Development aid does not combat the causes of flight

Süddeutsche Zeitung - 19.07.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX

More money from the German budget is good. But it will not end global migration. Four reasons why this illusion is unrealistic, too short-lived and cynical.

Politicians' interest in development cooperation is growing. The corresponding federal funds are also increasing significantly in the current federal budget. This important topic is finally getting out of the shadows and receiving the approval and support for which many experts have long been committed. Everyone who is committed to the topic should be happy, right? But as strange as it sounds, this trend must also be viewed with concern.

Because with this new attractiveness of development cooperation a fatal constriction is connected. The diagnosis is: “tunnel vision”. Tunnel vision makes it impossible to perceive things that are outside of what someone is primarily interested in. The priority interest of the Federal Government and many politicians has been directed at the latest since 2015 on combating the causes of flight to Europe. In the legislative period that has just started, this is now understood as the central task of development cooperation, with the focus primarily on the Middle East and parts of Africa that are particularly close to Europe. Budget allocations and a new organizational structure in the Development Ministry underline this.

What's wrong with that? Indeed, the extremely distressed Middle East and the African continent have long deserved our attention. And yes: The unbearable death on the migration routes must come to an end. The fact that there is more money in the federal budget for this is by no means to be criticized. Rather, the trend must continue in the coming budget years.

But this extra money also has a high price. First of all, there are the expectations that have been raised: the causes of the flight from globally presently approx 66 Millions of people are preoccupied with ongoing violence and human rights abuses in their home countries. Such complex problem areas cannot be eliminated in the short term; this requires a very long breath. The deep perplexity of the international community in view of the conflict situation in the Middle East makes this clear; a sustainable peace solution is a long way off. And the worldwide sustainable improvement of the living conditions of the poor takes a lot of time and patience. It also requires political consequences from the rich countries, for example in agricultural, trade and armaments policies. A deeper grip on the household budget will therefore not quickly reduce the migratory pressure at the gates of Europe. Instead, with such political targets, the old accusation that development cooperation is of no use anyway, since the number of displaced persons and refugees within and outside their national borders is not falling, but is increasing worldwide, could be fueled.

The second danger is that - against all facts - it is suggested that the improved level of development of a country leads to less emigration. A long-term look at global migratory movements shows that this is by no means the case. On the contrary: more available money and a broader horizon through education, media access and travel opportunities reinforce the longing for new perspectives abroad. In any case, instead of fending off migration, it must be more a matter of soberly understanding it as an anthropological constant, better understanding its dynamics and accepting its economic logic. Cross-border circular labor migration, for example, has long been a constitutive part of West Africa's life cycles and economic cycles. So it is something good and not a bad thing in terms of development policy.

Martin Bröckelmann-Simon, 61, is managing director of the Catholic relief organization Misereor, responsible for international cooperation.

(Photo: oh)

The third danger lies outside the Eurocentric tunnel perspective. In a globalized world, crisis-ridden developments from Venezuela to Tonga can be just as relevant for Germany and Europe as they are in Bavaria or Lower Austria. Today the world is intimately linked with each other, no one can resist it; Everyone is responsible for the common good and life on earth. We Europeans can not afford to ignore world regions such as the Pacific, southern Africa or Latin America. And equally, wealthy societies can not answer for neglecting the core tasks of development cooperation such as the fight against global inequality and the loss of biodiversity; we must work everywhere for fair trade relations and the rule of law, for the protection of human rights and democracy.

Neither North nor South nor individual states win the earth for themselves

The commitment to sustainable urban development in the Philippines or Peru is as little secondary as that for the rights of street children in Brazil, although neither can hardly be classified under the topic of combating the causes of displacement. The reduction of climate-damaging greenhouse gases and measures to adapt to the consequences of climate change that are no longer avoidable are pressing global issues beyond the question of how many people ask for admission to Fortress Europe.

The fourth danger concerns the ethical basis of legitimation and acceptance of development cooperation. If we reduce this under the keyword combating the causes of flight to the task of keeping the problems of other regions off our backs, we act cynically and selfishly. And we ignore the fact that coping with mass exodus is already a much greater burden on other, far poorer regions of the world than on us in rich Europe. In addition, self-interest as a basis for justification becomes fragile at the moment when we are asked to take consequences, for example when the protection of fishing grounds or the fair marketing of cocoa in Africa lead to higher prices for us.

Wash me, but don't get me wet - this motto cannot work when it comes to genuinely structural combating of the causes of miserable life prospects. In the common house on earth, everyone has to fulfill their tasks and accept restrictions. It's about the future of all of us on this planet. This is indivisible: Neither North nor South nor individual states can win and preserve the earth for themselves without granting it to all peoples. Development cooperation needs this horizon - and not tunnel vision.