The director of Iran's Migration Observatory has recently warned against the worsening "brain drain" crisis of Iranian experts in the high-tech and science fields. According to the center's data, approximately 67 percent of employees in the Iranian high-tech industry are in various stages of immigration. The center's data also reveals that over 60 percent of Iranians who have emigrated abroad in recent years have no intention of returning to their country. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has become more acute in recent years due to the worsening economic crisis, particularly the unemployment crisis among educated young people, as well as political and social instability, and the suppression of individual freedoms.
In the wake of reports regarding the deteriorating migration crisis, it appears that Iranian authorities have come up with an original solution to the problem. In early August, Iranian media reported the government's decision to reduce the budget of the Migration Observatory and close its offices. In response, a lecturer at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran twitted that "the solution to the high migration data problem has finally been discovered: preventing the publication of data, cutting the budget and issuing an order to vacate the Migration Observatory building."
This is not the first instance of Iranian authorities choosing to conceal data instead of addressing it. The head of the National Statistical Center previously admitted that the center was instructed by authorities to refrain from publishing official data regarding the inflation rate. In the past, the detrimental consequences of government control over data publication were highlighted in other areas within Iran, such as crime data. In 2002, the Iranian authorities closed the Ayandeh (Future) polling institute and arrested its director shortly after he published the results of a public opinion poll demonstrating that an absolute majority of the Iranian public supports dialogue between Iran and the US.
Nonetheless, even within the Islamic Republic, there is an understanding that hiding or manipulating data for political reasons does not solve the underlying problems and only serves to complicate effective problem-solving.
The director of Iran's Migration Observatory has recently warned against the worsening "brain drain" crisis of Iranian experts in the high-tech and science fields. According to the center's data, approximately 67 percent of employees in the Iranian high-tech industry are in various stages of immigration. The center's data also reveals that over 60 percent of Iranians who have emigrated abroad in recent years have no intention of returning to their country. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has become more acute in recent years due to the worsening economic crisis, particularly the unemployment crisis among educated young people, as well as political and social instability, and the suppression of individual freedoms.
In the wake of reports regarding the deteriorating migration crisis, it appears that Iranian authorities have come up with an original solution to the problem. In early August, Iranian media reported the government's decision to reduce the budget of the Migration Observatory and close its offices. In response, a lecturer at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran twitted that "the solution to the high migration data problem has finally been discovered: preventing the publication of data, cutting the budget and issuing an order to vacate the Migration Observatory building."
This is not the first instance of Iranian authorities choosing to conceal data instead of addressing it. The head of the National Statistical Center previously admitted that the center was instructed by authorities to refrain from publishing official data regarding the inflation rate. In the past, the detrimental consequences of government control over data publication were highlighted in other areas within Iran, such as crime data. In 2002, the Iranian authorities closed the Ayandeh (Future) polling institute and arrested its director shortly after he published the results of a public opinion poll demonstrating that an absolute majority of the Iranian public supports dialogue between Iran and the US.
Nonetheless, even within the Islamic Republic, there is an understanding that hiding or manipulating data for political reasons does not solve the underlying problems and only serves to complicate effective problem-solving.