SPENDING an evening with childhood friends in Toronto, we recalled our youth when it was unusual for anybody to travel abroad. Now, of course, not only is catching a plane for a destination overseas an everyday event, but many people’s families are dispersed across the world.

What has changed to make us so much more mobile? The advent of cheap air travel is a major factor: not only has it made it possible for millions to fly, but it has also made travelling far more democratic. Airports the world over are struggling to cope with the numbers of those taking to the air for pleasure or for work.

Most of the immigrants I have spoken to in the West have given a number of reasons for uprooting themselves and their families to carve out new lives in alien and often hostile surroundings. But foremost among them has been the desire to give their children a better life.

As population has risen rapidly in Pakistan (and in many other developing countries), public education has deteriorated. And, for much of the last few decades, the economy has been too stagnant to generate the jobs demanded by the growing numbers entering the job market every year.

As more and more young people have chased the limited jobs available, the culture of sifarish has been strengthened. Contacts and straightforward bribes are often needed to secure employment. But most parents, lacking the ability to provide either, have opted out of the system and the country.

In most western countries, in sharp contrast to ours, meritocracy still prevails. Of course, it helps to have contacts and money, but most people send their children to the local state school. Many immigrant parents speak proudly of the children’s success.

Those Pakistani parents who can afford to, send their kids abroad for a university education. Although some of them stay on, many others return, bringing new ideas and dynamism. But for many young men, the only route to the West is through illegal means. They and their parents spend their life’s savings as unscrupulous “people smugglers” take advantage of their desperation. According to the ILO, these smugglers are raking in 10-12 billion dollars a year, and illegal immigration into the European Union is now running at half a million annually.

Many of these illegal migrants are arrested as they reach their destination, or en route; some die; but those who do reach their goal are soon disillusioned. Without papers or money, these unfortunates fall into the hands of businessmen who exploit their vulnerability, working them for long hours for a pittance. But, even these poor souls would rather face these hardships than admit defeat and return.

In a National Intelligence Estimate on global migration and its impact on the United States prepared under the authority of the CIA in 2001, the authors have put together some disturbing facts and projections:

“ Today, nearly 140 million people live outside their countries of birth, and migrants form some 15% of the population in over 50 countries.

“ Around 45 million young people will enter the job market every year for the next decade; many will be unable to find jobs and will emigrate, whether legally or illegally.

“ Illegal migration will grow dramatically.

“ Conflicts as well as natural and man-made disasters will often trigger mass migrations.

According to the conclusions of this study, while migration will improve economies of developed countries with ageing populations, the pressure these migrants place on the health, educational and social services will cause discrimination and slow down assimilation.

Some of these problems are already manifesting themselves. Indeed, global migration will probably be the key issue of this century. Since this CIA estimate was prepared before 9/11, it does not touch upon the questions raised by the presence of home-grown Islamic terrorists in the West. However, more and more mainstream politicians are seeking a review of immigration policies.

But migration is hardly a new phenomenon. Long before recorded history, people have moved for one reason or another. The Gauls entered Western Europe two thousand years ago owing to pressure from nomads who settled on their lands. Native North and South Americans were nearly wiped out by European conquerors and settlers. The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, to name only a few, are all countries made up of immigrants.

So, why the present worries about migration? One reason that is generally not much discussed in public is that the bulk of migrants today are people moving from (non-white) Asian, African and Latin American countries to (white) western countries. These migrants look, dress and act differently. They speak different languages and eat different food. For racists, these differences make them inferior. Even liberals have a hard time getting along with them.

For most westerners, it is far easier coping with immigrants from, say, East Europe than from South Asia. Cultural, religious and physical similarities among people with a Greco-Christian background make assimilation that much easier. This is a natural tendency. By the same token, Indians and Pakistanis get along fine when they are abroad because of their common culture.

But, while migrant families and countries ultimately benefit in terms of remittances, the net impact of the brain drain is harder to quantify. Currently, 1.5 million skilled expatriates from developing countries are employed in industrialized nations. At the same time, half a million students from the former are enrolled at western colleges and universities. Many of them will not return to their homeland.

Apart from seeking opportunities for their children, many professionals are leaving because of the lack of good governance and security. As growing numbers of unemployed youth turn to extremism, drugs and crime, violence increases in proportion to the government’s inability to tackle these problems.

As they struggle to adjust to a new and tough environment, families and communities strive to retain their identity. This balancing act becomes more and more difficult as children grow up in the midst of powerful western influences. While traditional parents demand a strict adherence to old values, they often end up alienating their children. Some children go to one extreme, some to the other.

Alarmingly, many Muslim childrens born and brought up in the West are finding their identity and bearings in an ultra-Islamic model. In a few extreme cases, this phenomenon has resulted in these misguided young people taking up arms against the countries of their birth. This obviously frightens the local population and authorities, and forces them to question the loyalty of their Muslim citizens.

These are all tough, contentious issues for all those concerned, and there are no easy answers. Each individual, each family, each community, and each country will have to find their own solutions to this new fact of 21st century life.