THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE By T.S.Khanna, June 14, 2017

                                                      THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE
                                                       By T.S.Khanna, June 14, 2017

Immigration issue is like an iceberg, only one ninth of it is visible.  Even for the smaller visible part, the authorities in the countries accepting immigrants are not well equipped to handle the issue.   Let us look at the hidden part with a 20/20 vision.

People from the poor countries like to emigrate to the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia.  The population in the poor countries is growing along with greater poverty and poor health.  It is estimated by the UN that about two billion people around the world are living in extreme poverty.  Not too long ago, the world population was two billion.

The poor countries have the resources, yet the dominant concern of their  leaders is not to remove poverty, disease, and ignorance of their people but to cash on the ignorance to get quick rich themselves.

The poor countries although rich in resources are mired in  religious dogma infestations.  Their leaders are skilled in religion based political polemics and most of their resources are wasted in fights over destructive religious issues.

There are talented people in the poor countries who can help build economy, but the corrupt and incompetent governments stunt their talents and aspirations.

As the next step for gathering more power, the leaders of the poor countries are diverting their resources to nuclear arms race as opposed to the welfare of their people.  Their purpose is to make threatening bargains with the developed countries; the case in point: North Korea.

Past efforts of the United Nations and the World Bank have not been adequate enough to off-set the growing poverty problems.

The present form and culture of the governments in the poor countries are not equal to the challenge of growing population and poverty.  Its effect will be increasingly felt soon by the developed countries.  The developed countries developed because of their productive and competitive culture.  Mass scale immigration from the poor countries is likely to create cultural clashes and change the productive culture of the developed countries, eventually turning them also into poor countries.

Now the developed countries, for their own sake and for the sake of the poor countries, must develop a clear 20/20 vision of the immigration issue. This would involve visualizing the conditions of he poor countries in a few years with the trends indicated above and then adopting and pursuing the measures that would deliver the desired results to avert the projected scenario.  Let this issue not be confused with political ideologies or restrictions.