Inequality remains the main spur to human movement, Sherine Nasr reports Is migration a means to improve the lives of millions around the world? Or is it the shortest way to deplete countries of origin of precious developmental potentials? Human development experts have been divided over the issue. But this is a highly mobile world where nearly one billion people -- one out of seven -- are migrants. The recently launched United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR), "Overcoming Barriers: Human mobility and development," argues that migration can contribute significantly to human development. "Migration can indeed raise a person's income, health and education prospects. Most importantly, being able to decide where to live is a key element of human freedom," said the report. But does everyone gain? According to Eva Jespersen, deputy director of the HDR office, there is huge variation in the circumstances surrounding human movement. "The poorest often cannot move at all, and when they do so, it is under uncertain and dangerous conditions," she said. The report indicated that low-income migrants could end up worse off. "Movement of the poor is paradoxically constrained by policies at destination and at origin." Nevertheless, the report underlined that, in general, most migrants gain substantially and that skilled labour is the most welcome and the most advantageous. "Careful studies show that migrant workers experience significant income gains. The largest of those are coming from the poorest countries," said Jespersen. Beyond income, gains in other dimensions of human development are evident. For example, infant mortality rates are 16 times lower among migrants from low Human Development Index (HDI) countries. And often migrants have better educational possibilities, healthcare and the chance to enjoy more human and civil rights. Although the report noted that human development often leads to transformative flows of ideas and values, and that concerns about skilled labour migration and other adverse effects on development are often exaggerated, human development experts in the Arab region think otherwise. According to Khaled Louhichi from the Arab League, skilled labour migration from Arab countries is bordering on alarming. "Arab skilled workers in the OECD countries are estimated at one million, which stand for almost 11 per cent of the total number of skilled labour in the Arab region," said Louhichi who added that 82.5 per cent of those migrants come from six Arab countries: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq. "Migrant skilled labour from the Arab region has doubled between 1990 and 2000. It is further growing," he said. Among the main drivers are low income and the high rate of unemployment. "The Arab region suffers the highest rate of unemployment among youth, estimated at 25.6 per cent, and among the highly educated compared to the uneducated at 3.5 per cent," said Louhichi. A recently conducted electronic survey of 700 young educated males and females has revealed that 71 per cent of the sample is willing to migrate to a developed country. "Although this has been a small-scale survey, it is very indicative," said Louhichi who added that the majority of those surveyed aimed at pursuing their studies or field of specialisation while 17 per cent aimed to seek jobs. On the one hand, it is hard to ignore the positive developmental dimensions of migration: for example, there are at least 250,000 Arab students in universities in OECD countries. "Moreover, Arab migrants are fully integrated in these knowledge societies. They are productive and innovative." On the other hand, however, the movement of skilled labour can become a drain in some of the most vital sectors in countries of origin. According to the report, some 5,000 Arab doctors migrate every year. "There are some 43,000 Arab doctors who work in OECD countries at present. This represents the total number of doctors who work in nine Arab countries. The rate of migration is fourfold in countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Syria," commented Louhichi who added that in France one of every 10 doctors is of Arab origin, while there are eight Arab countries that suffer from an absolute shortage in healthcare providers. According to Heba Nassar, professor of economics at Cairo University, the fact that skilled migration is increasingly depriving countries of origin of skilled specialisation, including electronic engineering, microbiology and genetic engineering, to name some, is very alarming. "It is a waste to lose these assets to other countries. Normally, they seek to practise their specialisation in a more enabling environment. The chance to do so in countries of origin is marginal," said Nassar who added that a database of these categories of highly educated migrants does not even exist. Nassar underlined that highly selective migration policies and education systems now help developed countries attract skilled migrants in large number. "But before we blame it on the outside world, we should first refer to the brain drain that takes place inside our societies. Why can't we maintain these skills and foster them?" Since 1990, HDI has stood to provide more meaningful indicators of human development than simply growth in GDP. These include health, education and standards of living. According to the report, Egypt's HDI rose by 1.30 per cent annually between 1980 and 2007. This year's HDI, which refers to 2007, highlighted the very large gaps in wellbeing and life chances among different regions. Egypt ranked the 123rd out of 182 countries surveyed by the report. According to the HDI, severe deprivation in health services is measured by the proportion of people who are not expected to survive to age 40, education by the adult illiteracy rate, and a decent standard of living by the average number of those not using an improved water source and the proportion of children aged five who are underweight for their age. Of these indicators, Egypt ranked 82nd, 70th, 119th, 30th and 42nd respectively. In 2007, Egypt received $7.656 million in remittances -- the most direct benefit from migration.
