Migration and Development: Challenges for Policymaking

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Migration and DevelopmentChallenges for
Policymaking

• Louka T. Katseli, Robert E.B. Lucas and T.
  Xenogiani
• Gaining from Migration
• Second Experts Workshop
• Paris
• 11 July 2006

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Outline

• Migration and development policy coherence
  needed for more effective management
• Migration patterns, sending countries and policy
  regimes
• Smart visa policies for legal migration and
  development
• Mobilising and channelling remittances for
  development
• Integrating international migration into
  development strategies
• Policy coherence for migration and development
  what role for OECD policies?

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Migration and developmentinterlinkages

• Migration patterns
• Capacity of sending Development
• countries to adjust
• require greater policy coherence
• between admission policies
• and development cooperation

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Policy coherence for migration and development a
definition
The pursuit of win-win opportunities for
both host and sending countries through the
systematic promotion of mutually-reinforcing
policy actions.
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Policy coherence for migration and development
what is needed?

• Better understanding of migration patterns and
  their links to conditions in countries of origin.
• Careful consideration of the interlinkages of
  migration and development processes.
• Improved coordination of migration, trade and
  development cooperation policies.
• Incorporation of migration into PRSPs.

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Patterns of EU migration

• Europe lags behind North America in attracting
  highly-skilled migrants.
• Heterogeneity across EU countries
• Northern Europe large share of migrants from
  other OECD or EU15 countries.
• Southern Europe more than 50 from neighbouring
  countries, transition and developing countries.

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Patterns of EU migration
Geography, history and politics matter

• Three migration models coexist within the EU 15
  driven by
• Historical and language ties
• France, Benelux, Morocco, Algeria,
• Spain, UK, India, Pakistan,
• Portugal, Ireland Turkey
• Geographic proximity
• Italy, Greece, Albania, Turkey,
• Germany, Austria Serb-Mont, Morocco
• Humanitarian considerations
• Denmark, Finland, Iraq, Serb-Mont, B-H,
• Sweden Iran

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For an effective management of migration

• Need to build an
• Integrated European
• migration monitoring system

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Future trends?

• In absence of migration, EU15 population is
  expected to drop by 10 million during the next
  two decades (esp. Italy, Greece, Germany and
  Austria).
• New EU members (incl. Rom. and Bulg.) are likely
  to experience overall population drop.
• Continuous need for low-skilled migrants in
  agriculture, tourism, construction and household
  services.

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Migration pressures are likely to continue

• Maghreb countries are becoming migration transit
  countries.
• Increased international migration from low income
  SSA.
• Continued flows of refugees and asylum seekers
  from the Middle East and other regions.

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Low-skill migration an important driver for
development

• Low-skill migration has greater impact on poverty
  reduction than migration of professionals.
• Only 17 of low-skilled migrants in the EU15 come
  from low income countries.
• Dominant destination of low-skilled migrants is
  other developing countries.
• Temporary migration likely to be chosen over
  permanent settlement if costs are not too high.

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Smart visa policies for legal migration and
development

• Proliferation of temporary employment schemes
  joint management in 57 out of 92 countries.
• Limitations of specific duration guest worker
  programmes
• Multiple entry visas device to ease return and
  circularity.
• Continuous and active monitoring of contracting
  arrangements.
• Pre-departure training and linguistic courses.

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High-skill migration an important driver for
growth and innovation

• Emigration of highly-skilled persons can be
  beneficial for sending countries.
• Compensation schemes and recruiting restraints
  hard to administer and usually ineffective.
• Potential for general guidelines of recruitment
  and partnership arrangements.
• Multiple entry visas, temporary work schemes and
  subsidisation of replenishment activities.

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Remittances who benefits?

• The poor if
• Poorer families migrate
• Poor overseas migrants remit
• Potential gains depend on admission criteria,
  duration of absence , family separation,
  intention to return.
• Migration of highly skilled who settle
  permanently abroad with their families bring
  little by way of remittances to the home country.
• Non-receiving households benefit through
  multiplier and market integration effects.

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Remittances how to expand benefits?

• Remittances not a substitute to development
  assistance.
• Lowering the cost of transfers a priority for EU
  member-states.
• European development banks, financial
  institutions and development agencies can take
  the lead in providing improved access and
  innovative financial instruments.
• Codéveloppement migrants and migrant
  associations need to be involved.
• Development assistance a catalyst for diffusion
  of benefits.

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Migration needs to be integrated into PRSPs

• Macroeconomic management
• Changes in tax revenue
• Changes in expenditures
• Transfer systems vs remittances
• Human resource management
• Incentives for temporary stay abroad (e.g.
  advanced seniority in public sector post)
• Deployment of skills
• Replenishment
• Education policies
• Financing higher education (loans vs grants)
• Adapting curricula to local needs
• Accreditation of private colleges and training
  facilities

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• Labour-market integration
• Improved infrastructure
• Remove barriers to internal migration
• Regional agreements (e.g. regional passports)
• Remove barriers to labour-market entry of
  returning workers
• ODA can be used as a catalyst to diffuse benefits
  of migration and facilitate adjustment through
• Promotion of infrastructure
• Improvements of education and health systems
• Capacity building
• Co-development projects
• Fellowships and training arrangements

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Policy coherence for migration and development
what role for ODA?

• ODA cannot really slow migration
• but it can serve as a catalyst to
• diffuse the benefits of migration
• facilitate adjustment
• ODA channelled to investments in infrastructure
  can facilitate domestic labour market
  integration.
• ODA channelled to capacity building can mitigate
  the negative impact of the brain drain.

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Policy coherence for migration and development
what role for trade policies?

• EU and OECD trade policies have a significant
  impact on living standards and income in low
  income countries and hence affect migration
  patterns.
• The joint impact of migration and trade on
  development should be incorporated into migration
  policymaking.
• More coherence is needed between EU and OECD
  trade and migration policies.
• The international community needs to consider the
  scope of GATS Mode 4 to encompass low-skilled
  workers.

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Policy coherence for migration and development
what role for security policies?

• The interlinkages between development, migration
  and security should be jointly considered a
  human security agenda?
• Strategies for risk prevention, risk mitigation
  and risk coping should be incorporated into
  migration policies.

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EU institutional set up for greater policy
coherence

• Rethinking of existing institutional set ups and
  segmentation of policy competencies across
  ministries, directorates and organisations.
• Strengthening systematic consultations across EC
  relevant directorates.
• Creation of a permanent inter-directorate liaison
  network as a powerful instrument for information
  exchange and policy consultation.

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• THANK YOU
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