HDRO
Bangkok, 5 October 2009—Governments should undertake a series of policy reforms to maximize the benefits of migration and to better ensure the rights of migrants, according to the Human Development Report launched here today.
“Migration, both within and across borders, brings significant gains across the board, which could be further enhanced by better policies at home and abroad,” says the Report’s lead author Jeni Klugman.
The Report Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development proposes reforms to migration policies, directed towards both destination and source countries that would ensure increased access and better treatment for migrants.
This is the latest publication in a series of global Human Development Reports, which aim to frame debates on some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity, from climate change to human rights. It is an independent report commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Policy Proposals
Overcoming Barriers lays out a core package of reforms, six ‘pillars’ that call for:
Expanding opportunities
Overcoming barriers focuses first on people in developing countries and how disparities in opportunities shape the choices that people make when seeking to improve their lives. The poor have the least opportunities and resources to move within and between countries; yet, they have the most to gain from migration. Granting greater access to opportunities and ensuring fair treatment for migrants are essential if migration is to live up to its full potential as an avenue for human development that can benefit all concerned—from the migrant families to source and destination communities, according to the Report.
Barriers to migration come in a variety of forms. Migration through regular or legal channels is presently very constrained. Overcoming barriers proposes that governments expand access to movement for all people, but especially for low-skilled workers, conditional on labour demand.
Many destination countries either do not recognize credentials, such as university degrees or professional qualifications, or require time-consuming and costly verification processes. As a result, many highly qualified migrants end up working in lower skilled occupations that lower the benefit of moving, both to them and to destination countries. The Report urges governments to take steps to facilitate the transfer of such qualifications.
Overcoming Barriers found that in many cases, financial costs pile up even before a migrant has left her or his country. Fees for low-skilled workers are often the highest relative to expected wages abroad. For example, few migrant nurses from countries in Asia pay recruitment fees, but most domestic helpers do. The Report urges origin and destination governments to simplify and streamline procedures and reduce costs.
The Report cites numerous cases where recommended policies have been successfully implemented.
Regional arrangements—as in Europe and South America—have allowed significant liberalization of the movement of people. Sweden, for example, has implemented labour immigration reforms that allow work permits—for low-skilled workers coming from outside the European Union—to be transferable across employers. And New Zealand’s Recognized Seasonal Employer Scheme, similar to a programme in Canada and more recently adopted in Australia, has created opportunities for seasonal work.
International public opinion research demonstrates that many people are willing to accept immigration if jobs are available. A comprehensive review of the available evidence in European countries, the United States and others suggests that migrant labour does not have a large overall effect on the employment of locals. For example, the massive inflows into the growing United Kingdom economy between 2004 and 2008, ignited by the accession of a number of new countries to the European Union, led neither to the displacement of local workers nor to increased unemployment.
Ensuring better treatment
Overcoming barriers calls on all parties to ensure the fair treatment of migrants. This includes offering language training, allowing access to basic services, an adherence to and provision of worker rights, and the combating of xenophobia, for example, through educational campaigns.
The Report echoes the call of a range of earlier reports on migration by the UN and non-governmental organizations, and last year’s Global Forum on Migration and Development for governments to adhere to and provide basic human rights to migrants. Likewise, enforcement policies should be humane and follow the rule of law.
The Report finds that the treatment of migrants is often worst for irregular migrants—those that do not have the required documents to stay in the country or that have arrived through non-official means—and directly takes up this controversial issue. It reviews a range of approaches that have been adopted around the world by various stakeholders, including governments, the private sector and civil society, and encourages policy options that are more equitable and sustainable.
Overcoming barriers concludes that enhanced efforts to address mobility issues, especially connected to access and treatment, can bring significant gains for human development at the individual, community, national and global levels.
Return to the list <<<<<
