Immigrants: cost of transfers and rate of change The return of the pandemic is devastating the economies of the most prosperous countries, but it is not sufficiently aware of the even more serious damage it is inflicting on countries on the way to development. So much so that not a few governments have actually announced the imposition of new containment measures, so as not to affect trade and urban economies altogether. Among the most serious setbacks is the predicted shortfall in emigrant income, the most notable way in which those forced to move abroad will support their families at home: a cash flow estimated for 2019 by the World Bank at 714 billion dollars, not counting informal transfers. For several countries, it is the first or one of the first voci active in the exchange with the euro. For Italy, as Lorenzo Luatti notes in the latest Dossier Idos, the income has surpassed the figure of six million euros in 2019.
The first country to benefit is Bangladesh, followed by Romania. Then there are another four Asian countries (Philippines, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka) and two African countries (Senegal and Morocco). The Moressa Foundation estimates that each immigrant will receive an average of 1,200 euros in 2019, around 100 euros per month. A great help for many families in developing countries. In 2020, however, according to predictions, because of job losses and the income of migrants, it is expected that at the end of the year there will be a shortfall in income estimated at around 20%, with a loss of 572 million dollars. Leaving aside the structural intentions of the notorious slogan "aiutiamoli a casa loro", many - certainly even among the readers of 'Avvenire' - are wondering how to support people and families from different parts of the world, and how our government can promote the "right not to emigrate".
Le rimesse infatti mantengono le famiglie in loco, un calo delle rimesse rischia fra l'altro di tradursi in un incentivo indirectto a raggiungere i parenti insediati all'estero. A concrete proposal could now be to abolish the odious tax on remittances to non-EU countries, equal to 1.5% of imports, introduced at the time of the Salvinian migration policies (art. 25-novies of the decree-legge 23 ottobre 2018, n. 119). Una tassa mortificante su chi a prezzo di sacrifici e rinunce 'aiuta casa sua'. The tax is no longer operative: it covers commercial transactions and only applies to money transfers, introducing a disparity in treatment between financial service operators and showing a clear discriminatory intent to squeeze the income of immigrants in favor of family members. In reality, the tax had an ideological meaning, like so many other bank measures in this field that is so conducive to symbolic measures: to give satisfaction to one of the most insistent polemical themes of the anti-immigrant debate, namely the idea that income is a risk that is treated in our country. The accusation is aimed at immigrants who finance food, medical care, education and better housing for their families at home, but not at those who spend huge amounts of money abroad for purposes that are difficult to qualify as socially oriented. This is why it is important for the tax to be definitively canceled, giving a clear sign of support for immigrants who move home. In addition, and more rightly, the government should resolutely relaunch an impeachment that was introduced years ago and introduced during the Giallo-Green government: working to reduce the costs of migrant investment, as requested by the Global Compact for Migration under objective 20.
Today, to understand the unfairness of the current system, you can transfer from 65 to 130 euros with Moneygram, linked to Italian post offices, for 14 euros, above an exchange rate set by the operator itself, except for special conditions for certain countries not specified on the site. Avoiding the xenophobic incubus, correcting the drift, imposing responsible and balanced migratory policies means also favoring and not penalizing the sending of gifts that improve the lives of families in the South of the world.
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