By Politico
From the article:
Europe pledged to spend €6 billion in Turkey to keep refugees on the other side of the border. Some have suggested spending a similar amount in Africa. POLITICO asked Europe’s leading migration experts and policymakers: If the EU had €6 billion to spend on managing migration from Africa, how and where should the bloc spend it?
…
Prepare migrants for work in Europe
Michael Clemens is co-director of migration, displacement and humanitarian policy and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.
Europe should invest in creating skills among potential migrants in Africa — specific skills that the EU needs. This is a long-term investment, alongside (not instead of) more traditional and short-term measures such as helping poor countries create jobs and helping third countries host asylum seekers.
The simple reality is that no amount of financial assistance can stop migration. Indeed, over the longer term, poor countries that develop successfully will exhibit more emigration, not less.
This happens for many complex reasons, including the demographic changes that accompany development success. Migration pressure will rise with 800 million new sub-Saharan African workers by 2050. This is not a sign of Africa’s failure but of its success in sharply reducing child mortality, including with foreign assistance.
In the long run, foreign assistance can shape future migration in ways that are much more beneficial to Europe and Africa. Funding can help set up training programs that give potential migrants the job and language skills they need to integrate quickly and contribute maximally in Europe, such as in nursing or hospitality work. Carrying out such training before they migrate sharply reduces the cost and helps migrants hit the ground running.
Many Africans will migrate to Europe. The only question is whether they will arrive with valued skills or not. The time to begin building those skills is now. If EU aid retains its exclusive focus on stopping migration, it will exacerbate the migration problems of tomorrow.
Read the full article here.