2012-03-09 12:47:28

Making migration work


“Building bridges of opportunity: migration and diversity” that was the theme of a round table discussion sponsored by the U.S. embassy to the Holy See and the Pontifical North American College here in Rome Thursday.

The President of the Migrant Policy Institute, a Washington and Brussels-based think tank, Dr. Demetrios Papademetriou was one of the partcipants of the event, together with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the President of Pontifical Council for Culture and Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s Permanent Representative to the International Organization for Migration.

Speaking to Vatican Radio on the sidelines of the discussions, Dr. Papademetriou said the economic crisis in countries like his native Greece has led many people to leave the country or consider emigrating to another nation in search of a better future.

Himself a naturalized U.S. citizen, Dr. Papademetriou notes that countries in Europe like Greece, Spain and Ireland, which were once emigrant nations, have seen a reversal in that pattern in the last few decades, with large numbers of immigrants arriving on their shores.

“Places like Greece, Spain or Ireland, in a decade or a decade and a half, had as many immigrants per capita – per head – as the United States has, which is a remarkable statement,” Papademetriou says.

He observes that the people who left these countries in the last 70-100 years were mostly farmers or poor people from small villages who emigrated to another country seeking better opportunities.

“Now, a new phenomenon has emerged,” he says. “First of all, those countries that very suddenly became countries of immigration are in a sense now returning back to their own norm: they’re becoming again significant countries of emigration. But this time, the people who are leaving these countries - my country of origin/birth, Greece; Spain and Italy…and many other places - what they’re losing is young, very educated, very dynamic people who are really leaving because they don’t think that there are any prospects for them in their own countries.”

“Believe me, the interest in talented young foreigners in countries like the United States, the U.K., Australia, Canada… is very, very high because what they see…is an opportunity to have young, talented people…(who) also bring their education and talents to the service (of their economies) and society. That’s great for the receiving countries. At some point, it becomes problematic for the sending countries because in order for them to…go back into a pattern of economic growth, they need the very talents of the young people that they’re losing today.”

Countries like Italy and Greece, he notes, are losing the best and brightest of their academics, scientists, engineers and health professionals to countries like the U.S. which invest heavily in these fields and offer greater financial rewards.

“This is not a new phenomenon – it has nothing to do with the economic crisis. It has to do with the reward structure, particularly in the United States” Dr. Papademetriou affirms, stressing that private endowments and government funding have helped create and maintain some of the world’s finest research institutions in every field.

“Which makes it a no-brainer,” Papademetriou asserts, for an “up-and-comer” or “an established brain” to turn to a country like the U.S. seeking better financial rewards and professional fulfilment. “There are almost endless opportunities over there.”

In this interview by Tracey McClure, Dr. Papademetriou offers some suggestions on what states and private enterprise can do to stem the emigration abroad of their best and brightest…

Listen: RealAudioMP3








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