Assisting return of highly skilled expatriates

Description

Assisting the return of highly skilled expatriates involves implementing targeted policies and support mechanisms to encourage professionals living abroad to return and reintegrate into their home countries. This strategy addresses brain drain by offering incentives, streamlining recognition of foreign qualifications, and facilitating job placement. Its practical intent is to harness expatriates’ expertise for national development, fill critical skill gaps, and foster innovation, thereby remedying the loss of human capital and strengthening local capacities.

Context

Many developing countries lack highly-skilled workers. To add to this short-coming, highly-skilled personnel from developing countries may emigrate to countries with better opportunities for them. Such migration is commonly known as the brain drain. One way to facilitate the need for high-level personnel in developing countries may be by encouraging the return of expatriates with desirable professional qualifications and practical experience.

Implementation

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is implementing programmes for the return of skilled personnel in Latin America and Africa, whilst some programmes may be developed for certain Asian countries. IOM: assists in identifying a post commensurate with the returnee's qualifications (for which local candidates are lacking); informs recruited potential returnees about employment and living conditions; preselects candidates based on their merit with regard to the proposed employment offer; prepares all the necessary paper work required for their return; organizes their return and reception; provides reintegration assistance. 1993 IOM activities in the field included among others, a Khmer Expert Programme to return skilled nationals back to Cambodia.

Claim

Assisting the return of highly skilled expatriates is a vital strategy that nations cannot afford to neglect. These individuals possess invaluable expertise, global perspectives, and innovative potential essential for national progress. Ignoring this resource means squandering years of investment and missing transformative opportunities for economic and technological advancement. Actively supporting their return is not optional—it is imperative for any country aspiring to compete and thrive in today’s fiercely competitive, knowledge-driven world.

Counter-claim

Focusing on assisting the return of highly skilled expatriates is not an important strategy. It wrongly assumes that talent must come from abroad, neglecting the vast potential within the local population. This approach diverts resources from investing in domestic talent development, perpetuates brain drain cycles, and ignores the importance of creating opportunities at home. Innovation and progress depend on nurturing local skills, not wooing back a privileged few who chose to leave.