Hon Chairperson and hon members, globalisation, immigration and their causes raise serious questions about the conceptions of citizenship. Worldwide there seems to be difficulties in integrating new immigrants into receiving countries.
Evils such as xenophobia and human rights abuses continue to rear their ugly heads, even as immigrants later decide to take up citizenship in the destination countries.
Nevertheless, there are numerous benefits to the relative ease with which people move and settle in a country or region to which they are not natives. Chief among the plethora of benefits is that the free movement of the people create new forms of multinational diversity through an export of national cultures from country of origin to domiciles of choice.
It is natural that people with varying experiences and perspectives in life would be able to generate unique ideas and solutions to the problems.
When a country is a multicultural zebra, made up of people with diverse background and experiences, it is likely to surprise the world with its creative and innovative ideas. But the failure to properly manage diversity, whether in cultural, religious or ethno linguistic terms, could pose a serious challenge to social cohesion.
Therefore, the political leadership has an important role to play in building a common set of values that bind our diverse nations together in a globalised world.
In conclusion, as a small and developing country operating in a globalised world, we need to preserve and protect our cultural and linguistic diversity rather than build regional and international relations that seek to assimilate and conform to the hegemony of western culture. Thank you, hon Chairperson.