Attractive
Despite the pressure from other countries on the human capital of Guyana and other developing countries, there are benefits to having a diaspora. Several studies contend that remittances help to reduce poverty in developing countries. When compared with other foreign inflows to developing countries, remittances ranked second in importance to direct foreign investment. For Guyana, remittance is the top foreign inflow, averaging US$319 million per annum over the last five years, and beat out all the major exports. The diaspora is also seen as an important source of knowledge transfer. The intellectual capital that leaves the homeland is often enhanced by work experience and additional training, particularly in developed countries that have sophisticated and effective educational, operational and management systems. Sometimes these experiences translate into foreign investments. In a manual published this year by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), the Diaspora can play important roles in areas beyond remittances, intellectual capital transfers and direct foreign investments. They are also sources of capital market investments, tourism and philanthropy. Some countries like India, Ghana and Ethiopia are among those that have issued diaspora bonds and collectively raised about US$40 billion. Many others are seeking to do the same. The diaspora also promotes links and creates networks between people and institutions of the host and home countries.
Opportunity
Guyana has an opportunity to tap into its diaspora and reap enormous benefits. Notwithstanding the reasons for leaving, out of concern and curiosity, Guyanese have always maintained interest in what was happening in Guyana after departing the homeland. Indeed, the one thing that has kept members of the diaspora in touch was the welfare of loved ones and friends who were left behind. Studies on migration show that this behavior is typical of all expatriate communities. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) pointed out that the key drivers of Diasporas are the “material ties and emotional feelings” about the home country. They serve as powerful inspiration for members of expatriate communities to seek to do good things for the homeland. Almost like a reflex action, Guyanese try to send money or goods home once they reach the host country and settle down.
Content
Their actions of sending consumables in barrels and boxes and in transferring money to family members suggest that members of the Diaspora are interested in making sure that the beneficiary family is content. Parents or guardians, who left home to pave the way for the rest of the family, send home items to make life comfortable for the children left behind and to ease the burdens of the relatives into whose care they might have been left. Quite often, the assistance was made up of personal effects consisting of clothes, small household appliances and attractive goodies and gifts of different shapes and sizes. Their actions seem to weigh heavily in favour of economic concerns.
Not Always Dominant
Remittances were not always the dominant form of assistance coming to Guyana from the diaspora. Up until 2001, remittances were generally between the range of US$20 and 30 million annually. Greater emphasis was placed on the shipment of food, clothes and other items. The total monetary value of assistance coming through shipment of barrels and boxes is not known but was thought to be enormous. This type of information is not readily available and would have to be gotten from extensive research that includes an analysis of customs documents. That would be an enormous task that could eventually prove to be unreliable given the many generous ways customs declarations have reportedly been treated by customs officials. A sense of the scale of activity could be had from the number of shipping services that opened in the United Kingdom and across North America in the 1980s and 1990s to serve the Guyanese and other West Indian communities.
Beyond the Family Unit
With the Guyanese Diaspora increasing in certain geographic areas of the host country, organizations with a special focus that went beyond the family unit were formed. These included political and social entities. Some entities with a social orientation included the likes of Guyanese Assisting in Development (GUYAID), the Berbice Association, the ex-GDF Association, the DC Metro Cricket Organization (DCMCO) and many old school organizations. With these social, sporting and community groups in place, the beneficiary pool began to widen to include whole organizations or villages, schools and other entities as observed by Kirton in an IDB study on remittances dated June 2006. The targeted assistance might have emerged in response to the apparent failure of the national government to address the concerns of some areas or communities of the country.
Marked Shift
Amidst the shippers were those who looked to create or take advantage of business opportunities that existed. News reports, anecdotes and allegations of wrongdoings by members of the public over the years reveal that not all the items that came in barrels and boxes were for personal consumption. No one can tell what proportion of shipments represented business investments and what was for personal consumption since both often came under the label of personal effects, or were declared to be so by recipients. While barrels and boxes continue to come to families in Guyana, there has been a marked shift away from that type of traffic.
Individual Effort
It is important to keep in mind that, of necessity, the dominant flow of resources to Guyana was always as a result of an individual effort, and did not originate from any special concessions or incentives of government. Yet, one cannot discount early efforts by government to reach out to the diaspora for assistance. The outreach was focused on gaining access to the lost intellectual capital. One of the earliest efforts involved the use of a programme introduced in 1977 by UNDP to help mitigate the effects of the brain drain.
The programme was called the transfer of know-how through outstanding expatriate nationals or TOKTEN for short. The purpose of this world-wide programme, which still exists, was to bring back, temporarily, talented expatriate nationals to their home countries based on the spirit of volunteerism. Guyana has used this programme in the past in an effort to mitigate the consequences of its lost human capital.
Remigration
Another programme of benefit to the diaspora was the remigration scheme. This programme was designed to facilitate the reintegration of any Guyanese national who wanted and decided to return home. The intent was to make the transition as smooth as possible and increase the favourables for the remigrant recognizing the potential benefits the returnee could bring. This is particularly true of those persons who could still work. They did not only bring money to invest in housing or even a business, they also helped to transfer knowledge when they participated in the labour force. The availability of foreign currency accounts at commercial banks in Guyana, possible in the official banking and monetary framework, is yet another facility that is available to persons in the diaspora who want to save money in Guyana.
(Final part next week)
