Iran Beyond Migration: The Annihilation of Human Capital

Irans-Brain-Drain-2
Written by
Mahmoud Hakamian

Once sensing a perceived regional dominance, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former monarchial dictator of Iran, decided to dissolve all political parties in the country. On March 2, 1975, he ordered the formation of a party named “Rastakhiz” and declared it the sole legal party in the nation. Following his directive, those who opposed his oppressive regime were either imprisoned or compelled to acquire passports and leave the country. However, four years later, millions of Iranians took to the streets, ultimately forcing him to depart from Iran permanently.

In Iran’s clerical dictatorship, the harsh living conditions are not limited to just political opponents. Today, the Iranian population is enduring the most extreme and inhumane pressures from the theocratic regime. The idea of finding reprieve from security crackdowns, censorship, and systematic intimidation is a persistent concern for the people. Unofficial statistics confirm that millions of Iranian citizens have sought refuge in other countries due to the oppressive and cruel environment.

The religious fascism in Iran seeks to eliminate anyone who holds different beliefs, lifestyles, or religious affiliations from what the regime has defined as “the norm”. In mid-January 2020, Zeinab Abu Talebi, host of a state-run “Ofoq” TV network, astonishingly stated, “Anyone who doesn’t share my views should leave Iran!”

Some experts affiliated with the regime describe this as a form of “cultural genocide.” They explain, “The Iranian society is retreating, and the process of disintegration has commenced.”

The efforts to consolidate power and suppress potential uprisings gained even more momentum after Ebrahim Raisi assumed the presidency. Anyone who lacked even the slightest connection or proximity to the inner circle of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was considered an outsider and discouraged from living a prosperous life within the country.

This included individuals from defeated factions, who had previously identified themselves as reformists, as well as technocrats, investors, entrepreneurs, startup founders, those considered as “knowledge-based professionals,” doctors, nurses, students, and even skilled and unskilled workers such as welders and carpenters.

 

In 2019, a university association at Tehran’s Sharif University began observing and researching the various dimensions, categories, causes, and motivations behind migration from Iran. Their goal was to advise and alert the leaders of the regime. However, they were warned to be cautious about not inadvertently aiding the “enemy.”

On August 1, state media reported that Bahram Salavati, the director of the Iran Migration Observatory, disclosed that funding for the observatory had been discontinued and that an order to vacate its premises had been issued.

Salavati stated that there are numerous challenges in attracting and retaining human capital, and some officials have easily facilitated the possibility of migration for the youth and elites. Moreover, “there is an obstruction in the path of the activities of elites, and young intellectuals are driven towards migration through specific behaviors and actions.”

According to a survey conducted by the Migration Observatory, among Iranians living abroad in the year 2022, only 14% have a definite intention of returning to the country. 62% have no intention whatsoever of returning, and 24% do not have a clear decision in this regard. Furthermore, over 90% of them do not believe in the government’s promises regarding using the capacities of Iranians living abroad.

Migration stats
The seized observatory revealed that in the past three years (2019 to mid-2022), Iranians received over 2,000 startup, entrepreneurship, investment, or self-employment visas from Canada and the United Kingdom.

In the years 2020 and 2021, a total of 1,661 companies with Iranian nationals’ involvement were established in Turkey, incurring a total cost of 22,190,663 dollars for company registration.

Among the medical professionals and nurses, more than 60 percent have expressed a desire to migrate. According to the 2018 US census, there were 29,000 Iranian individuals actively engaged in the healthcare sector in the United States, with 24,000 in specialized roles and 5,000 in caregiving roles. Among them, 8,000 were doctors and surgeons.

The inclination to migrate is higher among employees, mid-level managers, as well as entrepreneurs, and senior managers, reaching around 70 percent. This inclination for migration stands at 66 percent among students and graduates and foreign students in Iran.

Additionally, one shouldn’t neglect the capital flight that is associated with brain drain.

According to the state-run website Ruydad 24 on January 11, “The Central Bank’s report in the spring of 2022 indicated that the capital account had plunged to over negative 10 billion dollars. This reflects a significant outflow of capital from Iran, which is now intensifying further. According to the Parliamentary Research Center, more than 6 billion dollars of capital left the country in just the spring of 2021. A survey involving 40 key economic figures revealed that half of them are contemplating moving their capital out of the country, and approximately one-fourth of them have already done so. The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce previously mentioned that over the last four years, capital flight from the country has exceeded 45 billion dollars. It’s worth noting that the actual extent of capital flight is much larger, given that a significant segment of Iran’s economy operates within the underground economy.”

These numbers and data don’t capture the full extent of the migration of human, material, social, and scientific resources. Two years ago, Azad Armaki a state-affiliated sociologist, criticized the systemic advancement of migration and the loss of the country’s human and material assets, stating, “Social impasses are transforming into political impasses, and overcoming these impasses is not feasible. Currently, Iranian society is undergoing a decline… and in reality, the process of disintegration has just begun.”

In an ironic and deliberate move, the state-owned Eqtesad News, which published the interview with Armaki on December 15, 2021, chose a revealing headline to caution the regime’s leadership against repeating the mistakes of its predecessors. The read, “The Shah Also Encouraged His Opponents to Leave the Country.”

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