From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

FROM POVERTY TO POWERFor example, quotas for sending countries could be reduced inproportion to the numbers of migrants who failed to return, thusincreasing incentives for them to create a hospitable economic andpolitical climate at home to encourage their nationals to return.Developed-country governments can minimise the risks of braindrain by addressing the causes of the workforce crisis in their ownpublic services and avoiding cherry-picking the skilled workers thatdeveloping countries so desperately need. Ethical codes of practice forrecruiting countries have been tried, with some success. For example,the UK’s ethical recruitment code has halted the increase in recruitmentof overseas nurses in the National Health Service, although mostprivate agencies do not apply it. Rich governments could also reimbursedeveloping-country governments for the cost of training new healthand education workers.Lobbying by migrant worker organisations has helped to convincedeveloping-country governments to act to maximise the benefits ofmigration. Both the Philippines and Sri Lanka require workers leavingthe country to register with the government. Departing migrantworkers must pay a fee for registration and provide the details of theiremployment, including the name of the employer and the country towhich they are migrating. In return, the government tracks employers,and those who violate employee contracts or exploit migrant workersin any other way are blacklisted. As an additional incentive forregistration, the government of Sri Lanka provides departing workerswith life insurance, scholarships for children, airport assistance, interestfreeloans to help with migration costs, and other benefits. 101Increasing the quantity and quality of migration is one of the mosteffective ways to tackle global poverty and inequality. It would correctone of the fundamental injustices of globalisation: the fact that capitaland goods can largely flow free of hindrance, but people cannot.However, it remains largely a Cinderella issue in the developmentdebate, one that politicians and lobbyists avoid for fear of nationalistbacklash. In the years to come, migration will only increase. For anyoneconcerned with development, ensuring that it contributes as much aspossible to human welfare is an urgent and critical task.340