Migration explained

We found this video online. Its general, its (at times) quite basic, but its very well made and very useful. It beats the usual festive fare of The Sound of Music and the Two Ronnies Xmas Special. Enjoy…

Development, Remittances and Coalition Heads in the Sand

A lot has been written about the way in which remittances (the money sent back by working migrants to families remaining in their country of origin) are a significant contributory factor in development for receiving countries.

The amount of money flowing from the industrialised world to the developing world via remittances outstrips the amount of Development Aid granted by western governments.

Rwandan Refugees Face Uncertain Future

Guest post by Barbara E Harrell-Bond. Barbara is Director of The Fahamu Refugee Project in Oxford.

The Fahamu Refugee Programme has mounted a campaign to oppose States and UNHCR withdrawing the protection of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees from tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees currently in exile. 

Mainstreaming migration into development planning

The International Organisation for Migration has published Mainstreaming Migration into Development Planning A handbook for policy-makers and practitioners. You can download this here.

Migration and development in the UK

Whilst on paper there has been a growing recognition of the importance and interlink between migration and development, this has not so far translated into the policy making process- certainly not in the UK in any event.

As we previously pointed out, the UK’s labour migration system has been rated poor by the Global Development  Index.

Our  problem is that we tend to deal with migration and international development in isolation when it comes to the policy making process.

A missed opportunity…

Did you know that almost half of Tajikistan’s GDP comes from migrant remittances? Or that China and India between them receive USD 100 billion from the same source? These are just some statistics contained in the latest report by the International Organisation for Migration.

The Report makes interesting reading as it’s packed with interesting facts and figures, but also seeks to advance some kind of normative framework for policy making in the field of immigration (which we don’t always agree with). Perhaps its most interesting chapter is chapter five. This deals with migration and international development.