My grandmother once told me that “a child that does not travel thinks that its mother is the best cook in the world.” A two day conference on migration held recently in Rabat (Morocco) that saw 160 representatives from 26 African countries and 248 representatives from European countries gather greatly negates this virtue. Noting that thousands of people try to reach Europe through Spain each year, a majority of them from North African countries, the Rabat meeting resolved among other measures, creation of a European African observatory: a “telescope” which will enhance regulatory response to migration issues.

One of the most controversial topics of debate in the political arena is immigration. On the question of immigration policy, opinions range from “open door” to “closed door” or free immigration to zero immigration.

Not very long ago, people voluntarily travelled anywhere their fancy and money took them. Great travelers like Huien Tsang, Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta attest to this. Migration is natural to human beings; otherwise we would still be interred in some tower of Babel. It is innate in human beings to seek greener pastures. Moving from one academic class to the other; one job group to the other; one place of employment to the other are some forms of migration. Even body parts move in what we call growth. The United States in the 19^th century expressed the biggest wave of immigration in history-yet it also saw the greatest growth in production and standards of living in the world. This was no mere coincidence. 

This right was abused when force was introduced. Millions of Africans for example, were shipped to Europe to work in plantations. Strange today, states are using force to do the opposite: ensuring that human beings cannot go where markets beckon. 

Immigration control is hooked on the notion that population is a problem; that human beings are not a resource, but a source of trouble. It is also based on the misconception that a country’s wealth is static. No wonder then, statisticians record increase in GDP when a calf is born but reduce per capita income whenever a human infant is born. Who creates wealth? The bird whose faecal matter is high-value fertilizer, hence shits money- but never grows rich itself or human beings who harvest its droppings, do some alteration and grow rich? 

Immigration control hurts poor nations which are able to export labour by severely undermining the three components that make up the global market: capital, product and labour. Of the three, the capital market is the most open while that for labour is most closed. 

Immigration opponents just see elimination of jobs but are blind to the fact that in addition to being workers; immigrants are consumers, creating demand for manufactured goods. Immigrants have brought numerous benefits despite their differences. The entertainment and arts industry in America for example is by far the largest in the world due to ethnic and cultural diversity. Variety is a key ingredient to innovation. More immigrants mean more people to think up productivity enhancing ideas. Well did Soichiro Honda (of motor cycle and auto fame) say “where 100 people think there are 100 powers; where 1000 people think; there are 1000 powers.”

Wages in Hong Kong continue to rise rapidly after thirty years. A report in 1993 showed that Hong Kong’s per capita had exceeded $18,000; a far greater increase than any where else in Asia or Western Europe. Despite the great numbers of immigrants that enter Hong Kong every year, there is still a labour shortage.

It is ironic to talk of globalization when we still indenture our citizens. It is fruitless to talk about pan Africanism when exchange of goods around our borders is termed as ‘illicit” trade. Immigration will improve governance, as countries with bad track records and rogue dictators will experience a mass exodus. This will force them to create incentives that will attract populations. The Jews fled Egypt. The prophet Mohammed (PBH) fled Mecca. Rastafarians still dream of an exodus from Babylon. Immigration will bring peace. Intermarriages will ensure that being relatives, people won’t war against each other. African tribes used to exchange women as a deterrent to war.

Asian immigrants are making western Kenya to tick. When the Western University College of Science and Technology was under construction; there was no local who could supply cement or metal bars. Asian immigrants solved the issue. Some sections of Kenya’s tribes are afraid to work in morgues or fashion caskets. Tribes that put culture aside and see business opportunities have quickly moved in and filled the void. 

Human beings are not a problem; otherwise wars, epidemics or road accidents would be a blessing. Human beings are not animals to be confined in cages. By not allowing movement, world powers are making refugee camps of people. Countries are making refugees out of their citizens. Left to move, these people will contribute significantly to those cities and towns they go to. As Ken Schoolland points out in Adventures of Jonathan Gullible, immigration control by rich empty nations is “old newcomers stopping new newcomers with a pull-up-the-ladder law,” whose enforceability is difficult and expensive. For God’s sake, stop this xenophobia!