William Lacy Swing: Migration Is a Reality to be Managed

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - With the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community, 10 Southeast Asian countries will soon face a freer flow of labor. This was one of the topics discussed at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia last week, where human mobility was seen as essential for the success of overall development. "I think we need to start from the supposition that migration is a positive force and a major agent for development," said Ambassador William Lacy Swing, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who also co-chaired the global forum in Jakarta last week.

Swing has served as US ambassador in six different countries, before heading the IOM. His long diplomatic career has made him aware of the inevitability of migrationary movements. "Historically, migration has been overwhelmingly positive. Countries such as the US, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and Canada were built on the backs of migrants," he said.

In between sessions of the WEF meeting, Swing shared his thoughts on migration issues faced by ASEAN and the world with Tempo English reporters, Sadika Hamid, Amanda Siddharta and Edward Stephens.

Does the forum's theme 'Encouraging Trust in East Asia' relate to IOM's mission of ensuring smooth, humane and orderly flow of human migration?

If you are going to have a functioning ASEAN economic community (AEC) it must be built on trust. Of course, the aspect in which we are most interested is the question of human mobility. If you will have a regional integration, you must facilitate and accelerate human mobility. You cannot have just the free flow of capital, goods and services without the free flow of people. We think the time has come to begin focusing on an AEC-wide human resources policy. This will require a good deal of effort on the part of the 10 member states. They will need to begin raising public awareness so people understand why others are coming into their country.

Given the different skill levels and economic disparities between ASEAN nations, how do you see the dynamics of human mobility in the region and what are the challenges?

Some countries, more than others, will be countries of destination. Still others will be major suppliers. One of the big challenges will be youth unemployment because of the differences in the (different) levels of skill. But if you restrict it only to the mobility of high-skilled people, that will not work either. Because who will do the dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs that many nationals do not want to do? There should be accommodation that must be made through a policy of dialogue, that should be able to be worked out. You also need to avoid the trafficking of human beings. If you do not have proper policies, then you cannot control that.

But the free movement of labor in the upcoming AEC is currently limited to eighthigh-skilled professions...

I think that you obviously have to move beyond just that. But you have time. However, if you don't develop the policies that increase mobility of all skill levels, you will work against the overall interests of the ASEAN economic community.

Will this integration push skilled workers to leave their home country for the more developed countries? 

That again is a question of developing the policy, in deciding which limitations you want to put into. But it need not work that way. Europe has worked it out all right. There was a period when Poland first joined (the EU), and all its workers moved to London. Then the Polish economy became stronger than the British economy, and they moved back. It still works somehow, we must not be afraid of this. We must go into it with our eyes open, and accept that people will move. Migration is as old as humankind and, as I keep telling people, migration is not a problem to be solved, it is a reality to be managed.

How about the threat of brain drain?

We need to realize two things. One, some of that is offset by remittances, but more importantly, if you have the right policies, a migrant can contribute back home also. The high road scenario would say you should have laws that allow your citizens to vote while they are abroad and encourage them to invest back home, or to trade. There must be incentives that you can offer these people, so that they do not forget that home is both the host and the country of origin.

About nine million Indonesians work as migrant workers, yet only one ASEAN country has ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on domestic workers, the Philippines. How do you think the government should better protect them?

We should encourage all countries in the world to ratify the ILO convention. Migrants are among the most vulnerable people in the world and domestic workers, within that group, are the most vulnerable. Second, one needs to do more to prepare the diplomatic and consular missions to make protecting their citizens as the number one priority, to register them when they come, stay in touch with them and to keep in touch with the government when they hear of violations.

One way in which the government has tackled this problem is to stop sending migrant workers to the Middle East. Do you think this is effective?

I think the government is to be commended for its very conscious effort to protect them. But be cautious. You do not want to do anything that would push these domestic workers into a more clandestine, irregular way of going abroad, which would make them more vulnerable.

What experiences from the European Union can ASEAN learn to facilitate migrations?

You must develop common policies. And Europe is not that far advanced either. They have a global migration policy which consists of three pillars: limiting irregular migration, facilitating regular migration and protecting the rights of all. But that is just a framework. The details of it-if you look at what is happening in the Mediterranean right now-shows you how far they still have to go. We could establish, if ASEAN is interested, a regional consultative process (to address migration problem).

You said migration is a reality. Some countries have also benefitted greatly from it. However, there is often strong resistance from the inside. How should countries deal with this problem?

It is a constant tension between respect for national sovereignty on the one hand and respect for individual freedom on the other. Somewhere in between we must come up with a policy that respects both of them. We should take the attitude that migrants are moving because they are highly motivated and they want a better life. They have a lot of ideas and they bring new impulses to a country. Much of the small and medium enterprises today are created by migrants. Nearly half of all patent applications in the United States are made by people who were not born there. But you should have the right policies to welcome them, and allow them to have that latitude. I think that we need our policies to catch up with human realities today.

What kind of policies would best accommodate migrants?

There should be options that will allow them to become a permanent resident, eventually perhaps to become a citizen. We think a high road scenario is the best, for example issuing multiple entry visas. The reason people overstay their visas is because they only have one entry. There are also measures such as portable social security systems. I was at the Mexican border recently and met a man who has been in the U.S. for 35 years. He took his social security with him (from the U.S. back to Mexico) and he opened up a boutique hotel. So it's the simple things that make life easier for people to move and make their contribution. (*)