based Economic Resource Centre for Overseas Filipinos (ERCOF), presented a comprehensive perspective of how the interplay of globalisation, migration and development has affected the quantity and the character of migration trends, making the Philippines a sending country with the second highest number of migrants in the world. Bagasao illustrated how the problematic consequences brought about by migration, such as human rights violations, the brain drain and the social costs seem to outweigh the positive benefits. The Philippine civil society and migrant organisations, including ERCOF, are trying and are making progress towards the introduction of programs that will foster greater economic links with their home country through savings, microfinance, investment and philanthropic activities in their own communities. The focus is also on how these organisations can engage their own government to institute policy reforms that will enhance the more productive use of migrant remittances. He appealed to development agencies and policymakers in receiving countries to study ways on how the positive benefits of migration could be maximised through programs that advocate better rights protection for migrants.


Some issues emerging from the discussion

• It should be kept in mind that it is not always clear whether a country is ‘sending’ or ‘receiving’. Some countries, like Mexico, are both.
• Example of entrepreneurship: Rural banks in micro-finance help local industries change - even from being marginal businesses to becoming exporting ones. Micro-finance is a quicker way to help local industries than, for example, the trickle down of foreign investments. It can also help migrants.
• According to Bagasao, most migrants would prefer to stay in their own countries but they are forced by different circumstances to migrate. Returning to their countries of origin will always stay in their minds.
• Many doctors leave the Philippines to work in Western countries. What is the impact of that in the Philippines and what happens to the medical sector of that country when they return and start private practices? Migration might be good for the individual, but is it good for the country as a whole as well? According to Bagasao, migration has a negative impact on the medical sector in the Philippines. It remains unclear whether more people are entering employment the medical sector because of the demand from Western countries.
• The regulation of migration will ensure the application of the rule of law by states.
• How do we make sure that a migration policy will be clear and transparent? And what do we do if there is no such policy?