Migration: the answer to Third World poverty?

“Migration is an ideal means of promoting co-development, that is, the coordinated or concerted improvement of economic and social conditions at both origin and destination based on the complementarities between the two”, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

In 2006, migrants sent home some US$ 260 billion in the form of “remittances”. As informal remittances add another 50% to the total of formal remittances, the full amount is probably more than twice the official development aid (ODA) received by developing countries. Additionally, the circulation of skilled people can promote “brain gain” where a migrant’s destination country can take advantage of well educated people filling-in gaps in their own economy while the country of origin can see their skilled people come back to work, teach, invest, share skills and train other people.

International migration is a fact and, to a large extent, the result of the lack of sustainable development in home countries, as observed for example by the Global Commission on International Migration (2005). It is furthermore encouraged by significant “pull factors” that result from the growing labour demands and demographic shortages in the “developed” countries.

In the age of globalisation and integration of markets, international migration can therefore be a potentially interesting response for both countries of origin as well as countries of destination. But, even if the economic benefits of migration might be positive, we have to look at the costs and see what the impact is, not only in terms of the economy but also with respect to the social well-being of the people involved.

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