Editor, RE: “The fight against terrorism should not be selective” (The New Times, November 18). I would agree that, especially after these murderous attacks in Paris, immigrants in Europe will soon feel increasingly unwanted, including possible growth in xenophobic attacks. In France, we may also look back on November 13, 2015 as the date when Marine Le Pen of the extremely nativist Front National became electable as a majority of French voters started seeing her party’s anti-non-white immigration policies as being more in tune with their own views than the publicly stated positions of the traditional, so-called republican parties of the merely nominal ‘left’ or ‘right’. Many African immigrants may indeed find the climate in their countries of adoption so bad that a return back to their cradles may look increasingly more tempting than before. Reverse migration can be very highly beneficial for all concerned, as we have seen in China, India, Vietnam, and even in Rwanda where many professional returnees of all ages have increased our countries’ human capital stock even as the individuals concerned have been able to see and exploit opportunities their resident compatriots had not been able to recognise and tap into. Clearly more can and should be done to expand the potential for greater win-win-win (individual-the state/society-the entrepreneurial class). What is suggested by Gill in the letter to the Editor is required to make the welcoming mat even more attractive to our Diaspora compatriots, especially would-be entrepreneurs and professionals in countries likely to see a jump in anti-immigrant sentiment. Mwene Kalinda
