The brain drain continues

Governance, illegals and population growth

AT PENPOINT

A recent meeting of parliamentarians showed that the brain drain, and its underlying cause of youth unemployment and population pressure, is increasingly a problem, and the original reasons for migration have not disappeared, but rather have become worse.

However, much of the reason why the brain drain is a problem for Third World countries like Pakistan is because there is an intrinsic problem in the developed countries, where some countries have got falling populations, but for whom illegal migration is a problem.

Interestingly, when the Empire existed, colonial subjects did not migrate. The main reason, it seems, is that the colonial power, the ‘home country’ had natives willing to do menial jobs and labour, Colonial subjects could go to the ‘mother country’, but almost never to work. Even to study was rare. It was possible, like Jawaharlal Nehru, to attend an English public school (Harrow) and to become a barrister. It was also possible to go to England only to become a barrister, as was the case with the Quaid-e-Azam, Gandhi and Vallabhai Patel.

At the same time, Europeans did not use the colonies to settle their own population surpluses. There was some settlement in North America, but the USA’s gaining independence ended that. There was some attempt at sending white settlers to South Africa, the Rhodesias and even Kenya, but they never became a major destination for migration. On the other hand, the UK contributed settlers to Australia and New Zealand, At this time, the USA and Canada continued to attract migrants from the UK, as well as Europe. One of the most important inflows to the USA were the Irish, who migrated in vast numbers from the 1830s and 1840s, because of the Irish Potato Famine, caused by the blight which had affected the potato crop. By that time, the potato had become the country’s staple after it had been introduced by the English from the USA.

However, after World War II, things changed, and the same change created the migration problem. The imperial powers had lost too much manpower to sustain the armies necessary to police their empires. That same manpower shortage meant that there was now a need for labourers, who had to be imported from what were becoming former colonies. They didn’t just import unskilled labour, but doctors, nurses and teachers, to man the schools and hospitals of the postwar welfare states.

The welfare state’s development after World War II is supposed to have played a part in the rush of migrants, with anti-migrant voices claiming that these migrants were misusing the welfare system. There was also a racist aspect to anti-migrant sentiment. It was also worth noting that Subcontinental migrants popped up all over Europe, even in countries which had not been their colonial masters.

Anti-immigrant sentiment had a racial component, and that component remained within Islamophobia, which developed after 9/11. Another parallel development was the relative freedom of movement that developed after the formation and expansion of the European Union. That also played a role in allowing Indian and Pakistani migrants to establish a presence in the rest of Europe.

The task of making Third World governments do their job and provide for the citizens is not one the West is willing to take. However, unless youth find jobs, education and healthcare at home, they will still hanker after greener pastures. Third World governments must also change their perspective and stop trying to make the ‘home country’ happy.

It is a truism that natives did not have any appetite for an increasing number of occupations, which got taken over by migrants. However, two trends have influenced the dimensions of the issue. First, while immigrants were willing to take what jobs they were given, the second generation has got to be more like the natives, in that they too have aspirations, they have attended their educational institutions, and they are more adept at their culture, their society. Second, European populations have peaked, and are predicted to decline, with Italy having experienced that. The reasons for that are too numerous to discuss here, and suffice it to say that second-generation migrants are part of that trend.

Thus a perfect storm has been created: Europe and Japan now need migration to maintain their populations, and where else are those populations going to come except from the Third World. Unfortunately, the migrants bring along baggage: different religions, different cultures, and they are all the wrong race. The Third World has not followed the trend of the West and still has a burgeoning population. Pakistan is an example, but it too has a growing population, not enough jobs and a governance style which is the opposite of welfare.

There seem to be two reasons for the flow of migrants. One is of course the lack of opportunity at home. Second, there is the feeling that the state does not provide enough protection to citizens, which would be available in the West especially.

Even those attracted by the Western lifestyle are economic migrants, thus there remains a failure of the first generation to adapt, and of the second generation to be confused often enough. It seems that loyalty to the country of origin is used more to provide an alternative sense of identity rather than anything else.

One problem with this tension is that it has resulted in strong anti-migrant movements, which are either influential or have formed governments, which have two strands. First, the population planning movements try to reduce the flow of potential migrants. Then there is the pressure on Third World countries to bo``lster their own measures against illegal migration.

Illegal migration is something of a problem for Third World countries too, because the essential criminality of the racketeers cause problems over and above their getting socially disruptive people out of the country. Illegal migration takes the problem of providing healthcare, education and employment away from the country of origin and plunks it in the lap of the country to which the illegal migrant has gone.

Thus population growth and illegal migration can be seen to be First World problems. It should be noted that they did not exist as problems before World War II. That means that the colonial authorities provided for the populations in their own countries. The provision may not have been generous, but successor governments, to whom the colonial powers handed over at independence, had raised expectations while providing poor governance. Then the first migrants went, and brought back reports of well-governed societies, where they were given a fairer shake than they had got back home.

The Western societies then began to absorb the best and the brightest, often retaining them after they had completed their education. There was something of a reversal, as Third World universities began to train youth to be exported, especially in STEM fields and medicine. The illegal migrant is not usually from this segment, but more ready to perform menial labour than the better educated.

The task of making Third World governments do their job and provide for the citizens is not one the West is willing to take. However, unless youth find jobs, education and healthcare at home, they will still hanker after greener pastures. Third World governments must also change their perspective and stop trying to make the ‘home country’ happy.