E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
Migration & Development

Migration & Development

Brain Drain & Brain Gain
Circular Migration
Climate Change
Development Impacts
Diaspora Engagement
Remittances
_DevelopmentImpacts

Governments, development specialists, and others have rediscovered the connections between migration and development. Yet while increasing volumes of research have focused on the actual and potential contributions of migrant communities to sustainable development or poverty reduction in their countries of origin, the findings have not been systematically translated into policy guidance. One result is that little coherence is to be found between the development and migration policies of governments in countries of destination and origin—a reality that the research offered here seeks to address.

Recent Activity

Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges
Policy Briefs
February 2020
Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges
By  Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
Indian nurses in a classroom
Articles
January 23, 2020
Global Demand for Medical Professionals Drives Indians Abroad Despite Acute Domestic Health-Care Worker Shortages
By Margaret Walton-Roberts and S. Irudaya Rajan
Tajik women working in a field
Articles
November 14, 2019
Dependent on Remittances, Tajikistan’s Long-Term Prospects for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Remain Dim
By Edward Lemon
Jamal Khashoggi
Articles
August 22, 2019
A Tightening Grip Abroad: Authoritarian Regimes Target Their Emigrant and Diaspora Communities
By Gerasimos Tsourapas
Andrew Selee and Jason DeParle
Multimedia
August 20, 2019
Chronicling Migration in the 21st Century Through One Family’s Journey
Coverthumb GlobalCompact FinalReport
Policy Briefs
June 2019
Migration, Development, and Global Governance: From Crisis toward Consolidation
By  Kathleen Newland
Flags from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on display
Articles
May 8, 2019
Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results
By Ieva Birka
Demetrios Papademetriou and Antonio Vitorino
Multimedia
March 6, 2019
A Conversation with António Vitorino, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration

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DirectRelief MalawiMangochiDistrict Flickr
Feature
October 21, 2015
The Emigration of Health-Care Workers: Malawi’s Recurring Challenges

The emigration of health-care professionals from Malawi led to drastic labor shortages in the impoverished nation in the early 2000s. To combat this brain drain, the government launched an action plan that has largely stabilized the outflow. However, human resource challenges to Malawi's health-care system remain acute and complex, as discussed in this feature article.

LeePhelps MountainsofTirane Flickr
Profile
September 10, 2015
Embracing Emigration: The Migration-Development Nexus in Albania

From ongoing emigration flows and a surge in asylum seekers, to more than 150,000 returnees, this country profile examines contemporary and historical migration trends in Albania. Driven by extreme poverty and unemployment, more than one-third of Albania's population has emigrated in the last 25 years. The government now seeks to capitalize on diaspora resources by linking migration and development policies.

2013inauguration KarenAxelrad Flickr
Feature
July 29, 2015
Americans Abroad: A Disillusioned Diaspora?
While many countries are increasing engagement with their diasporas, U.S. policy has chiefly focused on U.S.-based diasporas from other countries, despite its own estimated overseas population of 7.6 million. This feature explores results from a survey of more than 1,400 U.S. citizens and 140 former citizens living abroad, many of whom are critical of limited U.S. government engagement with them even as restrictive financial reporting regulations have been imposed.
Nepalearthquake2015 ILO Shukuko Koyama
Feature
June 18, 2015
Redefining Nepal: Internal Migration in a Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Society
Even as Nepal will lean more heavily on its international diaspora to help recover from devastating earthquakes that killed thousands and decimated parts of the country, the disasters have had effects on internal migration. Class and gender dynamics have long driven significant internal flows. This feature article explores migration trends in Nepal, including movement between ecological zones, growing urbanization, and the feminization of an increasingly mobile workforce.
IMG_9985 AmineGhrabi Flickr
Profile
May 28, 2015
Revolution and Political Transition in Tunisia: A Migration Game Changer?

With a history of encouraging workers to emigrate to relieve unemployment at home, Tunisia now has 11 percent of its population living abroad. The factors underlying the 2011 revolution that sparked the Arab Spring have also fueled emigration desires for many Tunisians. This country profile explores historical and current trends in Tunisia from colonial settlement to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the new focus on migrant rights at home and abroad.

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Recent Activity

Policy Briefs
February 2020

Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges

Seasonal worker programs in the European Union have a long history, but have yet to find the sweet spot of working for migrants, employers, and countries of destination and origin alike. This policy brief explores some of the challenges common to these programs—drawing on examples in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand—and highlights promising practices.

Articles
January 23, 2020

Global Demand for Medical Professionals Drives Indians Abroad Despite Acute Domestic Health-Care Worker Shortages

India is the world's largest source for immigrant physicians, and for Indian-trained doctors and nurses the allure of working abroad is strong despite an acute domestic shortage of health-care workers. Against this pull, the Indian government has enacted a number of policies to limit and regulate the emigration of health-care professionals, though these have been more ad hoc in nature and not part of a fully realized strategy.

Articles
November 14, 2019

Dependent on Remittances, Tajikistan’s Long-Term Prospects for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Remain Dim

More than 1 million Tajiks migrate to Russia every year—a sizeable outflow for a country of about 9 million people. These high levels of emigration have had major effects for Tajikistan, especially in the generation of remittances that help lift everyday Tajiks out of poverty but have also made the country increasingly dependent on Russia. This article explores challenges faced by Tajik migrants in Russia and the effects of emigration on Tajikistan’s economy and society.

Articles
August 22, 2019

A Tightening Grip Abroad: Authoritarian Regimes Target Their Emigrant and Diaspora Communities

Authoritarian states have long attempted to restrict citizens’ movement. But what happens when their reach extends beyond their borders? The October 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi brought into sharp relief the long arm of these regimes in reaching citizens abroad. This phenomenon, “transnational authoritarianism,” further shows that the relationship between migration and authoritarianism is becoming more complex.

Video, Audio
August 20, 2019

Chronicling Migration in the 21st Century Through One Family’s Journey

Marking the launch of New York Times reporter Jason DeParle's book tracing the arc of migration and its impacts through the life of an extended family of Filipino migrants over a three-decade period, from Manila and through Dubai to the Houston area, this conversation with MPI's Andrew Selee and the World Bank's Dilip Ratha explores migration at both a global and very personal level.

Policy Briefs
June 2019

Migration, Development, and Global Governance: From Crisis toward Consolidation

Migration and development policy discussions have edged closer to each other on the international stage. The adoption of the Global Compact for Migration in December 2018 marks an important milestone. As all eyes turn toward the compact’s implementation, this brief examines some of the key topics states have pledged to work more closely on—from labor migration and migrants’ rights, to returns and reintegration.

Articles
May 8, 2019

Can Return Migration Revitalize the Baltics? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Engage Their Diasporas, with Mixed Results

Faced with high emigration rates and shrinking, aging populations, the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—are exploring different ways to lure back nationals who have emigrated and establish or solidify ties with members of the diaspora. Of the three countries, Estonia is proving the most successful, while Latvia appears to be ignoring the looming demographic crisis and lacks an immigration plan.

Video, Audio
March 6, 2019

A Conversation with António Vitorino, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration

In his first public address during his inaugural formal visit to Washington, DC, IOM Director General António Vitorino discussed his vision for the agency, reforms in the UN system designed to address migration matters better, and the operational steps IOM is taking to respond to forced migration and displacement in hotspots around the world.

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