MIGRATION CAN GENERATE EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER BENEFITS

VATICAN CITY, APR 6, 2006 (VIS) - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, participated yesterday in the 39th session of the Commission on Population and Development.

  "The work of the commission includes" said the archbishop in his English-language speech, "the examination of trends and impacts upon population and development like HIV, unknown 60 years ago, and the migration of peoples, with their respective consequences."

  Sometimes, he added, the phenomenon of migration "is painted as a threat and is manipulated for short term political gain, at the expense of the most natural rights of all human beings - the right to life, to citizenship, to work and to development."

  "For receiving countries, the net economic impact of international migration is said to be generally positive. Although the presence of international migrants may have a small adverse effect on the wages of non-migrants or may raise unemployment when wages are rigid, such effects are usually small at the national level. Over the medium and long term, migration can even generate employment and produce net fiscal gains."

  The apostolic nuncio also highlighted how "the emigration of skilled personnel can be detrimental to the development prospects of countries of origin, especially small developing countries losing high proportions of skilled citizens. However, skilled migrants who maintain ties with their countries of origin may stimulate the transfer of technology and capital."

  He added: "Due to low fertility, net migration counts for three quarters of the population growth in developed countries and, by 2030, migration may account for all population growth in those countries. ... The social impact of migration on receiving countries with shrinking birth rates, now needs to be better understood."

  Archbishop Migliore concluded by highlighting the "growing awareness that immigration cannot be the single solution to demographic and labor problems of receiving countries."
DELSS/POPULATION:DEVELOPMENT/MIGLIORE            VIS 20060406 (320)