UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME AS A MORAL ALTERNATIVE TO THE CHALLENGE OF MIGRATION

Abstract

I address three basic questions: what is responsible for the rise of migration and brain drain in Africa? Is it moral and humane for leading European and North-American countries to close their borders against Africans? Is universal basic income a more plausible option to close borders? I employ the method of critical analysis and evaluation to address these three questions. I argue that the ultimate factor for the current tide of brain drain and migration from Africa is socioeconomic in nature. My response to the second question is negative. I maintain that anti-immigration policies are inherently immoral because they restrict the free movement of human beings based on social categorization such as their race, nationality, and socioeconomic value. In relation to the third question, I submit that the wellbeing of all humans in the contemporary world is in a sense interconnected because what affects humans in a given part of the world also affect the wellbeing of humans in another part of the world to a certain degree. Therefore, the quest for human wellbeing in any part of the world is a mutual responsibility of all countries. I argue that this is fundamental in the case of Africa and the champions of close borders because of their past and present contributions to the socioeconomic condition in many African countries. My contention is that the adoption of antiimmigration policies and closed-borders by leading European and North-American countries as a political tool for curtailing the rise of migration from African countries is morally problematic. I argue for a universal basic income that will be mutually funded by all countries as a humane and moral option for dealing with economic induced migration in the 21st century.