Causes of migration: Why does the world migrate?

Dialogue forum held on 22 March 2011

Why do people leave their home country – willingly or unwillingly? Can migration flows be controlled by political means? And what can we do to ensure immigrants are better integrated into our society? These and other issues were discussed at our third debate in the dialogue forum series, entitled “Where from? Where to? – Demography and Migration”, in Munich on 22 March. The distinguished panel of guests comprised former Bundestag president Prof. Rita Süssmuth, leading population expert Prof. Rainer Münz, and political scientist Florence Tsagué.

According to figures published by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), more than 200 million people live outside their country of birth, and this figure is increasing by 3% annually. Current events which have forced many people to flee their homes, such as the unrest in Libya and other Arab states and the earthquake and nuclear catastrophe in Japan, show that migration is a global, multi-faceted phenomenon. Prof. Münz explained that “most migration movements take place within a country” and they are caused not only by economic hardship, violence and scarce resources but increasingly by natural catastrophes and environmental changes.
 
Europe is dependent on immigration

There are five major cross-border-migration destinations. “About 65% of immigrants worldwide live in the USA, Canada, the EU, the Gulf States and Australia or New Zealand”, according to Münz, a Senior Fellow at the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI). By and large, the attractive places are those offering jobs, career and education prospects, and opportunities for the immigrant to be joined by his or her family. Germany threatens to lag behind in the global competition to recruit the best brains. Münz: “If I create petty, bureaucratic rules, it should come as no surprise to find that people with good qualifications prefer to go to the USA”. He noted that Europe relied on immigration to ensure its ageing societies were still able to function. Unless we do something about it, the workforce will fall by 70 million by the year 2050. Münz: “I don’t believe that will leave our prosperity unscathed”.
 
We know enough about the problems and really cannot afford to wait. However, too little is happening. Prof. Süssmuth criticised the fact that “the Germans are better at talking than taking decisions”. She argued that we should look at the people behind the immigrants: that we should see them as culturally enriching and recognise their qualifications. “I would like us to follow Sweden's model, where it is the economy and not politics which determines whether immigrants need further qualifications. We need a major rethink.” Whilst accepting that migration could spark fears about wage dumping, job losses and the influence of foreign cultures, she urged: “We shouldn't be asking how we can stop migration but how it can be organised so that we’re not constantly worrying about it”.
 
Immigration also a huge challenge for countries of origin
 
Florence Tsagué quoted alarming statistics on the African brain drain. “Some 60,000 African scientists work in the USA alone, and more than 20,000 graduates leave that continent each year.” Among medical personnel too, strong emigration trends were evident. Tsagué: “You should see what gaps this care drain leaves in the system. I come from Cameroon, and it takes people in my village three days to get to the nearest doctor”.
 
Migration flows are also affected by media reports. A lot hinges on the image portrayed by the press in the different countries. For instance, Europe is thought of as a paradise on earth and a place of prosperity. Moreover, many African rulers deliberately rely on migration to persuade those dissatisfied with their lot to leave,  and thus consolidate their own power.
 
How can migration be controlled?
 
Can migration be controlled by political means? Süssmuth, for two years a member of the UN Global Commission on International Migration, is not convinced. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan put the issue on the agenda by setting up the Commission but, rather than assuming that a solution could actually be found, he wanted to identify win-win conditions that would alleviate the migration problem for those involved. Süssmuth criticised the fact that “the Commission's main finding was that no country can solve the problem on its own. Yet, fundamentally, this is a field in which each country wants to carry on taking its own decisions”.
 
She advocated an honest approach to migration. “It is important that we explain to people that migration is no easy matter either for those arriving in the country or for their hosts.” The problems could not be simply swept away. They must be handled constructively. Consequently, Süssmuth believes it is important that the public be given more practical examples illustrating the benefits of having immigrants in areas such as home care or in businesses. We must also allow people to keep their identities “or else we won't cope”. However, she sees no reason to be pessimistic. “I believe our society is capable of coming up with new ideas to improve the way we tackle the challenges of migration.”
 
The next dialogue forum will yield fresh impetus on the subject. It will be held on 14 April 2011 and is entitled “When know-how migrates – Brain drain or opportunity”.