Migration Myths vs. Economic Facts

Feb 26, 2019 Mahmoud Mohieldin , Dilip Ratha

World Bank data show that migration flows are increasing – a trend that is set to continue. Fragmented migration policies shaped by popular myths cannot manage this process effectively, much less seize the opportunities to spur development that migration creates.

WASHINGTON, DC – On December 19, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, with 152 votes in favor, five votes against, and 12 abstentions. Supporters hailed the Compact as a step toward more humane and orderly management of migration, yet opposition remains formidable.

The Compact is not a legally binding treaty, nor does it guarantee new rights for migrants. In fact, the Compact’s 23 objectives were drafted on the basis of two years of inclusive discussions and six rounds of negotiations, focused specifically on creating a framework for international cooperation that would not interfere excessively in countries’ domestic affairs.

Because of misunderstandings about the Compact, it is worth taking a closer look at the migration challenge – and the vast benefits that a well-managed system can bring to host countries and home countries alike.

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Mahmoud Mohieldin

Writing for PS since 2011
26 Commentaries

Mahmoud Mohieldin is the World Bank Group Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships. He is a former minister of investment of Egypt.

Dilip Ratha

Writing for PS since 2014
2 Commentaries

Dilip Ratha is head of the World Bank Migration and Remittances Unit and Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development.

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B Wilds Mar 1, 2019

The debate of what people "deserve" and whether those who have it should share is not new. Whether a person has landed in a place of plenty by luck or worked their way in by cunning or toil it is something to be valued.

Borders are a creation of man and men set the rules as to who crosses them and on what terms. While it may seem unfair to exclude or deny individuals this right we must remember that life is unfair and this is a reality of life. More on an immigrant's right to enter a world of plenty in the article below.

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2018/07/immigrants-right-to-enter-land-of-plenty.html
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Paul Friesen Feb 26, 2019

I am sure that, when the history of our time is written in a couple of hundred years, the barriers that today's rich countries trow up to migration will be seen in much the same way as we view slavery today. Today, we can hardly fathom how so many people could have regarded slavery as right, and justified, and necessary. And yet it was so regarded. Mainstream opinion in the American South was just like that.

In two hundred years, I expect that people will be able to look back at our time as we look back at slavery. They will be able to view us with at least a bit of objectivity. And the barriers which industrialized, rich countries put up to keep people out of the industrial clusters which they want to keep all to themselves are going to be viewed as every bit as unfair and unjustified and selfish and harmful as slavery. Today's industrialized countries are not that way because their inhabitants are smarter or harder-working than anybody else. The only reason they have so much is that industry tends to create and attract more industry, for many reasons. The result is that those countries that happened to industrialize early have a huge advantage. To those who have, more is given.

Today, mainstream opinion in rich countries is that the barriers they put up are justified. Never mind that they condemn millions to lives of poverty in a world that could easily give everybody a decent life. Never mind the suffering, death, and starvation into which those barriers force so many people. Slavery forced people to work themselves to death. Today, we put up barriers to prevent people from working - to keep them away from jobs that they could be doing - to keep them from contributing. The future will judge us, just as we judge those who promoted and used and tolerated slavery.
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