Migration is an age-old feature of social and economic life across the globe, while of course the profile of migrant populations has been changing considerably from time to time. The choice of moving to another country for improving one’s standard of living by gaining a better-paid job is known as economic migration. Sociologists have explained such migrations in terms of the “push-pull” model—‘push’ factors such as lack of matching employment opportunities driving away the people from the home country, while ’pull’ factors such as the scope for “surplus of benefits” offered by the receiving country attracting the migrants to new locations. Such migration of the workforce indeed affects the economies of both the sending and receiving countries. It may however vary depending on the skill level of the migrant workers. That aside, it is the “integration of immigrant workers” with the local culture that poses a great challenge both to the immigrants as well as the receiving country in terms of “segregation, housing problems, and divided cities”, particularly when the labor markets are down.

The ongoing phenomenon of globalization that freed the flow of capital, goods and people has only further intensified the social effects of migration. Many have of course attempted to assess the impact of large-scale migration of highly-skilled labor and the resulting loss of intellectual capital of developing countries like India. As early as in 1976, Jagdish Bagwati argued that the migration of the most educated persons from India to advanced industrialized countries such as the US, that too in their most productive years, negatively impacted Indian economy for its scarce resources were used to subsidize their education by the government, and indeed he identified this phenomenon as one of the important causes for India’s underdevelopment. As against this, the immigrant young Indians have contributed immensely to boost research and innovation as well as technological progress in the US. Classic development economics, however, opines that if surplus of educated labor migrates to another country then it indeed leads to increased productivity and rise in wages of the labor left behind. This phenomenon is now being witnessed in India too, of course, only in IT industry. Nevertheless, the economic, cultural and demographic challenges posed by the economic migration both to the sending as well as receiving countries being highly complex need thorough evaluation.

The first paper of the issue, “Indian Economic Migration to the EU: Trends, Problems and Prospects”, addresses some such issues relating to the Indian workforce immigrated to the European Union. The author of the paper, Shakti Prasad Srichandan, argues that there is a shift from migration to circulation among the highly-skilled Indian migrants, for noticing the widespread opportunities and mid- and long-term advantages thrown open by the EU, the diaspora started moving from country to country. The author, tracing the history of Indian migration to the EU right from the 19th Century to till date, points out that the impact of Indian immigration on the public finances of the host EU countries is moderate, while the total revenue from immigrants grew in real terms. He has also discussed about the problems faced by the Indian migrants to the EU, particularly during and after the global recession and Euro crisis. He has also mapped the prospects for future migration and the benefits likely to accrue. However, the paper would have served the intended cause better if only it has dwelt a little more analytically on the regulatory framework of EU and how it is coming in the way of easy migration of Indians and what the Indian government should do to ease the mechanics.

Moving on to the next paper, “In Defense of Regionalism: The Developing Countries’ Perspective”, its author, Syeeda Khatoon, highlights the concerns of the developing countries vis-à-vis the developed nations with regard to “free trade.” Intriguingly, the author, stressing on the weaknesses of developing nations, defends the international regionalism being practiced by the developing countries, though it is much against the established economic principles. Taking the CEPA that India signed with Japan and Korea, the author has analyzed the merits and demerits of such agreements and made suggestions to reduce the costs arising out of contracting frictions.

In the next paper, “Violation of Basic Rights of Minorities in Bangladesh: A Study of the Enemy Property Act”, its author, Rohidas Mundhe, argues that in the contemporary world there being no single country with one or the other kind of minority or ethnic groups, it is not sufficient to merely have secular states for nurturing inclusive societies. Tracing the reasons behind the antagonistic attitude that the majority and minority groups display against each other in Bangladesh, the author concludes that there is a need for nurturing democratic culture that offers space for the warring groups to have dialog, discussion, criticism as well as accommodation. And the author goes on to argue that it is to uphold these values of democracy, secularism and socialism that the liberation war of Bangladesh was fought, but the vested property laws in Bangladesh turned out to be a major irritant to the minorities. The author’s personal enquiries revealed that the minorities were so marginalized that they fell short of political, administrative, legal, and financial power to fight against these irritants. The author also suggests certain measures to resolve land disputes of minorities, but it is doubtful if anything substantial can be achieved, for theocracies and states that advocate single religion are bound to be exclusionary.

In the last paper, “International Aid: A Critical Assessment of Official Development Assistance”, its author, Spadika Jayaraj, tracing the evolution of foreign aid, argues that in a majority of the cases, it is the foreign policy of the donor country that decides granting of aid rather than the need and ability of the receiving country to absorb the aid functionally. Relying on the ‘dependency theory of development’, the author further argues that sustainable development of poor nations could be achieved only if the international community makes long-term legally binding adjustment to the international trade regime and initiates measures to address the challenges posed by the global climate change.

-- GRK Murty
Consulting Editor