From the once impenetrable Darien jungle to the U.S.-Mexico border and through inner-American cities like New York and Chicago – all under pressure from growing numbers of migrants – the movement of people in America appears to be about to spiral out of control .
To avoid chaos and as part of a multi-pronged approach to managing and ordering migration, it is time to act decisively to stabilize migrant receiving communities across America, of which there are many more in the United States than ever before . What is usually thought.
Currently, almost 20% of the world’s displaced people come from Latin America and the Caribbean, a region home to only 8% of the world’s population. A fundamental issue is that the vast majority of displaced people do not reach the United States, largely due to the remarkable, if underappreciated, success of Latin America and the Caribbean in addressing historic levels of displacement.
Let’s take the largest group on the American continent: the more than 7.7 million Venezuelans who have been forced to flee since 2015. More than 84% currently live elsewhere in the region, including nearly three million in neighboring Colombia, a country of 50 million people. In comparison, the United States is home to only 6% of the Venezuelan diaspora. The same applies to other important emigrant groups. Costa Rica, a country of five million people that hosts more than 300,000 Nicaraguans, and Mexico are among the world leaders in accepting asylum applications.
One of the keys to the region’s success was the effort to quickly integrate the migrant population. The provision of basic social services and, in the most successful cases, the formal opportunity to work has significantly shortened the time required for new populations to move from tax burden to taxpayer. Integration efforts by municipalities in places like Bogotá and Barranquilla, Colombia, have enabled both cities to cope with 10% immigrant-driven population growth and provide valuable lessons for other cities in the Americas.
The ten-year temporary protection that Colombia offers to Venezuelans is the best example of legislative facilitation at the national level, but not the only one. The most recent example is Panama, a country that has traditionally been reluctant to accept irregular immigrants, but has begun to implement its own temporary protection system.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.
Subscribe to
But the region’s absorption capacity is reaching a tipping point following the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic; the disruptions in energy and food markets caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Capital flight and the increasing financial burden of debt as US interest rates rise; among other geopolitical setbacks. Tight financial conditions make it difficult to revive the economy and support communities that host large portions of the migrant population.
A bold stabilization plan for host communities is needed to create fiscal space for countries hosting large numbers of immigrants, to re-incentivize their reception policies and to reverse this trend. This is not an abandonment of direct foreign aid paid for by American taxpayers. The billions needed must be mobilized by development finance institutions working with governments, the private sector and the philanthropic community. Over time, a stabilization plan at the host community level will require the reform and recapitalization of key institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), but in the meantime, immediate measures can be taken.
Concessional or quasi-concessional financing could be provided to developing countries through a multi-donor guarantee fund, such as the United States along with other countries such as Spain, Canada, and perhaps even regional economic leaders such as Mexico and Brazil. middle income that accommodate important migrant groups, provided that investment is made in regularization and integration efforts. The fund could function similarly to the International Education Financing Facility, which uses a combination of paid-up capital and tens of millions of dollars in grants, or the Asia-Pacific Innovative Climate Finance Facility, which uses financial guarantees to reduce the risk of government loans. to release billions in concessional financing to lower-middle-income countries.
The IDB and the World Bank recently promised greater cooperation. As a major shareholder in both, the United States must insist that these banks work to improve their ambition and coordination in supporting migrant integration and inclusion efforts, consistent with the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection of June 2022. Both entities should focus on mobilizing private capital to invest in cities that host key migrant communities, where they could spur growth essential to stabilizing both displaced and emigrating populations.
To promote greater financing for major global challenges, the IDB and the African Development Bank have jointly proposed redirecting the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) through multilateral development banks to leverage banks’ leverage capacity. In America, a host community stabilization plan – perhaps tailor-made for communities hosting those displaced by the climate crisis – is likely to be a key beneficiary of this creative development financing.
A strategy for host communities is just one part of the necessary multi-pronged approach to contain and manage migration. One with a proven track record across the continent that needs to be strengthened on a large scale before it is too late.
Dan Restrepo He served as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_