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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 001984 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PRM FOR JARED BANKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PHUM SF
SUBJECT: SADC STATES PREPARE FOR U.N. MIGRATION FORUM (GFMD) 
 
PRETORIA 00001984  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  At a September 21-23 forum in Cape Town, government 
officials from fourteen states of the Southern African 
Development Community (SADC) discussed policies and programs 
to leverage migration for economic development.  The workshop 
was a regional precursor for a wider U.N. event, the Global 
Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD), upcoming in 
November.  Discussion themes included maximizing the benefits 
of remittances, mitigating "brain drain," protecting outbound 
migrant workers, and integrating inbound migrants.  Overseas 
diasporas were targeted as sources of foreign direct 
investment, as well as of skills transfer through migrant 
returns in "circular migration" flows.  Participants broke 
into working groups to formulate inputs to GFMD sessions, and 
they produced a set of 19 broad non-binding resolutions.  End 
Summary. 
 
-------------------------- 
Background: MIDSA and GFMD 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  The Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) is an 
intergovernmental forum in which officials from fourteen SADC 
states discuss policy related to migration.  It is organized 
annually by the International Organization for Migration 
(IOM) and the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP), with 
sponsorship from State/PRM.  This year's September 21-23 
workshop focused on formulating shared regional positions 
prior to a larger U.N. event, the Global Forum for Migration 
and Development (GFMD), in Athens on November 2-5.  Delegates 
represented ministries of labor, economic development, and 
immigration.  The overarching theme was integration of 
migration considerations into national and regional policy 
and planning frameworks, in order to maximize the benefits of 
migration and mitigate its drawbacks to foster socio-economic 
development. 
 
------------------------------ 
Remittances and Other Benefits 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  Remittances dominate the discourse on migration and 
development.  The World Bank reports that to sub-Saharan 
Africa these amounted to $29 billion in 2008 but were 
forecast to fall by eight percent in 2009 due to the economic 
crisis.  Remittances made up 28 percent of the GDP of 
Lesotho, which sends many of its workers to South Africa. 
Lesotho allows 30 to 50 percent of workers' salaries to be 
remitted home tax-free, provides briefing sessions to 
outbound migrants, and has a well-structured visa program for 
outgoing domestic workers.  In South Africa, which has 
experienced heavy migration both in and out since 1994, SAMP 
figures show growing two-way flows, reaching $735 million in 
and $1,067 million out in 2006 (unfortunately the most recent 
figures available).  A 2006 SAMP survey of five African 
countries found that 84 percent of migrant-sending households 
received remittances back.  (Yet 80 percent of that money was 
sent via informal channels, not banks, showing how hard these 
flows are to track.)  SAMP's Jonathan Crush said remittances 
were mostly used for consumption, and the challenge was to 
Qwere mostly used for consumption, and the challenge was to 
channel them toward investment and business development. 
 
¶4.  Speakers noted a range of migration benefits.  Receiving 
countries gain a greater supply of labor (especially in 
underserviced areas like nursing and teaching); knowledge 
transfer from skilled professionals; potential job creation, 
incremental tax revenue, savings and investment; and creation 
of links to new export markets abroad.  The 2009 U.N. World 
Development Report asserts that migrant workers' productivity 
is higher than that of nationals in destination countries, 
because migrants are forced to establish and prove 
themselves.  Besides remittances, the benefits for source 
 
PRETORIA 00001984  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
countries are reduced unemployment, foreign direct investment 
by members of the diaspora, and skill gains if or when 
migrants return.  Within regions, migration yields 
cross-border spillover effects of economic development, such 
as wage and welfare convergence. 
 
¶5.  Two main pitfalls are "brain drain" and exploitation of 
migrants.  Half of Zambian migrants in OECD countries are 
professionals, according to a 2004 survey.  From 1997 to 2005 
the number of licensed doctors in Zambia fell from 1,283 to 
646, roughly half.  Programs to defend migrant workers' 
rights were outlined by Faiyaz Qazi, a representative of the 
Colombo Process, a regional forum (and MIDSA peer) among ten 
Asian labor-sending countries.  That forum has developed a 
proactive "end to end" set of protections for migrant workers 
-- encompassing information campaigns on the risks of 
irregular migration, advocacy for minimum wage and work 
standards and establishment of reception centers in host 
countries, training programs to make member countries' 
workers more competitive, establishment of safety-net welfare 
funds, and "brain gain" strategies for drawing back knowledge 
and technologies from the diaspora. 
 
-------------------- 
Tapping the Diaspora 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  The rush is on to target diasporas as underexploited 
assets.  Cautioning that its estimates are quite rough, SAMP 
counts 8.8 million Africans in the global North (the majority 
7.3 million in the EU), 3.1 million in the South (mainly 2.6 
million in the Mideast), and 13.2 million migrated 
cross-border within Africa.  Of the estimated 1.6 million 
SADC nationals outside Africa, 70 percent are in Europe and 
only 13 percent in North America.  Intraregionally (SADC 
nationals in other SADC countries), South Africa predictably 
hosts the largest intake (estimated 690,000 persons), with 
Zimbabwe a surprising second (450,000), followed by Tanzania 
(295,000), Malawi (240,000), and Mozambique (230,000). 
 
¶7.  Canada's International Development Research Centre has 
funded an online survey of the SADC diaspora in Canada -- 
mostly (40-50,000) South Africans, but also including 
Tanzanians, Angolans, Congolese, and lately Zimbabweans -- to 
assess their incomes and assets, engagement with home 
countries, and possible intent and motives for return. 
SAMP's Crush says preliminary evidence indicates very high 
levels of enduring interest in the nations of origin. 
Zimbabwe's delegation corroborated that point, citing surveys 
indicating that 58 percent of its diaspora wants to return 
one day. 
 
¶8.  Mauritian Anil Kokil outlined a bilateral agreement his 
government signed with France to promote "circular 
migration," via employment for a certain number of Mauritians 
in prescribed job categories over a set number of years, 
followed by their return to Mauritius carrying back needed 
skills.  Migrants are incented to return with investment 
capital, to found small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as 
engines of job creation and economic growth.  (Kokil crowed 
Qengines of job creation and economic growth.  (Kokil crowed 
that the World Bank had coined the phrase "Mauritian 
miracle," and his President was invited to breakfast with 
President Obama.) 
 
¶9.  Other countries are launching outreach initiatives to 
their diasporas.  DR Congo has created a Deputy Minister of 
Foreign Affairs to liaise with Congolese abroad and represent 
their interests at home.  The official is tasked with 
mobilizing diaspora skills, attracting funds for investment, 
and bringing knowledge and technology back into the country. 
The Zambian Foreign Affairs Ministry has proposed the idea of 
a similar diaspora office.  To attract foreign direct 
investment from its nationals abroad, the Comoros has offered 
them shares in public projects at discounts of up to 50 
percent. 
 
PRETORIA 00001984  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
----------------------------- 
Working Groups on GFMD Themes 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Participants split into working groups to discuss the 
three major themes to be raised at the GFMD in Athens.  These 
themes, and the groups' flipchart presentations of their 
deliberations, are summarized below. 
 
- (A) Migration and Millenium Development Goals (MDGs): 
Migration supports poverty eradication through remittances 
and diaspora links.  With respect to maternal health (and 
related HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, and child mortality), skills 
retention and migrant return programs are most critical, 
along with rural socio-economic conditions and technology 
transfer.  Thirdly, on development partnerships, the group 
emphasized the importance of bi-/multilateral agreements. 
 
- (B) Migrant (Re-)Integration: Skill transfer was cited as a 
top priority, followed by data collection for planning. 
Employment access for migrants should be made equal to that 
of nationals.  SADC states must ratify the UN conventions 
safeguarding human rights of migrant workers.  Overseas 
nationals should be able to vote through their embassies. 
Migrants should be encouraged to participate in community 
awareness campaigns and business fora. 
 
- (C) Policy Partnerships: To integrate migration into 
planning and programming, data must be collected on migration 
trends and push/pull factors.  Ministries should be created 
to focus on migration and development.  Regionally, an 
interministerial (and intersectoral) committee could be 
formed to facilitate collaboration on migration.  Nationally, 
ministries of home affairs, labor, finance, and economy 
should work closely with international organizations and 
NGOs.   Migration issues should be accounted for in national 
budgets. 
 
------------------------ 
Outcomes: 19 Resolutions 
------------------------ 
 
¶11.  Participants agreed on 19 (non-binding) resolutions to: 
 
- reduce barriers to mobility; 
- facilitate remittance flows; 
- encourage retention and return of health workers; 
- ratify relevant SADC, UN, and ILO conventions; 
- emulate best practices, e.g. of the Colombo Process; 
- engage myriad stakeholders, especially diasporas; 
- generate research data as a basis for policies; 
- create programs to support internal migration; 
- identify SADC skill gaps to develop skill exchanges; 
- confront economic crisis, not undercutting migrants; 
- integrate migration into development planning; 
- allocate budgets for migration planning and support; 
- increase SADC cooperation on migration and development; 
- convoke MIDSA at ministerial level; 
- copy models of bilateral collaboration, e.g. Mauritius; 
- underscore those MDGs most impacted by migration; 
- engage and harness skills of diasporas and returnees; 
- regularize the status of irregular migrants; and 
- carry these recommendations to the GFMD in Athens. 
 
(Note: Unabridged texts of the resolutions have been 
forwarded to the Department. End Note.) 
GIPS