April 22, 2013
A
long-serving former head of the Migrants Branch of the International Labor
Organization W.R. Boehning once wrote that, “The history of mankind is a
history of migration.” Egyptians, better than most, know the value of
Boehning’s insight.
As one of
the four cradles of human civilization, the Nile valley and environs have
witnessed a long succession of migrations that have forged and re-forged the
population of the area.
In the
context of the Arab Spring, international migration will matter increasingly in
Egyptian domestic politics and in its relations with other countries. Egypt
will have a particularly high stake in regional developments because those
events are likely to affect Egypt directly as witnessed by influxes of refugees
and other migrants from Eritrea and the Sudan, the rest of North Africa and,
most recently, Syria. Egyptians need to be mindful that most of future
population growth worldwide is expected to occur in sub-Saharan Africa and
countries like nearby Yemen.
Egypt is
a less significant migration transition country than Turkey or Morocco but
appears to share their destiny. They are becoming lands of immigration and
increasingly need public policies to regulate international migration ranging
from refugee inflows to non-nationals employed in the informal economy.
Migrations viewed as temporary often result in settlement. So careful thought will
need to be given to naturalization policies and perhaps legalization.
Democratization
increasingly implies enabling diasporic populations to participate from abroad.
Modalities available include absentee voting and consular voting although some
democracies require emigrants to return home to vote. One of the more
interesting questions for future research is to inquire into the role played by
diasporic populations in the Arab Spring.
Another
interesting question for future research involves Islamic values and ethics as
they pertain to the formulation of public policies to regulate international
migration in mainly Islamic societies. Perhaps predominantly Islamic states
will regulate international migration in a distinctive way that is quite unlike
those approaches witnessed in Europe or North America.
While we
are unaccustomed to thinking about Egypt as a land of immigration, it has an
immigration history second to none. The Egypt we know today is a product of
that history and is fated to continue to be enriched by a new wave of
international migrants in the future. It is fully part of what colleagues and I
term the “Age of Migration,” the period roughly coincident with the onset of
the most recent wave of globalization circa 1970. Can Egypt become one of those
states that succeed in harnessing the potential inherent in inter-state human
mobility in the interests of not only Egyptians, but the migrants as well? The
answer to this question will increasingly affect the future evolution of
Egyptian society and politics.
Mark J. Miller is the Emma Smith Morris
Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of
Delaware. He is the co-author of The Age of Migration.