Online Published on 29 August, 2025.
The mass migration from developing countries to the West is the most contentious and polarising political topic nowadays. Although Western countries encouraged immigration after the Second World War due to labour shortages, today nationalist and populist movements pressure the governments in the United States and Europe to block further immigration. This encourages inflammatory speech by politicians. Besides low-wage immigrants, there is substantial brain drain from developing countries that contributes to problems in their economies. This essay provides a suggestion, perhaps a utopian one, for how developing countries could curtail emigration, for the long term, to achieve economic development comparable to the West in a manner beneficial for both developing countries and the West.
