Japan and International Migration: Challenges and Opportunities

James N. Purcell, Jr. Director General

International Organization for Migration

Thank you for setting aside time for me to discuss with you some of the areas where the work of the International Organization for Migration and your concerns about the global migration phenomenon are inter-connected.

Among the topics discussed by the G-7 leaders of the most-industrial- ised nations at their 1991 conference in London was a growing concern about worldwide migratory pressures. Although their communiquk did not articulate the nature or causes of these pressures, there is little doubt about what the leaders were referring to. First, the widening gap in living standards between countries of the North and the South. Second, limited political freedom and human rights violations still suffered by many people around the world. And third, the increasing number of asylum seekers and illegal workers entering countries of the North.

Clearly, many people regard migration as one of the major problems the world community will have to face in the coming decade, particularly in the industrialised countries. But is migration “the problem”? Or is migration only a manifestation of a more fundamen- tal dysfunction at work in society?

The UN Population Fund projects a world population of 8.5 billion in the year 2025, i.e. three billion more than 1992 population figures. Most of the growth (up to 90% by some estimates) will take place in the developing world, largely concentrated around sprawling urban centres. But are these areas of future population concentration also producing - at a commensurate rate - jobs, housing, education, transportation or other basic requirements for a decent life? At this time, in many countries, the answer is “No”. Increasingly, people

259

caught in this contradiction are considering migration as a way to resolve their plight.

Pressure to emigrate is increasing at a time when the populations of the North are stable, or in decline, as a result of low birth rates. The populations of the South, on the other hand, are increasing rapidly. Some governments of the North are concerned that sharp population increase, poverty, and ethnic and political crises could, in due course, lead to a mass exodus from the South. Yet few have devised policies that effectively address non-regular types of migration. Indeed, some governments have knowingly admitted illegal migrants to meet unfilled labour demands necessary to service their high rates of economic growth.

Although the likelihood of mass exodus has been questioned on grounds that remedial policies would be in place long before it occurred, too little attention has been given to suggesting and debating those policies. Recent international events which led to, or threatened, unexpected migration, have also been described as indicators of change. Again, however, little systematic research has been done to assess the relationship between migration and socio-economic change.

There is no doubt that modem communications have made people in the South better informed about lifestyles and opportunities in the North. Modern travel has made it easier for them to go there. Globalisation of economic networks and regional economic blocs have also brought migration - including migration between develop- ing countries - within the reach of many people in the South. International markets and trading systems have also changed so rapidly that many governments have not yet examined the appropri- ateness of existing migration policies, let alone devised policies that address the emerging pressures referred to by the G-7 leaders.

Policy responses have therefore ranged from greater family reunification and increased intakes of permanent settlers and refu- gees, to those which permit illegal workers to be deported because they are no longer needed. However governments may respond to future “winds of change”, there appears to be a growing consensus that the migratory pressures referred to by G-7 leaders are not illusory. Appropriate policies designed to facilitate economic growth and preserve political freedom and human rights are the most effective ways of reducing such pressures in the long term.

260

Emigration pressure is, of course, relative; there have always been, and still are, millions of persons ready to move to countries with higher standards of living and fairer political systems. Let us take a look at some of those pressures.

In fact, persons suffering the most severe poverty are generally more likely to stay put until near-starvation overtakes them. Only then do they struggle to move elsewhere - usually, as in the case of Africa, to a nearby country not much better off than their own. Such persons, it has been argued, pose no migration threat to countries of the North: distance, inability to finance travel and fear of the unknown combine to prevent them from becoming part of a long distance mass exodus. Greater pressure is expected to come from persons in relatively better economic circumstances, or from persons in countries higher up the international per capita GNP ladder. There are often people who are ambitious, who know where the opportunities exist, can raise the funds to cover travel costs and who, if necessary, will risk arrest in a country of the North knowing that their deportation is unlikely. Persons with these characteristics appear to typify the increasing asylum-seeker and illegal migrant populations in countries of the North.

Today, as many as 70 million persons, mostly from developing countries, are living and working legally and illegally in other countries. Over one million persons emigrate permanently each year and nearly as many seek asylum in industrial states. In 1992, over seventeen million refugees live outside their homelands compared with about two million in the 1950s.

Though some countries in Western Europe are now experiencing major influxes of “immigrants”, they do not readily acknowledge that they are, or have become, countries of immigration. The United States, Canada and Australia, on the other hand, are declared countries of immigration in the sense that they share a fundamental belief in its value for nation-building. Their intakes of permanent immigrants have traditionally been maintained at relatively high levels. The diverse ethnic compositions of this influx, fortified by family reunification, have led to high proportions of their popu- lations being drawn from developing countries. On the other hand, Latin America, once a traditional receiver of immigrants, now attracts few from other regions and is today losing highly-skilled and professional workers to the United States and Canada and, more recently, to Europe. Latin America’s main migration flows are

26 I

currently intra-regional, between countries at different levels of economic prosperity.

Recent patterns of migration in East and Southeast Asia have been greatly influenced by the high rates of economic growth of Japan and the “four dragons”, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. These countries have obtained migrant labour, but not permanent migrants from nearby countries at earlier stages of development such as the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, which are also important providers of contract labour to the Middle East. All countries in East and Southeast Asia, with the exception of Japan, have also in recent years supplied permanent emigrants to the traditional overseas receivers.

The Middle East, in addition to receiving a large number of temporary contract workers from Asia, has also been a moderate supplier of permanent emigrants to the US, Canada and Australia. Israel domi- nates the region’s permanent migration statistics and, in response to major political changes in the former Soviet Union, has been admit- ting increasing numbers.

South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are the regions where severe emigration pressures are most likely to increase. They are the world’s poorest regions which include countries at mid- or early stages of economic development. Opportunities for migration from both of these regions to the North will be limited. Some skilled and profes- sional workers will emigrate together with contract workers from South Asia to the Middle East. However, their numbers will be minuscule relative to the large and rapidly growing populations of over one billion in these least developed countries. In the absence of appropriate global economic policies, worsening conditions in the least developed countries could lead to increased conflict and instabil- ity. As a result, there could be increased prsssure to migrate.

The challenge is to tackle and solve the root problems which are compelling needy people to consider irregular migration. A compre- hensive programme of economic reform is needed combining aid, trade, investment and debt relief. We must also continue to address other forces as well, which act as “push factors” for people to leave their countries of origin: human rights abuses, environmental degra- dation, political corruption, inefficiency, and so forth. But the key to progress, even in these areas, will be the promotion of sustainable economic development.

262

I believe that legal, orderly migration should be viewed as an impor- tant ingredient of any development solution. For example, through legal migration programmes, language and vocational training can be provided for needed manpower. Moreover, the later return of highly qualified persons to take up important positions in the public or private sectors in their developing countries of origin can help fill vital human resource gaps and bring back skills necessary for job creation. Migration can, and should, be viewed as a contribution to nation building and renewal, as it has been throughout much of history. The key is to move rapidly towards legal migration regimes which support and encourage development. In Japan, for example, the creation of the Japan International Training Cooperation (JITCO) a year ago, aimed at bringing trainees from developing countries to Japan for on-the-job training for periods of up to two years. Amendments to Japan’s immigration law in 1989, which liberalised entry for certain skilled persons, are steps in this direction and are to be commended. But more needs to be done everywhere.

IOM is fortunately well positioned to cooperate in such undertakings as its mandate is to look at the process of migration, its causes, determinants and consequences. It devises and implements pro- grammes of orderly migration at the request of governments to meet the human resources needs, as well as to provide operational expertise in humanitarian emergencies such as in the Gulf, and refugee resettle- ment, such as in Indochina.

Through our programmes, we contribute directly towards making migration flows more orderly. In doing so, we address concerns of humanitarian assistance as well as technical and development coop- eration.

Only a few months ago, I attended an evaluation seminar in Zimbabwe on an IOM programme in Africa funded by the EEC. Based on the Lome IV Agreement, this programme addresses the problem of shortages of skilled persons in African countries to support necessary development.

We are all well aware that successful development requires competent human resources. An estimated 30 per cent of skilled nationals left sub-Saharan Africa for industrialised countries between the 1960s and 1980s. You will appreciate that the loss of these people’s intellectual contribution at home is a restraint on sustainable develop- ment.

263

Ten years of IOM experience in Africa have proven that a well developed programme can mitigate the effects of the brain drain to some degree and bring people with skills in short supply back to their home country. The main component of assistance is job placement combined with financial incentives to facilitate a smooth return and readjustment.

TOM acts as the intermediary in screening applications, negotiating job contracts, making transportation arrangements and providing financial benefits, thus facilitating the professional’s smooth recep- tion and placement in his or her country of origin.

The largest portion of the African returnees over the last nine years has gone into the public sector. Increasingly, however, skilled personnel are required by the private sector.

While the average expense of US$7,460 per candidate placed might appear high if measured against overall per capita assistance to Africa, compared with the cost of an equivalent expatriate expert, it tilts the scale very much in favour of the return of qualified nationals. As funds for development aid become increasingly scarce and demand for such funds from many parts of the world increases, IOM’s “Return of Talent” programme, as it is called, makes a modest contribution towards more efficient use of human resources development assistance.

Another point on the world map where international efforts presently converge is Cambodia. As its contribution to rehabilitation and reconstruction of this war-torn country, which has lost most of its skilled population, IOM designed a programme to assist skilled Cambodians to return home. The first pilot project was launched in Autumn 199 1, with financing from Japan. IOM is now working to place returnees with needed skills in Cambodia in key positions for the reconstruction and rehabilitation process. The initial phase determined the skills of Cambodians abroad, and their interest in, and willingness to return to Cambodia. To test that possibility, surveys were undertaken in five countries: France, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Over 1,300 skilled Cambodians interested in returning home were identified. In this connection, IOM developed an expanded programme, which was included in a joint appeal launched by the UN Development Programme at the Ministerial Conference on Cambodia held in Tokyo last June.

264

Similar efforts to make constructive use of orderly migration schemes are also underway in other areas around the world: the Russian Federation, Eastern Europe, Latin America and South East Asia, to mention just a few.

In all of this, we have to recognize that solutions to migration questions need to focus not only on sources of migration pressure; to be successful, they must also address the realities of the developed world. Mechanisms need to be established to fulfil its migration’s maximum potential: to meet the manpower needs of the North, to enhance the development of the South and to insure that the human beings involved benefit fully from their temporary or permanent migration.

Therein lies the challenge - and the opportunity. Creating barriers to movement will neither solve problems nor cause their source to disappear. Ignoring the realities of increased migratory pressure, and its causes, will do nothing but exacerbate both. I believe we can meet the challenge - seize the opportunity to turn migration into a positive force, sustaining progress and development for all regions - North and South. But in order to do so, we must recognize that opportunity, and not delay in placing it high on our agendas.

I have tried to give you an overview of global trends and issues in migration, to suggest some remedies and cite a few examples of development-related activities of the International Organization for Migration. These activities would not have been possible without the support of IOM’s Member and Observer countries. Japan is among the latter and we hope to be able to welcome her soon as a full Member of the Organization.

As the international scene changes with a speed not experienced before, the international community’s response mechanisms have to be adapted to keep pace. Coordination, creativity and efficiency will be the key to this effort. Let me conclude by saying that I particularly look forward to the exchange of ideas that will follow.

265