Why settling abroad should be encouraged

Mar 22, 2019

These days not many people migrate from poor countries to the rich countries for settlement because the rich countries claim that the people from poor countries pose a security threat.

Thousands of Ugandans yearn to live and work abroad and on a daily basis, some companies, recruit mostly young people aged between 24-29 years to go and work in countries like Abdu Dhabi, Dubai, South East Asia, Quarter, Jordan, Isreal and many other places.

There are also Ugandans that are skilled expatriates and migrate to bigger economies like the UK, Canada, USA, German, Sweden and other countries. It is these migrations and what they mean to recipient countries that Dr Livingstone Sewanyana, the Executive Director Foundation For Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) was talking about when  he gave  a key note address at the Global Citizens' Forum at Drake University in Iowa USA.

He said: "The weakest passports tend to be held by the poorest countries, which also tend to be countries most at risk of negative or stereotypical views of migrants. This makes it difficult for citizens from poor countries to travel and integrate in developed countries and yet the development of the most powerful economies in the world can only be attributed to the knowledgeable skilled young labourers who left the poor countries for the rich ones."

Dr Sewanyana said: These days not many people migrate from poor countries to the rich countries for settlement because the rich countries claim that the people from poor countries pose a security threat.

In His paper, Dr Sewanyana argued that both emigration and immigration open new opportunities for states, societies and the people who move.

He said: "The term illegal immigrant is negative and affects the quality of life of individuals referred to as such."

Emigration is the act of exiting or departing from one state or country with a purpose of settling in another one. Immigrants are non-nationals moving into a country with a purpose of settlement. Majority of migrants tend to be youthful and aged between 24-29 years. These are prime years when the human resource can best be utilised to deliver in an economy.

Dr Sewanyana argued that some people move in search of security, others in search of wealth, others want to avoid environmental changes and others want to find new resources. "It is not true that more people move from poor countries to developed countries, but rather more people move from developed countries to poorer countries," he said.

This Dr Sewanyana said it is good for global trade and provides a unique opportunity for countries to harness the human resource they receive for economic growth.

Dr Sewanyana said development aid alone cannot stop people from poor countries from going to developed countries. "On the contrary, development AID would only increase the number of people leaving poor countries for rich countries because people use the resources given to attain skills and more resources, and therefore, find themselves at liberty to move."

According to Dr.Sewanyana, it is good for people to move from one country to another because it boosts growth of countries.

Dr. Livingstone Sewanyana is the Executive Director Foundation For Human Rights Initiative (FHRI)

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});