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Antilliaans Dagblad Maandag 13 januari 2020
8
Curaçao/Service

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,,Our population challenges are complex and multi-faceted and have far-reaching effects.” Curaçao
FOTO JEU OLIMPIO
Immigration as a strategy for Kralendijk 28 Bron: www.weather.com
24
Bonaire
Venezuela
growth, dynamism and progress

ars to be the only realistic soluti- when they have blended in and
OPINIE
on. Immigration not as an act of speak our language, we need to
Door Alex David Rosaria charity or desperation, but as a have a conversation about how
ast year my article ‘Immi- deliberate population strategy much we expect them to give up
gration as a strategy for for growth, dynamism and of themselves to become one of
L growth, dynamism and progress. us. Can they keep their heritage,
progress’ was published the We know that allowing more their culture, their language,
journal Krisòf (Volume XX-4, immigrants remains a political- their taste in music? Who has
2019). Kristòf is available at the ly sensitive issue. We need first the recipe, who decides? By the
bookstores of Mensing and of all to create awareness of the way, the same could be said of
Bruna. In this blog I share a population changes we’re fa- our returning diaspora who VANDAAG
summary of this article. Wit- cing. We also need to take this undoubtedly has been influen- Half bewolkt met kans op
hout effective policy response, issue seriously at the highest ced by outside influences. Do buien, gedurende de och-
Curaçao will be confronted with political ranks by creating a we want assimilation, integrati- tenduren. Verder zal de wind
a serious problem as its popula- population unit -possibly with on or a common set of values geleidelijk aan gaan toene-
tion increasingly becomes out the support of the UN Populati- that unite us? men en waait uit oostelijke
of balance. This means that on Fund- in the Ministry of Large inflow of immigrants richting en vrij krachtig,
proportionally there are more Planning as well as a Central with no strategy and policy in windkracht 5 tot 6. De zee is
economically non-contributing Planning Bureau consisting of place can easily turn into a over het algemeen vrij ruw
seniors and fewer working age people from government, aca- nightmare. Key to a successful tot ruw met golfhoogtes van
adults and children to contribu- demia and private sector that immigration policy is balance. 2 tot 3 meter.
te now and in the future. We can make educated forecasts It makes perfect sense to take
also need to consider that and predictions about future in young immigrants in phases
under normal circumstances demographics especially when to allow us time to expand MORGEN
it’s almost impossible to reverse considering crucial policy-ma- and optimize our land use and Half bewolkt met kans op
depopulation once the birth- king processes. To make this infrastructure to overcome een regenbui.
rate stays under the replace- possible we need more quality current strains in order to ac-
ment level of 2.10 births per demographic data. The key commodate a larger population.
woman. worries here are lack of detailed Additionally, key decisions
A complicating matter is the migration data and generational regarding our education, health
fact that at this stage people time series. Also, there needs system and reforms of our
tend to feel that the short-term to be a link between demogra- antiquated structures must be
effects of population decline are phics and immigration policies. taken. Foreign workers need to
small and negligible. Politicians We know for example that His- be allowed according to local Zaterdag 11 januari
are therefore more likely to panic immigrants tend to have needs.
postpone policy response becau- higher birth rates than other Last but certainly the most 8672
se of the periodic cycle of electi- groups. urgent is to do the right thing
ons which makes them focus When discussing demogra- by ensuring that policies app-
on short term, day-to-day mat- phics one should not only consi- lied to migrants, asylum see- 4588
ters only. However, the popula- der statistics if our goal is to kers, and refugees in Curaçao
tion decline puts the sustainabi- have a population strategy in meet our obligations under
lity of our society and economy place which contributes to sus- international law. And more 0373
in danger. tainable growth, dynamism and than anything, we should fulfill
Our population challenges innovation. In the old days our moral obligations to treat
are complex and multi-faceted we’ve seen that opening our other humans with dignity and Zondag 12 januari
and have far-reaching effects. country to immigrants was compassion.
There are no simple solutions. credited with a dynamic econo- 7356
We’ve seen that the ability of my, brain gain and vibrance. Alex Rosaria is a freelancer in
public policies to control birth But, we also need to carefully Asia & Pacific, former Member of
rates and efforts to encourage consider our past regarding Parliament, minister of Economic 1956
return migration of our citizens segmentation based on ethnic and Labor Affairs, State Secretary
abroad (our diaspora) are limi- lines. Even though history of Finance and United Nations
ted at best. How can we reverse seems to indicate that immi- Implementation Officer in Africa 8830
this decline? Immigration appe- grants are more accepted here and Central America.