| Abu Kareem | M.D. | United States |
Re: ‘Syrian expatriates’
Estimated at 15 million strong and with assets of up 80 billion dollars, the Syrian expatriate community represents an enormous human and financial capital. However, attracting the expatriate financial resource requires a very different set of incentives than those required to attract the human capital. As someone interested in the comprehensive advancement of Syrian society, not only its economic prosperity, I place more value on the human capital that the expatriate community can offer. Real, sustainable improvements in Syria as a nation will come from maximizing the potential of its people rather than from sporadic infusions of cash by fickle investors looking for quick returns. Expatriate human capital can be tapped for knowledge and experience in a wide range of disciplines ranging from science to engineering to corporate governance to law and information technology.
Syrian expatriates are a diverse group who emigrated at different times and for different reasons. In the context of harnessing this human capital, I see the Syrian expatriate community roughly divided into three groups. The first are the long-standing expatriates, like me, who are settled and have likely become citizens of other countries. These expatriates, often well established in their host countries, are unlikely to move back to Syria, except perhaps in retirement. Some among this group will make periodic trips to Syria for professional meetings. Such meetings make good copy for the local newspapers, make the expatriates feel good ??as well provide them with a tax write off- but rarely result in substantial and sustained transfer of new knowledge and ideas. More important would be the creation of ongoing relationships between expatriate professionals and their colleagues at institutions back home. For example ongoing visiting lectureships can be created at various universities in Syria for expatriates with unique experience and skills in different disciplines. A database of expatriates willing to contribute to such an enterprise can be created and used to invite lecturers.
The second group of expatriates is composed of those who have been away from Syria for five to ten years. They are typically younger and have left to pursue higher education and perhaps stayed on to work. They do not return because they are trying to delay a potentially career-breaking two-year stint of military service or because there are no job opportunities for their particular skills. These expatriates are much more likely to return with the proper incentives.
The third groups of expatriates are in fact not expatriates at all; they are expatriates to be. It is the group composed of ambitious young men and women seeking higher education and training outside of Syria. A high percentage of them will almost certainly become expatriates. They represent the open wound hemorrhaging human capital -the brain drain. This group should be even more of a concern for the Ministry of Expatriate affairs than the first two groups. The emphasis should not be on preventing them or discouraging them from leaving as the skills they will acquire are important, but on facilitating and encouraging their return.
The creation of a Ministry of Expatriate affairs is a good start although the government??s commitment seems less than optimal. The ministry has a miniscule staff and their website has sparse and not very useful information and is out of date. Moreover, the emphasis with the first two expatriate conferences seems to be on attracting the expatriates?? money rather than the expatriates themselves or in harnessing their skills.
Expatriates uniformly retain a passionate and sentimental attachment to their homeland and are more than willing to help their homeland. Yet, how, why and when they left Syria clearly colors their attitudes towards the Syrian government and their willingness to work with it. It is therefore critical that the minister of Expatriate Affairs to rise above politics to become the minister for all expatriates regardless of their political persuasions.
But perhaps the single most important thing that the Ministry of Expatriate affairs can do for all expatriates is to facilitate their ability to visit or return to their homeland. It is preposterous that I can visit just about any country in the world with more ease than I can the country of my birth. The recent amendment of the military service law was not helpful and needs to be radically overhauled.
(13 votes, average: 4.62 out of 5)
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