GRM 2010 Report - Centre of Islamic Studies - University of ...

64
The 2010 Gulf Research Meeting
Workshop 6: The Impact of Migration on Gulf Development and Stability
Prof. Philippe
Fargues
Robert Schuman
Centre for Advanced
Studies, European
University Institute
Prof. Nasra Shah
Kuwait University
The main goals of this workshop were to describe the current trends and patterns of migration,
and appraise the consequences of migration in terms of the costs and benefits for sending as well
as receiving countries. Another major goal was to assess the governance of migration in terms
of the sustainability of current migration patterns in light of the socio-demographic changes
occurring in the receiving countries, especially their efforts towards indigenization of the work
force .
The workshop received almost 40 proposals from which 14 were selected. In addition, each
of the workshop directors presented a paper. Participants included economists, demographers,
sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists resulting in a highly interdisciplinary debate
and discussion. While the United Arab Emirates (UAE) received more coverage than the others,
at least one paper was presented on five of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The workshop began with an overview paper by Phillipe Fargues outlining the uniqueness of
the Gulf region in terms of the exceptionally high influx of migrant workers who have helped in
building the infrastructure and the economies of this region. It described three stages through
which the migration process has evolved and raised a question about the impact of past trends
and the current global economic recession on future trends. A general overview paper was also
presented by Abdelnabi Alekry on the challenges for changes posed by the expatriate workers in
the Gulf. Nasra Shah discussed the current labor force structure of nationals and non-nationals
in Kuwait. In addition to presenting a socio-demographic profile of the labor force based on 2008
data, she addressed the likely impacts of the current patterns on the possible future within the
context of the government’s restrictive policies.