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Comment by swiftcoder

8 days ago

Fascinating to see that MENA is a net positive on migration. There's often a lot of rhetoric around MENA migration to Europe and North America, but you hear much less about migration to MENA countries.

41 comments

swiftcoder

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pjc50  8 days ago

The Gulf states take in a lot of migrant workers, who have basically no labour rights there.

https://www.ilo.org/regions-and-countries/arab-states/united...

"The UAE hosts some 8.7 million migrant workers – equivalent to over 80 per cent of the country’s resident population – making it one of the largest foreign labour-receiving countries in the world. With Emirati nationals mainly employed in the public sector, migrant workers constitute the bulk of private sector employment"

  • jimjimjim  8 days ago

    Yep. When I was in Kuwait, admittedly 20 years ago, there were a LOT of non-kuwaitis there as most manual labor jobs were done by foreign workers. I wouldn't be surprised if it's still the same today.

Cthulhu_  8 days ago

I think people underestimate how many people move back to their home country once they have a better chance (through e.g. education or money) and / or when the situation there improves (e.g. stability). It's why I don't understand why the anti-immigration parties don't do more internationally to help other countries.

  • selicos  8 days ago

    This was a primary goal (if not states) of USAID and related programs. Stem the causes of immigration, support stability, and create goodwill for the donor country.

    Still imperialistic and self serving in many ways, but it worked.

    On the other hand, I've recently talked with a Polish to US immigrant who was moving back to Poland this summer as jobs and more had improved. They were competitive (in his mind) with the lack of opportunity and anti immigrant thinking across the US today.

  • readthenotes1  8 days ago

    The reason why pouring money into countries that source immigrants is a questionable solution is graft.

    • jimkleiber  8 days ago

      Yes, pouring money may not be a very efficient solution and graft can certainly happen. For me it's a combination of how much graft do we allow if we take the long perspective and see it shrinking over time (maybe we dont allow any, cold turkey)? And what are ways we can help change the environments that may not be directly tied to money? From my perspective, we often need (and graft) money the most when we don't trust ourselves and others to help us. So are there ways we can help build deeper relationships so money is not the only focus or way people think they can get help?

  • newaccountman2  7 days ago

    > It's why I don't understand why the anti-immigration parties don't do more internationally to help other countries.

    Well, I think I can help you out with that...

  • carlosjobim  8 days ago

    Or move back to your home country once you've gained a beneficial citizenship and can have foreign government benefits paid out every month while you don't even live in that country anymore.

    • jimkleiber  8 days ago

      Perhaps. I think it's more about the passport ranking so one can travel and also the salary bump. But even if more of the other government services, try living in a country where if you get into a serious car accident you have to pay cash at the ER before they treat you. Scrambling to find multiple thousands of dollars in cash at 3am sometimes. (This happened to my friend in Kenya)

      Im not sure if I can blame people for wanting to have more financial or medical security.

      5 replies →

somenameforme  8 days ago

Saudi Arabia has one of the highest immigration populations on Earth, somewhere around 42% contrasted against 15.8% in the US (which is an all-time high). They offer huge wages for pretty much everything, have dirt cheap living costs, and like many Mideast countries - there's no taxes for individuals.

nirav72  8 days ago

Isn't migration to MENA - specifically migration to North Africa mainly from Sub-Saharan part of Africa?