MIGRANT WORKERS AND EXPATRIATES

Source: Global Responses to Eco-Migration and Environmental Disasters. (2009, February 23). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Equator Initiative: http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=423%3Aecomigration&catid=110%3A09events&Itemid=546&lang=en

MIGRATION has been a constant in human kind. Due to the difference in the development of northern economies in the west and those of developing countries, huge disparities in wages and opportunities have appeared as well as new kinds of migration flows that have become an important topic on the international agenda.

Due to globalization capital and goods can move freely, but labor can’t. In recent years political resistance to migration has stifled this process and it will continue this way given that as long as people don’t have the same opportunities, there will be migration no matter what. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration.

The long term effects of immigration can be: a) OPENNESS TO SETTLEMENT which includes granting citizenship, gradual acceptance of cultural differences, formation of ethnic communities and creation of a multicultural society; or b) DENIAL TO SETTLENT that means the refusal of citizenship, rejection of cultural diversity and marginalization of immigrants and their descendants.

In recent years environmental changes worldwide have created a new concept regarding migration, this is ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRANTS, also known as climate or environmental refugees. This is due mainly to global warming because it produces changes that make that people can no longer harvest their lands. They leave their homes temporally or permanently and within their own territory or abroad, due to both gradual environmental change and extreme environmental events.

Women tend to be much more vulnerable in relation to male migrants, because due to discrimination, sexual exploitation and other kinds of gender based violence women that are forced to flee their countries of origin often do so for different reasons from male refugees.

Migration has effects for the implied countries as a whole:

EXPATRIATES

Expatriates are those people who are sent abroad by companies to reach a certain objective such as opening a new market. Cultural crash is an important issue, for which companies don’t necessarily choose its most prepared employees, but the most receptive and able to confront a new culture. Difficulties for companies regarding expatriate assignments include that the income resulting from the assignment may seem less than the cost of having an expatriate as it is hard to put them in a balance. For the expatriate, it includes having to give up many things in the home country and facing uncertainty when coming back. Expatriate assignments differ from overseas experiences as the later pursue their own goals and assume their own expenses.

DISCUSSION: How can Brain Drain be stopped and change into something beneficial for developing countries?

Brain drain, as described previously is the negative effect suffered by the home country as it loses highly trained and skilled manpower through migration. It’s a negative and cyclical process that worsens the conditions of the developing countries which are the ones that suffer the most from this phenomenon. The cyclical process can be explained through the following diagram:

As shown, the poor living condition and the absence of opportunities for the development of its people causes its skilled and trained manpower to leave the country in order to look for alternative ways of living. At the same time, the brain drain leaves the country in a worse position given that its skilled manpower are the ones that can help developing strategies for the growth of the country. Without these people the country’s chance of generating knowledge for its development decreases, which at the same time worsens the living conditions even more.

In this way, it’s beneficial for countries to prevent and stop BRAIN DRAIN as the skilled people are the ones that constitute opportunities for the country to develop growth and competition strategies in order for it to offer better living conditions to its people. This means that the cyclical process can be reverted as shown in the following diagram:

The sole solution for preventing and stopping BRAIN DRAIN is to provide better living conditions and opportunities for its highly trained and skilled manpower. This can be done in the following ways:

-          Guarantee quality education for their children

-          Guarantee working opportunities

-          Political stability

-          Security

-          Investment in infrastructure

If these basic aspects of life are not guaranteed to the people that can work in benefit of the country there’s no way those people will stay in a country when they acknowledge that other countries can offer greater opportunities for them given their capabilities.