While immigration is largely good for the receiving countries, there is at least one benefit to the exporting country -- remittances sent to the families of those who leave (if they still have firsthand relatives). But the major problem for countries exporting immigrants is the brain drain that it causes.

Arab emigrants specializing in medicine, engineering, high-tech jobs, and education have done very well in Europe, the Americas, and Australia. They have also done well in building up some of the new Arab countries in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Yemen and Libya.

There is no magic solution cut the costs of exporting or importing immigrants, but there is a clear disease here that must be addressed: the disparity between the rich and poor countries. That disparity is the most powerful incentive for emigration.

The Western countries have a direct responsibility to remove the causes of political and financial instability in many of the countries that are exporting immigrants. Unless the importing countries look beyond their borders and work closely with the exporting countries to address the root causes of migration -- whether political or economic -- their countries and our countries will continue to suffer.