Migration, Regional Integration and the Development Conundrum: Reflections on Policy, Identity and Shared Humanity

Abstract

The new turn in globalisation that marked the second half of the twentieth century was based on the liberal international system in which the world became more interconnected and integrated. While not everyone agreed, hyperglobalists believed that the end of the Westphalian state structure, as we know it, was in sight as national borders became blurred, especially in relation to movement of finance, capital, technology, goods and services. The globalisation processes have spurred different contradictory outcomes, with some countries gaining in economic, technological and military powers, while some have lost out in the process. The inevitable result of these contradictory processes is the creation of zones of comfort and zones of pain. In order to escape the pain, some vulnerable members of the society in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean have engaged in both regular and irregular migrations, sometimes through perilous paths. In reaction, developed countries have formulated policies to turn away refugees and economic migrants. Such kneejerk reactions only address the demand side aspect of the global migration crisis. This chapter examines the global migration crisis in terms of its causative factors as well as its dimensions. It argues that the construction of identity along national lines undermine our shared humanity. Thus, a new policy that addresses the supply-side factors that foster mass movement of people from the zones of socio-economic difficulty to zones of relative socio-economic comfort and consideration for our shared humanity have become imperative. The chapter employs historical and reciprocity analytical frameworks to show that the history of humanity is that of migration. Consequently, history shows that countries that appear to be comfortable today are not guaranteed such position in the future.