Sir - You assume that poor conditions in many African countries can be improved by making it more difficult for the talented to leave. The reality is different. Poor countries can benefit enormously from emigrants.
In many poor countries, remittances from emigrant workers represent more than 10 per cent of national income, much more than is received in foreign aid - and the money is better spent.
Family members who have left a poor country provide a form of "unemployment insurance" for those who remain, helping remaining family members out in times of need. Also, crucially, many emigrants leave for relatively short periods. They often return with better skills and a pool of capital and facilitate the transfer of skills, capital, ideas and ideals back to their home countries.
To make it more difficult for people to leave poor African and Asian countries in the ho