Should we welcome asylum seekers?

Background:
There are several reasons behind international migration which are economic as well as noneconomic, for example international migration can also take place due to political or religious regions, although after the Second World War, economic reasons were the main motivation behind international migration. The prospect of earning higher wages abroad was the main reason. However the cost and the benefits of foreign labor has been debated hotly in international economics. The large number of asylum seekers has become a pressing issue for many countries including the United States, Australia and the European Union. These governments are committed to protect the human rights of the refugees as they are bound by international agreements like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; however it appears that the governments are facing difficulties in coping with the large number of immigrants motivated by economic or social reasons. Generally the governments make a distinction between the asylum seekers who have left their country due to war or the fear of persecution but turn away the migrants looking for better economic opportunities.

Points in favor of:
The free and market-driven migration results in higher net productivity of labor. As a factor of production, labourhas becoming verymovable in the present era of globalization and the development of transportationservices,therefore it hasbecome commonfor labour to move from the areas where the demand is higher. As is the case with other factors of production, the impact of labor on the countries to where it moves and from where it comes can be analyzed mathematically. This analysis has proved that there is an increasein output in the host country and this in turn results in anincrease inworldwide output.

2. The higher wages earned abroad by the migrant labor is transferred to their families in their home countries. This can be equated with the dividends which are achieved from any successful capital investment. The remittance by the migrants to their families and the investments made in the economy of their home country has a positive impact on the economy of these countries. In some countries the private investment from the emigrants is nearly half of the total commodity export income of the country.

3. International migration can also bring new knowledge and technology to some of the countries. For example the large-scale migration from Europe to America in the later part of the 19th century increase the growth rate in US and made a significant contribution in economic takeoff. Similarly Australia and New Zealand have also emerged out of the flow of immigration. On the other hand the migrants returning to their countries after years or decades generally bring back considerable amount of money along with new knowledge, skills and attitudes which play an important role in integrating the economy of their home country.

4. The availability of low-paid migrants decreases the need for outsourcing. The main reason behind outsourcing is a requirement to cut cost by paying less to the workers when it is presumed that the wages are too high and the domestic labor is too costly. As the migrants are generally willing to work on lesser wages, it allows the companies to avoid outsourcing by hiring them at a lower cost. Therefore those who view outsourcing as harmful or undesirable, some sort of conclusion can be provided by the migrants.

Points against:
1. It has been seen that while the developed countries gain most of the benefits from migration, the developing countries lose out. The economic migrants leave their country in search of higher income and not because they cannot find jobs in their own country. In this way they contribute in widening the gap in the labor market of their own country and condemn it for further economic decline. The international migration of labor skews the global distribution of income.

2. Generally the migrants take their families along and therefore they do not send anything to their home country. It has been seen that while the host country benefits from the labor done by the migrant family’s head, the children and the elderly of the migrant familiesturn out to be a burden on the taxpayers of the host country. The illegal and unqualified labor force also results in lowering the actual wages in thehost nation and creates the problem of unemployment or makes it even worse. Efforts should be made to develop the poor countries instead of allowing the persons from these countries to leave their country. It also results in brain drain as the talentedpersons from poor countries move to other countries while their talent is more required in their home country. The migration of talented workforce from these countries condemns them to a permanent state of underdevelopment. The aim should be to develop these countries through investment and training.

3. The immigrants succeeded in boosting the economy of America in the 19th century because it had a huge liberal market present at that time along with the vast availability of low-priced land in the country. However the world has changed significantly since that time. Economic success is no longer dependent on the availability of large numberof unskilled workers and the local market in the developed countries is also divided between a large number of local and overseas producers. At the same time, the immigrants coming to developed countries now generally do not have high education and they do not bring with them special knowledge or new technologies and they do not make efforts to assimilate the culture of the country to which they have migrated.

4. The global economy and the poor countries can be helped through investments in the less developed countries and by adopting sound trading practices. This cannot be achieved if the workers from poor countries are permittedin the Western world without any restriction. It is only some multinational companies that are lobbying for free labor market as they continue with their search for the cheapest labor available.