This Blog is also posted in the FPA Latin America Blog.

Europe and the United States had often inherited many benefits from economic growth in the pre-2008 era. One of those consequences, especially for those countries on the border or across the sea from developing nations is legal and illegal migration into their economies. Due to the recent economic troubles a lack of work has prevailed and often manual labour jobs have dwindled, leaving legal and illegal migrants with few options for employment. Signs of “reverse migration” back towards their countries of origin took hold with many illegal migrants living in the United States eight to nine months ago. Now with unemployment rates pushing 20 percent in many European countries, many immigrants in European countries are making their way back to their hometowns.

In a New York Times article this week an analysis of why and how European migrants are returning home was published. The focus of the article was on migrants in Spain, often coming from Eastern Europe and South America to work in an economy that was the source of the EU economic boom since 2000. Spain and Ireland were known as the two EU countries in the last few years that have benefitted from innovative and continuous economic growth after the year 2000. The rate of inter-EU and immigration from abroad expanded their economies, population and cultures in return. Now many immigrants to Spain have become the first to leave the country with an unemployment rate of 17.4 percent. Responses to these issues have come from many sources. The Czech Government, in an attempt to ease the pressures on Czech émigrés has offered 500 Euros to help their citizens return to the Czech Republic. In Spain, the Spanish Government has offered legal immigrants from South America their unemployment payment in one lump sum if they agree to leave Spain and not return for three years. Many others have simply left back to their home countries without any assistance as one migrant to Ireland said: “it is much easier to be at home with family and with friends and not to have a job,” she said, “than to be here and not to have a job.”

Problems in places like Europe and the US might be difficult, but problems from the Economic Crisis in Eastern Europe and South America have not been much better. This week the World Bank and IMF have been working out methods and strategies to help economies in the developing world and now even developed countries in dealing with financial problems worldwide. While unemployment rises and the debate carries on within global financial institutions, problems in developing nations continue to rise and develop into massive crises as the result of increased poverty. One notable example is the conditions in Mexico. With a full scale drug war competing with deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq combined, losses from the financial crisis and the current Swine Flu taking hold in Mexico, reverse immigration may have unknown consequences as a result of millions of people not being able to cope within their home country or their new country. While unemployment rates in the US and Canada are no where near 17 percent like in some European countries, the difference in the economic structure of the systems in North America may not provide decent paying jobs which help families to survive an economic crunch for more than 8 months or so. In the end, policies to help stabilise developed and developing economies might help some people, like those returning to South America from Spain in providing some living expenses for a few months or a few years.

This post can also be seen on FPA’s Latin America Blog.

This month marked a historic change for El Salvador and popular movements in Latin America as a whole. Central America in the late 70’s and early 1980’s was one of the warfronts of the Cold War between the US and the USSR. Countries such as Cuba and even Mexico became entrenched in the problems in El Salvador where the rebel group FMLN fought in bloody conflict with the government at the time in order to bring some measures of equality and eliminate violence against the populace by the ruling elite that traditionally ruled El Salvador through political and economic oppression. After the death of nearly 75,000 people and the almost complete destruction of El Salvador’s infrastructure, the 1992 peace agreements allowed for a reduction in armed conflict between political rivals in El Salvador, and lead to relative quiet in the region since that time.

While relative peace took hold after 1992 in El Salvador, increased levels of poverty and inequality lead to years of street violence and emigration from the country. Many young Salvadorans found themselves growing up outside of Central America in the 1990s and growing up as refugees from violence due to the conflict, and later on as refugees from poverty post 1992. While the war ended in the early 1990s, the generation which grew up during the war often could not escape the after-effect of violence and a society which at the time was at the pinnacle of absolute chaos. Many young Salvadorans post-1992 grew as expats in often low income parts of the US, Canada and Mexico. With the influence of poverty in El Salvador and their new adopted homelands, small parts of the Salvadoran community fell into gang violence and culture, often moving between sections of large US cities like Los Angeles and El Salvador, re-importing gang violence into El Salvador from abroad. While many others have taken to improving the life of Salvadorans in el Salvador and abroad, the effect of the past still holds many traumatized from the war in the 1980s.

Professor Valle writing for openDemocracy.net explains that this past month might have brought an official end to the political conflict in El Salvador. While post-1992 brought in political and electoral gains for the right wing parties of El Salvador, last week the election of a left leaning leader, Mauricio Funes of the FMLN allowed for a quiet revolution to take place in El Salvador with a 51% victory for the Presidency of the country. While not a major lead, the importance of the victory through electoral means allows for the President and the Opposition to lead with an obligation to cooperate with other groups in Salvadoran society for the first time in that nation’s modern history. Placing violence in the past, and exchanging it for political compromise may not be the end of problems in El Salvador, but it can be agreed upon that it is likely the beginning of compromise in a society that has slowly rebuilt itself after a bloody and unresolved revolution.

This post can also be seen on FPA’s Latin America Blog.

One of the greatest and diverse minds in public policy today is Fareed Zakaria. Once the host of a wonderful public policy show Foreign Exchange on PBS, Fareed Zakaria GPS is now likely CNN’s best and most in depth show on American media today. Zakaria has done much to add colour in the shadows of the current financial crisis debate. In the last two weeks he has written an interesting article on Canada in the financial crisis, and last week interviewed Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper regarding Canada’s relative financial successes during the crisis, speaking about the future of Afghanistan where Canadian soldiers have been fighting, and often with many causalities in the process. The article and interview compliments President Obama’s meeting in Ottawa with Mr. Harper in February and brings Canada into the sphere of the North American policy dialogue.

Zakaria’s Newsweek article has received a great deal of attention from Canadian media and bloggers. While he is correct in many of his conclusions, there are some details which should be taken in a more critical light. An invitation from myself to explore these issues with Fareed is always open. I will address some of my concerns below.

In Zakaria’s Newsweek article “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” he argues that Canada, while being seen as an generally unexciting, uneventful and thus safe place, has been successful in creating conditions apart of all the banking systems in the developed countries in the world. Canada has not been affected by financial crisis like the US, UK or other similar nations and Canadian banks were indeed ranked number one by the World Economic Forum as the healthiest banking system worldwide. High leverage by Canadian banks have kept many of them afloat due to strict regulations and strict business practices that has kept Canadian banks secure, but that often have left many smaller healthy businesses from obtaining loans from private sector lenders. Canada’s banks traditionally were largely protected from outside investment, resulting in Canada having on average five major banks throughout the country over the last century. While this has kept many banks safe, it has also allowed a lack of competition in the Canadian banking market. Two examples of problems with this sector are very high returns coming from service charges laid on customers for many bank activities and overly restrictive loan conditions for SME’s. Protection from foreign competition and service fees have created excess cash for many Canadian banks, often being sourced directly from lower income customers who cannot invest the amounts of cash to avoid excessive fees to use essentially their own funds. In addition, mergers between Canada’s five main traditional banks have restricted open competition for service fees and banking services for customers in Canada. An opening of the banking sector a few years back did not curb fees, but allowed banks to enter the insurance market and offer those additional services. While foreign banks were able to enter the Canadian market a few short years ago, many had to run their retail banking services through established brick and mortar Canadian retail bank branches, taking further fees for clients who literally have no saving with the Canadian banks in order to use their account with another bank. While there are positives to the secure Canadian banking system, the end result where business takes loans and credit from these banks often are done so the bank assumes no risk whatsoever. Often incorporated company loans are tied to the personal assets of their principal investors, eliminating the tradition of Legal Incorporation and limiting further the ability of Canadian businesses to grow and be successful. With the security of Canada’s banking system is praised, a lack of credit to business is not a proper method to grow commerce in this economy in any nation.

The Canadian government over the last few years have been very sensible for the most part as argued by Fareed. The issue in Canada however is not the success of the Federal Government in Ottawa, but the lack of success of many regional governments and increased responsibilities of municipal governments over the last few years. Housing and the financial systems supporting many transactions have boomed in many Canadian cities, but like in many other places in the world it came from investments losing their popularity in mutual funds, and like in many markets being placed into real estate. While Canadian cities have currently stable housing prices in comparison to the US; where housing began the current decline, loss of employment, even in Canada and highly inflated prices and accompanying taxes have made cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary into municipalities where affordable living no longer exists. With large populations living in the centre of Canadian cities, it has become unaffordable for many who cannot afford starter homes or have had to move to another municipality due to increased taxes during boom times, and even more taxes being promised by cities in this bust time. While Canada has great fundamentals, some provinces and cities have often mismanaged their communities or have yet to feel the effect of a Canadian recession.

Federally, the Canadian Government has done well to shield itself from the worst of the global recession. The governing party of Canada made great commitments in 2007 and 2008 to bring attention to a waning economy and had put in many economic measures that likely kept Canada as a topic of praise for journalists like Zakaria and commercial and policy experts worldwide. The greatest challenge to Canada had received little attention however, where Canada’s Parliamentary Opposition recently attempted to bring down the current government only a few short weeks after an election. While never attempted Constitutionally in any Parliamentary democracy before, the opposition leaders sought to join into a coalition to take control of Parliament and remove the current sitting government after an election had taken place. The controversy to force policy changes on Canada’s current government met with much anger and reduced Canada’s sensible government into a holding pattern during the key months of an economic crisis, producing a new opposition leader, staunch lack of support by smaller opposition parties and has kept a Canadian bailout package in limbo to date despite having support by the two largest parties in Parliament. While Canadians are often seen as uneventful and sensible, many Canadians likely felt a great amount of shame, and party politics to date is still withholding proper policy from being implemented.

Fareed Zakaria also praised Canada’s immigration system, but security and immigration, while for most policymakers would have simple conclusions, looks better on paper for Canada than it exists in reality. While Canada has an unlimited acceptance of skilled workers, many professionals who come to Canada are not hired or given a reasonably acceptable opportunity for re-training to work and use those skills once they arrive in Canada. Canada in immigrant communities is seen by many as a country with the second most doctors driving taxis after Cuba. While a glib comment on the situation, in studies of a food bank in the Toronto area the majority of recipients of food aid were immigrants, and out of those, the majority had studied in universities before coming to Canada, many to Masters level or higher. In a CNN interview with Canadian Prime Minister Harper, Afghanistan was addressed as likely an unsolvable conflict due to the nature and history of the region. While debate in US media and political infighting in Canada followed the interview, a major issue of great future importance to security and immigration will be the current drug war in Mexico. In recent weeks drug violence in Vancouver has reached its limit with likely connections to the drug war abroad. Many in Mexico will likely seek refugee status in the US and Canada, and further security issues have likely started in connection with the transnational drug trade. While Afghanistan and the economy are major issues facing both countries, security and refugees from Mexico will likely absorb many concerns of all three NAFTA neighbors in 2009. Canada is indeed sensible, must be praised for its successes/or lack of losses, but also needs to be addressed in real terms, whether good or bad. The NAFTA partners can learn a lot from each other, but can also realistically focus its goals towards more “exciting” issues of North America. With praise should always come criticism. Thank you again Fareed Zakaria for your work!

Zakaria Speaking with Canadian PM Harper

The BBC World Service this month broke from their usually news and debate programs and showed an interesting documentary series on Iranian culture and flavour, in a four part series called The Taste of Iran. The host, Sadeq Saba goes through much of the country and explores the food which makes up a great part of Iranian culture. With each new reason for a meal, Saba also explores the history of the region of the country and festivals and traditions which come with each meal, tea and pastry. His adventure brings Saba from the top of mountains to cemeteries, from Mosques to Churches, and parks to tea houses across Iran.

In the most recent part of the series, Saba takes to Esfahan and explores many religious festivals surrounding different events and communities in the city. He discusses not only Shi’a festivals, but the history of Sunni and Armenian Christians in the city as well. The city, sharing a diverse past much like other Eastern cities such as Alexandria in Egypt in the 16th to 19th century and Damascus and Seville in the Medieval era, Esfahan was home to a mix of cultures and religions, which prospered under kingdoms of the past. Food of course, the focus of this programs was changed by this fact as well, but what stood out and what has become forgotten since after the First World War is that Eastern countries have had as much tolerance in the past as it is seen as having restrictions today. Addressing this past might help determine its future, not in Iran alone, but in the region as a whole.

While recent governments have moved more towards oil profits and agreements with Venezuela and North Korea as opposed to diplomacy with the West, the opening of culture and cooperation might help Iranian culture, and food, reach outside of the country and promote respected dialogue between the people in Iran and nations opposing the current government. Some important developments recently have taken place which might aid this progression. Firstly, former President Khatami had issued a statement that he will run again for the Presidency. While still part of the powerful elite in Iran, his pro-reform stance and support from a large youth community in Iran kept Iran on friendly terms for the years he was formerly leader of the government. Statements from many anti-Bush politicians also have taken place, offering some sense of a new dialogue with the US and Mr. Obama, likely a way to save face, but also a reality of unpopularity by many in Iran and other OPEC nations like Venezuela, and of course the cutting in half of oil prices worldwide. With so many negative relations due to past historical issues and threats of nuclear conflict surrounding the debate between the US, EU, Russia and Iran, a few positive developments in the region could not hurt. Culture, the root of pride for many Iranians can become a valued commodity outside Iran, and perhaps an export which is not produced by petrochemicals to boot.

If pride and culture is exported from Iran, and exchange of ideas and interest in the country will inevitably take shape. Much of the problems surrounding issues in the region is that whether speaking about Gaza or Israel, Iraq and Syria, or Lebanon and Iran, often the view from those in the EU and US are either limited, overly positive or overly negative, or completely enlaced in short term policy that may benefit elites in both regions, but do not take account of those communities in the Middle East that are is grave poverty, are oppressed minorities throughout the whole region, or oppose the common lingua franca of Middle Eastern policy by local governments, foreign diplomats and radical groups which produce current problems. With a new dialogue, comes the responsibility to protest in a just manner, progress in the golden age of Iranian culture would have never existed without this ability to encourage tolerance. With history, food, and politics, another Middle Eastern tradition is recognized, that of some discussion to ponder over dinner…

Countries face new UK visa rules
South Africans visiting the United Kingdom will need a visa, under new rules issued by the Home Office. Bolivia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Venezuela also failed a test of the threat posed by their citizens in terms of security, immigration and crime.

Immigration agency's airline flies tens of thousands of deportees out of U.S.
Flying worldwide from O’Hare and 22 other airports, the so-called ICE Air planes transported more than 367,000 illegal immigrants, including 11,500 from the Chicago area, out of the U.S. from October 2007 to October 2008‚ a 26 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and 77 percent more than in 2006.

Nigeria: Immigrations Nabs Human Traffickers, Rescues 17 Victims in Ogun
Ogun State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has arrested four suspected human traffickers; rescuing 17 of their victims.

 This article has also been posted on FPA's Latin America Blog

TVO.org out of Ontario, Canada presented a show this week concentrating on Colombia, security, human rights, trade and relations with the US and Canada. The panel consisted of 5 experts on Latin America and Colombia from FOCAL, The Latin America Working Group, The Inter-American Dialogue and a number of North American universities where issues and statistics were discussed in an open and concise manner.

Questions which arose in the discussion surrounded many key statistics. Some notable stats on the drastic drop in crime albeit with a slight drop in narcotics being sold were key issues in the discussion. Internal Refugees also resulted in some shocking discussions. Behind Sudan with nearly 6 million internally displaced people, Colombia has between 2.2 and 4.4 million internally displaced people, second worldwide above Iraq with 2.8 internally displaced people according to the program. Human rights abuses and the opinion of President Alvaro Uribe were also discussed, with the fight against FARC and ELN being compared with threats against native groups and labour leaders in Colombia, balancing rights for some against threats to others.

Colombia's foreign relations and Plan Colombia were discussed heavily. Plan Colombia, which sent $US1.3 billion to curb drug trafficking since 2000 was seen as a failure in many regards by experts on the panel. The result was the militarization of Colombia against internal threats which often were met by a cold peace with its neighbours while bringing Colombia closer to the US and its allies. Recently, trade agreements between Canada and Colombia and talks pushing the US to open a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia briefly brought Colombia's human rights record into debate among US politicians.

For video, show blogs and other info. on the Colombia Panel, please click on the link here.

Guests

Albert Berry is professor emeritus of Economics, and research director of the Programme on Latin America and the Caribbean at the Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto.

Carlo Dade is executive director of the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL) where he also directs research programs in Diasporas and Remittances, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Canadian engagement in Haiti.

Lisa Haugaard has been executive director of the Latin America Working Group since June 2002. She has also served as senior associate at the LAWG, where she worked on Colombia and Central America policy.

Cristina Rojas is an associate professor at The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University.

Michael Shifter is vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue. He is also adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he teaches Latin American politics.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled their country when the Taliban was pushed out. They weathered the US invasion in Pakistani refugee camps and have been gradually returning to their home country. As the political situation stabilized, the wealthiest of these migrants returned to reclaim their land. This year, 300,000 of the most impoverished of these refugees will make their way through mountainous territory to return to their homeland. They are facing the most dire conditions at home, not least the biting Afghan winter, without shelter. The UNHCR has been working with the government to expedite the provision of food and tents to refugee camps, so far, however with only mixed results. This Video Report from the New York Times highlights their plight and the efforts made to assist them in reestablishing themselves in Afghanistan, while the IHT covers the story in their Dec 3rd edition.

The New York Times featured this video on the psychological aspects of going through the asylum process in the United States, which I found worth sharing:

Njoya Hilary Tikum has been waiting for the approval of his request for two years. He left his country because of persecution and his student activism in the English-speaking part of Cameroon. His family and he himself had been imprisoned and tortured at various occasions. In the two years, he couldn't obtain a work permit and had difficulty to clothe and feed himself. Still, his vision of the American Dream is unbroken.

This Blog has also been posted in FPA's Latin America Blog.

Japan has always maintained a certain level of intrigue for foreigners, especially since the end of the Second World War due to its history, culture, economic progress and people. While Japan stands out as one of the most influential nations of the 20th Century, it has often not been a destination for many immigrants but more of a source for immigrants despite its economic prowess around the globe.

One country that has benefited from Japanese immigration is Brazil. With more than 1.5 million Brazilians with Japanese heritage, it is one of Brazils largest immigrant communities and the source for many Brazilians now moving to Japan. Next to Chinese and Koreans, Brazilians have become the third largest immigrant group in Japan. While many have descendants from Japan originally which produces cultural and legal links with Japan, many Brazilians now coming to live in Japan still require services which are key to Brazilians in the country. With 320,000 Brazilians now having Japanese residency, the concern is that integration in Japanese society make be difficult without asserting social services and education towards the Brazilian community residing in Japan.

One of the greatest concerns is education. In order to produce immigrants in Japan that can grow and work in the country, education for children 5 to 14 years of age is crucial for their future. With 33,000 kids in that age range, only 10,000 are enrolled in Japanese schools, while a further 10,000 are in Brazilian schools in Japan, leaving 10,000 kids not registered in any formal education at all, according to The Japan Times Online. Since 2001, and increase from 45 to 110 Brazilian schools was the result of many kids from Brazil having a tough time with language skills in Japanese, even to the point of being bullied and requiring often non-official school to be opened to accommodate children in the Brazilian community in Japan. While there have been discussions about trying to integrate foreign students into the public school system, the lack of adequate strategies and unfamiliarity in integrating non-Japanese students into the school system is a tough barrier to breach. Ironically, with many of the Brazilians now living in Japan having Japanese heritage, as well as citizenship in Japan due to their heritage, it is likely that the feeling their grandparents had coming to Brazil for the first time as Japanese, is similar to their experience coming to Japan as Brazilians. With Japan slowly becoming multicultural to a slight degree, it is imperative that new Japanese citizens have their needs addressed, often waiting for a paradigm shift in society to meet their needs.

As expected by migrant advocates, the rightist government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has wasted little time in cracking down on illegal migrants in the country's South and throughout industrial centers. In this video, Financial Times correspondent Guy Dinmore takes a look at growing tensions in Milan.