Special Economic Areas in Developing Countries: Do They Diminish the Causes of Migration?

Proposals recently put forward, by George Soros among others, suggest alleviating the refugee crisis by setting up special economic areas in states bordering on the migrants’ countries of origin. If investments were to be made in these areas and jobs created, there would be fewer incentives to immigrate to Europe. Would such proposals really diminish the causes of migration? The response of Birgit Schmitz and Benjamin Schraven, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik, Bonn, to this question is basically “no”. Special economic areas can trigger huge internal immigration flows, but this does not necessarily reduce international immigration. They warn against high hopes that special economic areas in Europe’s neighbouring countries will massively reduce migration to the Old Continent in the short or mid-term. Europe will basically be obliged to give serious thought to a well-managed immigration policy. Marco Lietz, believes that sending foreign experts to special economic areas could be one solution, since experts from Europe, North America, Australia and Eastern Asia often have know-how in administrating commercial areas and cities according to modern criteria. Successful location policy along these lines could contribute to reducing poverty and thus lowering migration. It is, for example, far easier for foreign experts to negotiate with investors from advanced economies and to convince them to set up businesses in a certain location and create urgently required jobs.