Migranternas bidrag till vårt land
I en intervju med Caritas Sverige talar Delegationen för migrationsstudiers (DELMI) kanslichef Kristof Tamas om de utmaningar och möjligheter som är förbundna med migranternas bidrag till utvecklingen i det svenska sammanhanget. Intervjun är på engelska.
Du kan läsa en andra intervju med Kristof Tamas på svenska under rubriken “Artiklar och intervjuer”. Den finns på den sida som här på Caritas Sveriges hemsida ligger under fliken “MIND”.
DEMIs kanslichef Kristof Tamas.
The contribution of migrants to our country
Kristof Tamas is the Director and Head of Secretariat of DELMI, the Migration Studies Delegation, based in Stockholm. DELMI is a government-funded, but independent committee producing research on migration policy to bridge the gap between policy makers, academic experts, and public debate. He was previously senior advisor in the secretariat for the Swedish Chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, a Swedish national expert at the EU Commission, an independent research consultant inter alia at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm, and a special advisor and later Deputy Director at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. He has over 20 years of experience and expertise in international and global collaboration in the field of migration with an emphasis on the migration and development nexus, as well as labour migration.
In an interview with Caritas Europa to support our #whatishome campaign, Kristof Tamas talked about the challenges and opportunities related to migrants contributions to development in the Swedish context.
In your opinion, what does it mean to be a development actor and how do you think migrants can be development actors?
Development actors can be found equally in the government sector, private sector or from civil society. They contribute to development through various channels e.g. development assistance, investments, trade, networks and resource transfers. In addition to professional development actors, migrants can offer unique perspectives and skills. Migrants are regularly contributing both to their host countries and countries of origin. The obvious channels include financial and social remittances, diaspora engagement in source country development, and temporary or permanent return.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in Sweden for migrants to be able to contribute to local development both in economic and non-economic terms?
Economic, political and social integration in the host country can be regarded as prerequisites for contributing to development in the source countries. These three dimensions are important for immigrants in order to be able to fully participate in their new countries of residence and contribute, both in the host country and country of origin. Citizenship or permanent residency can enable migrants to temporarily return and work for limited periods of time in their countries of origin, thus transferring new skills, as well as values such as democracy, rule of law or gender equality. The infrastructure in Sweden in terms of diaspora associations and other civil society interest groups is relatively strong and could become a more useful basis for contributions to local development.
Have migrants been a positive force for development in Sweden and in their countries of origin, and if so how?
Migrants have historically contributed to economic and cultural development in Sweden. One aspect has been the demographic rejuvenation of the population in Sweden since migrants on average tend to be younger than the overall population. When they have been able to get their foreign qualifications recognized as well as gone through additional education in Sweden and learnt the language, they have increasingly been able to contribute to economic development. To some extent it has been more common with self-employment among foreign born than among the native born. In this regard, it is important that such self-employment is “voluntary” rather than “imposed” because of difficulties to find regular employment. Foreign born need to be able to access the credit markets and banking services in order to be able to start and expand their businesses.
What policies (or lack of) has Sweden put in place to ensure that migrants can contribute to development both in Sweden and in their countries of origin?
Sweden has enabled migrants to compare the costs of sending remittances by setting up a website, certified by the World Bank, to compare the services and costs of various money transfer organisations. This has contributed to the overall Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include the objective of reducing remittances costs and enabling migrant remittances to contribute to poverty reduction back in the source countries.
The Swedish government should also attempt to increase the specific knowledge about the wide range of diaspora groups in Sweden and how their investments in the countries of origin could be facilitated, both on their own and in cooperation with government agencies such as Sida, and civil society.
What could Sweden do better at both the national and local level to help migrants become national and international development actors?
The Swedish government could consider assisting diaspora members with making their country of origin investments more in tune with the choices and procedures adopted by professional investors. Diaspora associations are sometimes relatively small and lack the necessary resources. Diaspora investments from Sweden could also to some extent be pooled with diaspora investments from other EU Member states so that their development contribution can be reinforced and increased. Sweden should work more actively on this within EU cooperation, not forgetting that diaspora resources and remittances are private money. Initiatives by Sida and other actors, such as for example the 2016-2019 Swedish Somali Business Program, should be properly evaluated and assessed whether it could be upscaled or replicated elsewhere. Whenever talking about good practice, such practice should be based on evaluations.
This interview was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of Caritas Sweden and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
