Reports of boat people failing to make it to their perceived heaven have been so frequent in the last couple of years that they don’t make headline news even when the number of dead exceeds 100.
People have taken it for a fact that a rising tide of migrants from the impoverished Third World is set to swamp the prosperous West.
This myth has been debunked. A recent study carried out by scholars from the Vienna Institute of Demography found that the overall rate of migration has remained pretty steady around 6 people per thousand changing their country of residence in each of the three five-year periods between 1995 to 2010.
And this number includes movement of people within Western nations.
So what do the figures tell us? Maybe globalization is working after all, or that the issue is highlighted and exploited by fringe parties in Europe and Australia to scare the population into voting them to power.
Humans have been migrating from their places of residence even after agriculture forced them to adopt a settled life around 10,000 years ago. Migration suddenly became visible in the second half of the last century as the numbers swelled, helped by improved methods of transportation, and the inability of migrants to integrate with their new society.
So it is not migration, but mass migration which is an issue. Wars, persecution and natural calamities trigger mass migrations. Yes there are economic migrants too but their numbers are not overwhelming. Besides, vast numbers of people move within national boundaries for better opportunities all the time.
Mass migrations can be managed or sometimes prevented by improved international efforts and coordination and not by simply closing borders. If your neighbor is driven out of his home by thugs and scoundrels or the roof of his bedroom collapses, you don’t close the door on him.
As for economic migrants, the West need not worry unduly. Globalization will take care. Already, outsourcing of jobs by Western companies to Third World countries are making many in poorer countries think twice before embarking on a dangerous sea voyage.
If the West plays by Adam Smith’s rules and doesn’t provide protection to its industries, economic migrants won’t knock on its doors.
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