ECLAC LAUNCHES REPORT ON MIGRATION, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT IN CARIBBEAN

ECLAC LAUNCHES REPORT ON MIGRATION, HUMAN RIGHTS

AND DEVELOPMENT IN CARIBBEAN

(Reissued as received.)

PORT OF SPAIN, 21 December (ECLAC) -– The Subregional Headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has launched a report on its recently held expert group meeting on migration, human rights and development in the Caribbean, which reviews critical topics of regional and international migration in the subregion.

Caribbean countries have a long-standing history of emigration to Europe and Northern America.  According to figures released in 2003 by the United Nations Population Division, the region has one of the highest net-migration rates worldwide and has, at the same time, experienced a loss of more than 5 million people over the last 50 years.

Regional migration flows are explained by income differentials, access to a better quality of life, migrant and family networks in the receiving country, as well as shortages in the receiving country of certain categories of migrants, such as skilled workers.  Intra-regional migration flows are associated with specific activities, such as tourism or construction.

According to available data, one third of intra-Caribbean migrants reside in Trinidad and Tobago, about one quarter in the United States Virgin Islands and one in ten in Barbados.  The major sending countries include Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Guyana.  The latest migrant stock data indicates that on some islands, particularly those with a growing tourist sector -- as is the case for Dutch dependencies Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, along with Antigua and Barbuda -- one third or more of the resident population is foreign born.

Today many concerns surround this migration:  the free movement of skilled labour force within the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and its impact on the socio-economic development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region; the brain drain in the health and education sector; trafficking and smuggling of drugs and people; and increasingly return migration, be it voluntary or forced.  While some countries benefit from these migratory flows, in terms of remittances and influx of skilled people, other nations suffer the severe consequences of the brain drain in their public health and education sectors.

These issues were addressed at the Expert Group Meeting on Migration, Human Rights and Development in the Caribbean, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 14 and 15 September.

The two-day meeting of experts from government, interregional bodies, international organizations, civil society and academia examined the relationship between migration, human rights and development.  The experts focused in particular on the state of knowledge of migration; migration policies from a regional and global perspective; migration and human rights; and specific country studies on migration.

The experts concluded that migration in the Caribbean is multifaceted.  Many of the countries are both sending and receiving countries, as well as transit countries for many on the way to their final destination.  Migration is often driven by external factors, such as social and political upheavals, socio-economic differentials, social ties and the opening of international markets.  However, quite often decisions taken at the individual level appear to counter socio-economic conditions.

Demographic trends, such as declining fertility and population ageing in relation to economic development, particularly in Small Islands Developing States, often determine the in- and outflow of migrants.  Specific labour market needs, for example for male workers in construction and female labour in the service and tourist industry, affect the gender composition of a country’s entire population.  The impact on the demographic structure of the population is often dramatic:  for instance, in the case of Aruba the high number of female workers needed to sustain economic growth in tourism seems to threaten the demographic balance of the entire population.

The experts called attention on the need to strengthen data collection and monitoring mechanisms, in order to enhance the orderly movements of people and to improve the management of the various migrant flows.  The region has already undertaken efforts to establish and strengthen mechanisms for migration management, such as the managed migration programme for nurses adopted by CARICOM, initiatives by the Regional Nursing Body of CARICOM and the Caribbean Program Coordination of the Pan American Health Organization, as well as the free movement of the skilled programme within the CSME.

Another area of serious concern is the negative impact of the brain drain in the health and education sector.  While developing countries provide nurses and teachers to Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, the health and education sectors of these countries are suffering from shortages of those workers.

Changes are also taking place in return migration.  Increasingly, new types of return migrants are appearing.  While a growing number of nationals from the Diaspora are returning to retire in the Caribbean, an increasing number of migrants and foreign-born legal residents are being deported, particularly from the United States.  Experience shows that many return migrants, particularly those who were forcefully returned, often had little or no contact with their country of birth and thus find it difficult to reintegrate there.

The free movement of people within the Caribbean presents both opportunities and obstacles, the experts said.  While many in the Caribbean see the benefits of the free movement, some consider it a threat to their well-being and cultural identity.  Given the multicultural reality of the Caribbean, with many different languages and cultures, the issue of multiculturalism versus monoculturalism needs to be further addressed.

While many concerns were raised, the experts agreed that the region could benefit from migration.  Lessons learned in other parts of the world to establish brain gain networks, enhanced exchange programmes and considering providing health and education services for foreigners on Caribbean islands, were seen as opportunities to be explored.  In addition, to benefit from the flow of remittances, more research is required on the scope of remittances sent by various types of workers, their size and their impact on the receiving country.

The findings of the meeting will be presented at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development during the next session of ECLAC in April 2006.  The findings will also feed into the global process of preparation for the high-level dialogue on international migration and development convened by the General Assembly for 2006.

For further information, please visit:  www.eclac.cl/portofspain/default.asp?idioma=IN or contact Neil Pierre, Director, ECLAC Sub-regional Headquarters for the Caribbean, Port of Spain, Tel.:  1-868 623 5595, fax:  1-868 623 8485, e-mail:  Neil.Pierre@eclac.org

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For information media • not an official record