BUJUMBURA, October 30th (ABP) – International migrant workers contribute not only to the development of their destination country by meeting its human capital needs and paying taxes, but also to the development of their country of origin through funds and skills transfer as well as productive investments, underlined the Migration Management Coordinator at the International Organization for Migration in Burundi (IOM-Burundi), Mrs. Mireille Mugisha, and the Demographer and Lecturer at the University of Burundi (UB), Dr. Jean-François Régis Sindayihebura, during an interview with a check by Burundi News Agency (ABP).
Before delving into the meat of the issue, the migration management coordinator at IOM-Burundi defined international migration as being a movement of people who leave their country of origin or habitual residence to settle, whether permanently or temporarily, in another country, whereas when we talk of international labor migration, what immediately comes to our mind is that there is a movement of people who move from one country to another with the main objective of finding a job in order to meet their needs.
In recent years, the labor migration of Burundians has mainly consisted of heading towards the East African Community (EAC) countries and those of the Gulf, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, in search for employment, especially domestic labor, as specified by Mrs. Mugisha.
According to her, migration can be a powerful factor of sustainable development for migrants themselves and for members of their families when they find stable employment and work in good conditions in their destination country. Based on the recent studies on labor migration, she reported that migrants from the EAC region leave their countries of origin for economic reasons (58% of them) to countries with high demand for labor to seek better opportunities that can help them change their standards of living.
The contribution of migrant workers in their host countries and in their countries of origin cannot go unnoticed. An immigrant can be beneficial to the destination country when he or she has a profile that the country needs, University Lecturer Sindayihebura has revealed. At the level of the community of origin, he added, there are individuals who were educated through the transfer of funds from an uncle, a sister, an elder brother or a cousin who emigrated to France, Canada, the United States of America, Australia, to name but a few.
“We also see in our entourage individuals who were able to acquire a plot in an urban center or in a town, or individuals who were able to renew the roof of their houses thanks to one of theirs who transferred money. It is the same for our sisters who migrate to the Middle East and who, subsequently, send money to buy them plots of land or build beautiful houses in neighborhoods of their choice,” he continued to exemplify.
In the same line of ideas, Mrs. Mugisha said that migrant workers contribute to the development of their country of origin through not only the transfer of funds which mainly help to provide for the needs of their respective families, but also through the transfer of knowledge or a certain expertise that they have acquired abroad, without forgetting the productive investments that they establish in their countries of origin. To that end, she mentioned the contribution of the diaspora to the building of their homeland, which contribution was commended by the President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, during the Diaspora Week, organized each year to encourage members of the Burundian diaspora to invest in their native country.
Based on data available to IOM-Burundi, she noted that around 80% of funds transferred are intended for household consumption. According to the 2022 World Bank data, Burundi recorded 48 million US dollars ($ 48,000,000) in funds transferred formally, or 1.57% of Burundi’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while if we make a comparison with the neighboring country, Uganda, this sum amounted to 1.2 billion dollars ($ 1.2 bn) for the same year, or 4.5% of the country’s GDP, she said.
Given that migration can be a positive experience when it is well managed well, Mrs. Mugisha, nevertheless, deplored that many immigrants experience discrimination, exploitation and poor working conditions. Thus, IOM, through its countries’ headquarters established in more than 100 countries around the world, encourages Governments and migrant worker recruitment agencies to engage in ethical recruitment, that is to say, to hire them in a legal, fair and transparent manner by respecting their dignity and human rights. Recruitment costs should essentially be paid by the employer and not by the migrants themselves, she added.
According to Demographer Sindayihebura, migration must be taken as an almost natural phenomenon. Thus, he criticized the behavior of certain nationals, for instance, the young people of South Africa who use xenophobia by attacking immigrants in the streets of Johannesburg and Pretoria pretending to chase them away because of shrinking of the labor market. He recommended respecting the international convention on the protection of all migrant workers and members of their families through rigorous compliance with its articles 7, 11, 12, 16 and 25.
“No migrant worker or member of their family may be held in slavery or servitude. No migrant worker or member of their family may be required to perform forced or compulsory labor. Migrant workers must benefit from treatment no less favorable than that enjoyed by nationals of the State of employment in terms of remuneration, working conditions such as overtime, working hours, weekly rest, paid leave, safety, health, termination of employment and many other working conditions”, according to articles 11 and 25.
The check by ABP called a young labor migrant by the name of Jean Marie Ndayisenga. He confirmed that his living conditions have improved since his arrival in South Sudan on behalf of the Chinese road construction company. “I try to manage my remuneration so that my family also benefits from it through the transfer of money with a third party,” he said, before advising his peers to always migrate or cross the border through legal means, and to behave well in the destination country while complying with the latter’s laws and regulations.
It is worth noting that no country is closed to migration. Each country records exits and entrants, concluded Dr. Jean-François Régis Sindayihebura.