Globalisation and migration : reflections, policy directions and conclusion

Globalisation and international migration are two concepts that will continue to divide opinions depending on which side of the fence one is sitting on. People in remote villages with almost no roads and without any infrastructures can communicate with the rest of the world through mobile phones and the internet. They have access to the global market through the diffusion, adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and ICT-based goods and services such as e-agricultures, mobile banking, borderless business-to-consumer electronic commerce, e-health solutions, and mobile agricultural services (Dermish et al, 2011; Medhi et al, 2009; Nabareseh and Osakwe, 2014; Ngugi et al, 2010; Ruxwana et al, 2010; Sharma, 2012). These few examples suggest that the manifestation of globalisation is being felt in remote human settlements of the developing nations and affecting how people interact with each other and their ecological environment. Remote communities' access to the global market is no longer dependent on new roads or rails or ports, it is occurring through migrant social and global technology networks. Proponents of globalisation can point to the following benefits: greater free trade and associated reduction in trade and investment barriers, greater movement of labour which provides access to more and better-paying jobs, integrated regional trades, increased access to an abundance and diversity of goods and services for the consumer and associated lowered prices brought about by competition, increased capital flows, and increased access to and affordability of health care and associated improvements in health and overall living standards (Davis, 2006; Dunning, 1998; International Monetary Funds, 2008; Munck, 2010). Some policymakers have claimed that globalisation and expanded global markers could harm developing economies, increase individualism and consumerism and associated competition for resources with serious environmental costs, as well as the labour drain (Haque et al, 2015; Ibarra and Carlos, 2015; Zoomers, 2010). However, the International Monetary Fund (2008) has noted that arguments of globalisation downwarding pressure on wages, causing the world's multinational corporations to scour the globe in search of the lowest-paid labourers, being able to deliver economic growth on its own, and shrinking states, are simply myths. Therefore, the lure of the expanded global markets and its benefits means that globalisation and international migration are here to stay and unavoidable, and will continue to dominate the international policy agenda for many years to come. Rather than focusing on challenges and risks arising from globalisation and international migration, there is an urgent need to celebrate the many benefits they bring with them.