Sir, - The current debate on immigration and asylum-seekers in Ireland largely misses the important point that migration from one country to another is a powerful force for the good. The distinguished American economist John Kenneth Galbraith has argued that emigration benefits virtually everyone affected by it.
Overwhelmingly, emigration takes place from countries which are poor to countries which are better off. As such it benefits firstly the emigrants themselves; secondly, those who are left behind, since the burden of poverty in the home country is relieved; thirdly, the host country and its people by answering the demand for labour; and fourthly, the children of emigrants, by offering them a better prospect in life than in the home country. Those who emigrate are usually the young, the energetic and the ambitious. All the evidence shows that immigrants make a contribution to the host country which is out of proportion to their numbers.
To these considerations the following should be added. In the medium term, prosperity in more affluent countries is threatened by the imbalance caused by an ageing population. Immigration, by restoring a more balanced age structure, offers a solution. And when the elderly immigrants return to their home countries at the end of their working lives, as many do, they help restore the balanced age-structure in the host country. They also bring wealth and pension rights back to their poorer home country.
For all these reasons migration between countries has contributed enormously to the economic development of the western world. It would be difficult to underestimate the importance of any one of them. However, perhaps the effect on the country of emigration deserves special mention. Emigration not only eases the burden of poverty in the home country but by doing so affords the country the best opportunity of breaking out of the cycle of poverty and achieving an affluent economy. This happened in Sweden in the 19th century and in Ireland between the mid-19th century and the 1980s. Emigration from Ireland up to the 1980s, followed by the return of many of the emigrants in the 1990s, has made possible the prosperity Ireland now enjoys.
There is the more political consideration that the greater cultural diversity which immigration brings is itself beneficial to the host country. It is the immense diversity of immigration cultures and different ethnic groups that gives society in the United States, a country built on immigration, such energy and vitality.
There is every reason why Ireland should welcome immigrants and be prepared to make available the resources necessary to enable them to establish themselves comfortably here. The pusillanimity of the Government towards asylum-seekers is particularly regrettable. The authorities are dealing with these people in a way that is ignorant and insensitive. By sending them to offer run-down accommodation in remote places there is a maximum likelihood of friction and ill-feeling between them and local communities.
A sensitive approach requires money to be spent on proper arrangements for accommodation as well as a full programme of education and training for work to give them the best chance of making their future in Ireland. For all the reasons given, this would be a sound investment in the future of the country, particularly in view of Ireland's severe labour shortage. The numbers seeking asylum are small in comparison with Ireland's current demand for labour.
It is certainly wrong to give much weight to the fact that many who come may not be genuine asylum-seekers. It is often very difficult for those who process claims for asylum to verify whether or not an asylum-seekers faces persecution in his home country. And even if many are not political asylum-seekers in the strict meaning of the term, is there not every reason to consider their request for residency favourably if they have come to Ireland to escape poverty in their home country?
Organisations such as the Immigration Control Platform are not merely racist and bigoted but are also seeking to oppose something which has contributed to a better way of life for so many in the world. - Yours, etc.,
Frank Falls, Baldham, Bavaria, Germany.