Embrace migrants for economic growth—US
United States (US) Ambassador David Young has urged Malawi to embrace migrants to achieve economic growth, pointing out that driving them away strips the nation of an opportunity to tap rare skills.
He said this during a migration fair organised by the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Lilongwe on Friday.
Said Young: “Part of the strength of the American economy is what we gain from migrants, that is an important message for Malawi. As you look to expand your economy, grow your economy, make it vibrant, you need to embrace migrants and not push them away.”
He further said that some of the migrants come with skills that are transferred to the natives.
“They help a country learn skills. People come as doctors, nurses and engineers from countries that have experienced strife such as Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia,” said Young.
He urged Malawi to focus more on the migrants’ positive contributions rather than their negative side.
IOM chief of mission Nomagugu Ncube said they organised the Migration Fair as a build-up to the commemoration of the International Migrants Day, which falls on December 18.
“The fair is our effort to educate our partners and to share information on migration,” she said.
Earlier this year Malawi Government stirred controversy when it embarked on relocation of refugees and asylum seekers operating businesses from outside the designated Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District.
