THIRD WORLD MIGRATION: A CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE FOR AFRICA'S GROWTH

When my younger and only sibling sister flew out to the United States of America in the fall of 2008, I did not know that her departure would have such a telling effect on the family structure and family relations.  I am a Kenyan from a lower middle class family. This during good times guarantees some basic necessities like decent housing, decent private education and some form of financial security. But humans we are, we dream, we dream about grand openings where we are going to expand our horizons, test our limits and be bigger tomorrow than what we are today.

My parents decided that they were going to give my sister a chance to go for the American dream. Everybody the world over envies the Americans, well they have their dreams and everybody else wants to share their dream. Well I to wanted a piece of the American dream but my ill luck of failing to secure an  American Visa has banished me to a  local public university called Maseno, sort of shelved the desire to go after the American dream for later.

My sister though is the lucky type, got her Visa alright, but that was after imploring on our generally more endowed kinsmen to help us with their healthy financial statements and notarized affidavits stating that they will shoulder her financial expenses, quite a formality this is. We had to rely on African good neighborliness in order to finance her air fare tickets and her tuition fees for her first semester of study. Of, she flew half a world away, hoping that she was going to be successful.

After she left the foundations that anchored our family were pretty much shaken to their core. Prior to her flying out I enjoyed a palatable position in the family, pretty much respected. I deserved though the first in a whole lineage to get myself to a Kenyan public university through incessant persistence and hard work, but she was in America and I was in Kenya and that was all that mattered. Many a time I sat with my mum and dad in the in our living room and it is a though I did not exist anymore all they wanted know was how she was doing or how big she was going to make it. I was back to position two. I was not complaining though being that it is that I had always enjoyed a cordial and blissful relationship with my sister.

We also kept in touch through social media; the private message into my Facebook account, or the post on my wall or the occasional video chat on Skype, I also follow her on twitter. This is how we stay connected in the modern world. This way I can tell she is alive despite all the upheavals of the modern days. My mum and dad have gained interest of social media of late. They want to follow her as I do on twitter. At least then they will not have to call me as often as they do.

The American dream has turned out into a mirage. For the recent world economic downturn has left my sisters hopes and ours for in a large way she embodies all our hopes and aspirations in limbo.

As an African when one of your close kin fly’s out to the West, you give yourself time so that you can start expecting remittances in hard currency. When this does not happen you know that something is very wrong the other side of the world. This is what happened in our case, the proponents who inspire everybody to chase the American dream deliberately forget to inform people of the hurdles on might face in their quest to chase the American dream.

My sister was some few months shy of age 18 when she flew out. As a consequence she would not secure a part time job as fast she would have liked to. This in turn meant that my dad had to pay for her second semester tuition fees, something he had been promised would never happen as America is the land of the abundant and the plenty. As a consequence this chipped into family resources and even I who had nothing to do with the world economic recession I had to suffer for fewer upkeep resources were coming my way back at my university.

When you think objectively about international migration you realize that migration is a phenomenon that has fundamental effects on the international economy and the international balance of power. Historically regions such as the America’s and the United States experienced development amidst a backdrop of colossal movement of slaves from Africa and other regions, this slaves produced for the industries in Europe and a new world economic order was born.

However developing regions especially Africa is experiencing exponential labour outflows in terms of international migration when it needs that labour the most. In most cases the ‘self aware’ in developing countries are the ones who migrate therefore denying their communities and countries of origin vital technical expertise, entrepreneurial acumen and human resources. Most people especially in the third world choose to migrate to the West because of limited social mobility in their home countries. Being that it is that all persons want the best for themselves they seek perceived greener pastures in new lands.

In most cases folklore about persons who migrated to the West mostly Europe and America is prevalent in developing lands. Third world governments need to work in synergy with their Western counterparts so as to create an information system and mechanism that provides reliable and credible information to potential migrants, especially those vulnerable into falling into people trafficking traps. This would provide potential migrants with the information they need especially with regards with their employment opportunities and economic well being when they eventually migrate. This would empower likely migrants to make decisions based on reason rather than their heart (desire to leave perceived entrapping environments).

Migration in itself is detrimental to developing countries because of capital flight especially in terms of school and college fees required by students seeking education in developed lands not to mention stipends that are sent to international students in developed countries. Apart from denying sending countries vital financial resources for development this phenomenon deals a blow to the capacity of third world countries to develop   quality education institutions.

Migration also has effects on the population structures of developing in third world countries. In most countries the youth and middle aged people are the ones who migrate outwards, this then means that this countries are left with populations of either very young people or elderly people, thus placing an extra strain on the productive people in society as they have to support children and the elderly. In addition third world wealth flows are upward meaning that young people have to seek ways of supporting their parents, thus is local economies don’t provide opportunities to do this, they tend to seek greener pastures across borders. The effects of migration even within countries are heterogeneous. In different countries different geographical regions have different rates of outward international migration. For example in Kenya the Kisii, highlands and the central highlands tend to have a high rate of external migration. This then means that these regions attract huge resources in remittances and are generally more developed than other regions within Kenya. This then means that people have financial resources to invest leading to huge wealth distribution disparities within the country. Within Morocco disparities between regions with high outside migration and other regions are evident with regions being generally more developed than other regions, thus occasioning internal reverse migration from other regions.

Sending countries on their part should work to improve their institutional, political and social environments. This would help alleviate the feelings of dread and trepidation that migrants have especially when they think about investing and remitting finances to their home countries. This in itself would help this countries attract a significant amount of finances in hard currency. This in itself would then help increase the rate of infrastructure and development. Of key importance is the removal of taxation policies that create double taxation for migrants remitting money. Sending governments must create policies that ensure that their citizens in the diaspora are appreciated for the role they play in macro-economic growth of their home countries. 

In Morocco for example remittances represented 6.4 percent of Morocco’s GNP over the 1990s on average; they represented 20.1 percent of all imports in goods and services. ( Hein de Haas, 2007).

Migration is also important in solving both temporary and permanent labour shortages in various countries and regions. It is estimated that Europe will need an average of 1.6 million migrants from the year 2010 to 2050 due its aging population structure with a huge majority of these migrants coming from Africa and other developing countries. (Page, 2011). Migration is also important in that it speeds up the development of countries especially those coming out from debilitating civil wars and conflicts and those countries that have recently gained independence. In the Eastern African region, there has been an avalanche of Kenyans, Ugandans and other nationals migrating to the newly independent state of South Sudan. These migrants play a key role in ensuring that the economy of the new state is running and develop trade linkages between their countries of origin to their countries and South Sudan. If managed proficiently migration within regions can bring increased peace and cohesion within a region. However increased migration within regions has increased especially because of differential economic situations within countries. In Southern Africa for example there is a steady flow of migrants from countries such as Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique into the South African mining industry. The situation has left their home countries with depleted populations as male young mail migrants form the bulk of migrants. This worsens the disparity between countries in the same region the more. In addition local South Africans view migrants with contempt because of the perceived role they play reducing wages and increased job opportunity competitions something which has previously caused xenophobic friction between the locals and immigrant communities.

Migration should be used by both the sending countries and the receiving countries as a potential tool for exchange of culture and technology. The sending counties should take advantage of returning immigrants skills and ideas to move society forward. Returning migrants should be seen as agents of change and should be provided with avenues with which they can exercise newfound skills and ideas.

Of special importance is the transfer of important technology from the West to developing countries by migrants. This has been made by the information which we find ourselves in. The global flow of information is also important as it allows the dissemination of information especially with regard to information on democratic practices and human rights. This has the effect of making the people of sending countries to be more subjective and demand make demands from authorities which in turn would lead to wholesome community renewal. Migrants to other land might also lead assaults on archaic community practices and cultures like female genital mutilation because in some communities migrants and are held in high regard or may even be venerated.

Conclusion

Understanding migration in its contemporary context is important for policy makers, governments and organizations which aim at maximizing benefits for migrants, their sending countries and their countries of destination. As such there is need to address and come up with pragmatic migration policies that do not erode the gains the international community would get if international mobility of people was hampered. John page argues that, “existing evidence suggests that policies restricting the mobility of highly skilled individuals directly or through educational restrictions are not likely to work. Brain drain is rarely the root problem. Challenges in education, health care and public finance combined with the magnitude of income differentials between sending and receiving countries provide powerful incentives for individuals to move. It is however possible to recover some of the publicly financed costs of skilled migration. Careers in medicine, engineering and other technical subjects are fast becoming global and tend to be the most costly fields in terms of training.” (Page, 2011).

Third world countries and especially African countries should engage in migration planning in order to ensure that they get the benefits from migration. They should also strengthen their diplomatic missions abroad so that they can ensure that migrants from Africa are treated with dignity and are accorded their human rights. African countries should also use the African Union as an organization to lobby for better terms of migration and terms of migrants both within the continent and outside the continent. This in itself will go a long way in ensuring that world we live in is less fractious and characterized by efficient management migration. This in itself will open up new frontiers of development for both developing countries and help developed countries come out of economic stagnation. This will then further hasten develop the world into an international Information Society.

References

·         Page John, (2011), Moving Toward Opportunity: Managing Migration For Development, in Foresight Africa The Continent’s Greatest Challenges And Opportunities For 2011, Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings. January 2011.

·         Hein de Haas, (2007) The Impact of International Migration on Social and Economic Development in Moroccan Sending Regions: A Review of the Empirical Literature. International Migration Institute, James Martins 21^st Century School, University of Oxford, Working Papers.

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