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'eportees account for more than twice the number of -a maicans who have returned to the country over the past
years, the latest migration profile study has revealed. According to the report on -a maica’s migration profile for
, which was handed over to the *overnment by the 3lanning ,nstitute of -a maica 3,2- , the annual numbers of voluntary return ees have trended downwards since , while forced re turnees have increased, with
, in the voluntary cat egory, compared with , deportees.
“The figures were only kept since the s really, and this is when this phenom enon became evident,´ lead consultant on the study, 3ro fessor (li]abeth Thomas +ope, e[plained.
6he was speaking yesterday at a ceremony held by the 3,2- at the -amaica 3egasus +otel to hand over the report to stakeholders who contrib uted data, including the 6ta tistical ,nstitute of -amaica, the 0inistry of )oreign Af fairs and )oreign Trade, 0in istry of 1ational 6ecurity, the 3assport ,mmigration and &iti]enship Agency, the 0in istry of -ustice, 0inistry of Labour and 6ocial 6ecurity, and the -amaica &onstabu lary )orce.
Among the chief concerns highlighted is the migration of tertiary educated, profes sionals and students, which has left significant gaps in ar eas such as the health sector, where there is now a short fall of per cent of nurses in psychiatry per cent of nurse anaesthetists and
per cent of public health nurses.
Additionally, the study, which was done in partner ship with the 8nited 1ations 'evelopment 3rogramme, outlined that although remit tances climbed to . billion in and contributed . per cent to -amaica’s gross domestic product *'3 , it had not significantly contrib uted to poverty alleviation, as the poorest households received less remittances, al though more frequently than other quintiles.
3rofessor Thomas +ope cau tioned against dependency on this inflow. “The coun tries in the world in which remittances contribute most to the *'3 are the poorest countries in the world. They are not the countries with the highest remittances«these are countries where remit tances have become what *'3 really depends upon,´ she said.
(JAMAICA OBSERVER)