PJ leads review of migration policy
Published:Monday | July 5, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The seven-member Ramphal Commission, led by former Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, is expected to assist in charting a migration policy for the Commonwealth and recommend ways of stemming the growing effects of migratory practices on countries of origin.
The commission had its Caribbean launch at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, St James, yesterday following its international launch in London last Thursday.
"Among the issues on which we will focus are brain drain, brain waste and circulation, the situation of unskilled migrants, gender issues and the scope for improving training in destination countries," he explained.
Patterson said that on a broader scale, the commission would also take into account "problems arising from environmentally induced migration, creating recommendations on how diasporas and traditional connections among Commonwealth states may provide greater benefit for the development of member states and how transaction cost in remittance flows among families may be reduced".
Responding to questions from journalists about the commission's role as a regulatory agent in regional migration, Patterson explained that the commission was not empowered to enforce but to make recommendations. He said the body was charged to work from now until November 2011 when it will be required to make its final report to the Commonwealth heads of government.
Patterson said the commission would be making recommendations to assist small states and less-developed countries which have suffered excessive emigration of extensively trained persons and have yet to benefit from return migration or diasporic investment.
"In some places, the brain drain of skilled people may damage development by depriving public services or key industries of the expensively trained human capital they need," he said.
Patterson said the commission would also probe xenophobia.