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Foreword: Labour Migration and Development
Within the larger discussion on the nexus between migration and development, labour migration provides a good opportunity to illustrate several points. First, the link between technological and economic transformations and the phenomenon of migration -which is at the core of the South-North flows of people. Second, the identification of some of the issues to take into account in the evaluation of the potential impacts of migration on the well-being of both sending and receiving communities. And third, the opportunities to maximize the positive effects of migration.
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Latin America and the Caribbean: Skilled Migration, Alternatives, and Old and New Questions
Skilled migration and debates concerning its consequences have been present in Latin America and the Caribbean since at least the 1960s. The main concern has been South-North migration, especially to the United States, and the various losses these flows have generally been assumed to produce. Despite some economic arguments contending that this movement created positive effects for all involved because it entailed the re-allocation of resources, academics, politicians and international organizations interested in social and economic development issues have identified brain drain as a major problem.Temporary Migration as a Way of Life: Improving Market Access for Developing Country Workers
The US development thinker David Ellerman has argued that “there is nothing more permanent than temporary migration” (“The Dynamics of Migration of the Highly Skilled: A Survey of the Literature,” in Diaspora Networks and the International Migration of Skills: How Countries Can Draw on Their Talent Abroad, edited by Y. Kuznetsov. Washington D.C., World Bank Institute, 2006). Although the legal terms of the work period abroad may be classified as temporary, the developing country worker may find him or herself in cycles of temporary contracts abroad that stretch over decades. If economic migration from developing to developed countries (a.k.a. south-north migration) is indeed a fact of life within an increasingly globalized economy, how can it be managed to reduce brain drain and social dislocation in developing countries and perhaps even contribute positively to development?
Op-Ed
International Migration and Human Development in El Salvador: A Contradictory Relationship
If the concept of human development suggests that a country’s primary wealth is in its people, international migration, which deprives a country of its main source of wealth, taking it far away, could be seen as the antithesis to human development or as haemorrhage of human capital. Migration, in fact, is largely the result of insecurity and scarcity of employment and opportunities in the countries of origin, leading a significant part of the economically active population to seek better fortune in wealthier countries. As a result, families become divided and communities disintegrate in order to send their most advantaged members to pursue their fate in an alleged promised land.
Op-Ed
Ecuador-Spain Co-Development: Illusion or Reality?
According to the most conservative figure, there are now approximately 700,000 Ecuadorians in Spain -more than a million, according to other sources- competing with Moroccans to form the largest immigrant community. This group, instead of being a burden on the State, has become a pillar of Spain’s progress. Ecuadorian immigrants primarily work in agriculture, domestic service, elderly care, tourism and construction; jobs Spaniards generally do not want for themselves, but which nevertheless are essential.
Foreign Workers in Canadian Agriculture: Not an All-Male Cast
The Canadian federal government granted approximately 99,000 work permits to foreign workers in 2005. At least 20,000 of those workers were employed in agriculture. The number of foreign workers is expected to rise considerably under the Stephen Harper government, which has been making it easier for employers to hire workers from abroad.
Some 3% of the foreign workers employed in agriculture are women. This relatively small representation has contributed to women’s marginalization in academic research and policy discussions. However, this lack of interest is unwarranted -gender plays a key role in implementing foreign worker programs in high-income countries, as well as in the every day experiences of migrant workers and their families. This article illustrates some of the ways in which gender shapes and organizes temporary migration to Canadian agriculture, including the implications for women migrants participating in a highly masculinized environment.
Op-Ed
Beyond Remittances and Migration Reform: The Potential Role of Migrant-Led Organizations in the New Scenarios of Economic Development and Regional Integration in Central America
As world-wide attention is brought upon the contradictory policies concerning international migration, migrant-led organizations are also deeply involved in making their voices heard. One innovate example of this is the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), a network of approximately 75 community-based organizations led by Latin American and Caribbean immigrants in the United States. NALACC member organizations are working to improve the quality of life in their communities, both in the United States and in countries of origin. They are building the capacity for transnational leadership and increasing immigrant civic participation, so that immigrants can advocate effectively for public policies that address the root causes of migration, as well as addressing the challenges faced by immigrants in the United States. To date, this latter work has focused on efforts to reform US immigration policies to make them more humane and effective. But even the most progressive immigration reform will leave untouched the root causes of much international migration. Key to these underlying issues are the manner in which opportunities are created, or limited, in local economies, and the issues around regional integration and free trade in the Americas.
Op-Ed
The 3x1 Program in Mexico: Achievements and Challenges
The 3x1 Program, an initiative using collective remittances to fund infrastructure projects in the hometown communities of Mexican migrants, has been an extraordinary experience of transnational solidarity among Mexican migrant associations and those communities. In addition to other contributions, it has fostered collaboration between the transnational citizenry and the three levels of government in Mexico -federal, state and municipal- to the benefit of the population living in areas with high international emigration rates, while producing a transnational process of social learning that enables advances toward a new type of production community projects based on new public policies to promote local and regional development.