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A Global Greencard? Putting Migration Back into Development

Malcolm Langford,

Director, Socio-Economic Rights Programme

Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

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Arguments For Open Borders

• Locational luck as basis for life?

• Migration as a right – (Rawls and Nozick)• Migration as a duty – (Rawls, Pogge and Sen)• Economic gains* • Historical justice

*Particularly to LICs for sending low-skilled/educated citizens.

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Arguments for Closed Borders

• Sovereignty?

• Other Rights at Stake– E.g. Self-Determination

• Compatriotism – Special Obligations

• Communitarianism – Protection of Ethno-National Culture or Cultural Rate of Change

• Utilitarian

– Closed Borders better for Achieving Democracy and Public Order

- Little impact on poverty and brain drain problem

• Social Welfare – Avoids Social Dumping

• Reflective Equilibrium – Faily open borders

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Reflective Equilibrium?

• “Fairly open borders”• Open borders for some individuals not others• Open borders for some countries not others • Open borders at some times but not others

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A Proposal

• 2015: Include a goal/target of promoting free movement of labour

• Target could be 10, 20 or 30 per cent of persons living in income poverty being granted greencards between 2015 and 2030.

• Target would cover all middle-to-higher and higher-income countries – with some graduatrion for GDP PPP

• Greencards would give permanent residency rights and path to citizenship except if serious crimes committed.

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Implementation

• Implementation could follow the model of the US Diversity Visa (one of the ’Greencards’)

• Target would be monitored by World Bank, ILO and IMO.

• IMO could provide international coordination for scheme as is done with UNHCHR refugeess

• Countries could possibly buy out their migation quota in a similar was as carbon emissions.

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Open your borders or open your wallets!Veit Bader, Ethics of Immigration (2005)

Citizenship in Western liberal democracies isthe modern equivalent of feudal privilege – an inherited status that greatly enhance one’s life chances.

Jospeh Carens, Aliens and Citizens (1987)