Migration Policy Institute - Migration & Development
RSS - Migration & Development
Subscribe to our Migration & Development RSS feed using your favorite RSS reader: Subscribe 
In the face of an uptick in unauthorized arrivals in Italy from Tunisia in 2017, the European Union dusted off earlier policy proposals such as funding to increase Tunisia’s border-control capabilities and the creation of disembarkation platforms. This article explores why contemporary developments, including a fragile Tunisian political system, suggest the need for a different approach.
For generations, migrants have emigrated from Senegal, particularly from in and around the Senegal River Valley. With France a key destination, French policy changes have had significant impact on Senegalese migrants and the hometown associations through which they support development in Senegal. This article explores how these policy shifts influence development and quality of life in the Senegal River Valley.
Indonesia, which has a long history as a major origin for migrant labor in the Asia-Pacific and beyond, more recently has reluctantly found itself a transit and destination country, including for asylum seekers. Still, policymakers remain focused on protection of its nationals abroad rather than on assuring the status of Chinese and other foreigners in the country. This country profile explores Indonesia's rich migration history.
As the final phase of preparations for the historic adoption of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration approaches, this webinar explores two central objectives of the compact: enhancing the availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration, and investing in skills development.
While partnerships to facilitate skilled migration have had mixed success in the past, the Global Compact for Migration is advancing a new approach that may change this. This policy brief compares this new partnership model with the traditional one, highlighting the questions policymakers will need to answer if they are to encourage mobility, sustain employer engagement, and see development benefits in countries of origin.
Migrants displaced by crisis do not benefit from international protection the way that refugees do. This article examines the experiences of labor migrants amid manmade and natural disasters in the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Lebanon, Libya, South Africa, and Thailand, as well as stakeholder responses. Research demonstrates the agency and resilience of migrants, who develop flexible solutions in the face of crisis.
As the final phase of preparations for the historic adoption of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration approaches, this webinar explores two central objectives of the compact: enhancing the availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration, and investing in skills development.
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America yet the most densely populated. A stagnant economy, high levels of crime and violence, and natural disasters have pushed growing numbers of people to migrate without authorization or seek asylum abroad, mostly in the United States. This article explores historical and contemporary emigration from El Salvador.
From being a source of labor emigration to the Gulf region to a destination for refugees from Syria, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere, Egypt has long experienced different forms of mobility. This article, which profiles the trends and policies that have shaped Egypt's migration history, focuses on its long-standing use of migration as a soft-power tool to achieve its foreign policy aims and as a safety valve for political discontent.
As policymakers look for ways to address the drivers of illegal immigration, many have called for migration aims to be incorporated into development work and development tools into migration partnerships. This policy brief analyzes the benefits and risks of heightened cooperation between actors in these fields, and identifies areas where joint initiatives may prove fruitful.
While media and academic discussions of "climate refugees" paint a picture of mass displacement of millions, in reality many communities vulnerable to climate change may choose to stay as a result of strong cultural, historical, and spiritual attachments to place. This article explores this "voluntary immobility" and its implications in the Pacific Islands.
Marking the release of MPI President Andrew Selee's book, this discussion explores the emerging trends in migration, economic interdependence, technology innovation, and cultural exchange that are transforming the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
The European Commission has proposed an 89.5 billion-euro fund to combat irregular migration by investing heavily in countries outside the European Union. This commentary argues the ultimate aims of the policy remain obscure, and with some of the money to be drawn from development aid funds is certain to raise tensions between institutions with conflicting goals and mandates.
With immigration increasingly visible in the news and the political space in the United States and internationally, getting access to accurate, high-quality data is essential to understand immigration’s demographic effects and impacts on the economy, education and labor systems, and communities. This event marks the release of the Immigration Data Matters guide.
This useful online guide links users directly to the most credible, high-quality data on immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. The easy-to-use guide includes more than 220 data resources compiled by governmental and nongovernmental sources, covering topics ranging from population stock and flow numbers to statistics on enforcement, public opinion, religious affiliation, and much more.
At this release of an updated version of the popular Immigration Data Matters guide, presenters discuss how to navigate and access the increasing number of data sources on immigration and immigrants in the United States and internationally.
Following the Trump administration’s January 2018 decision not to renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans, MPI, the Inter-American Dialogue, and FUSADES hosted a panel discussion to consider the impacts of terminating TPS for these long-time U.S. residents, including the likely effects on the economy, migration, and criminal violence. Speakers also explored related policy options.
Although in many countries immigrants fill labor gaps in fields such as agriculture and construction, few legal migration pathways exist for low-skilled workers. As states meet to negotiate a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, this policy brief takes stock of the channels available for such workers to move legally and take up work abroad, highlighting promising practices and policy gaps.
This MPI Europe discussion brings together two of the most experienced thinkers on migration policy— António Vitorino and Demetrios G. Papademetriou—to explore what will be needed over the next years to ensure that the properly managed movement of people remains an integral, positive force in the world.
Development assistance may be a blunt tool for reshaping migration patterns—and indeed one that could increase flows over the short term. Shifting the focus away from increasing individuals’ skills and assets toward investments in the broader economic or governance structures that are a prerequisite for growth and stability may offer more alternatives to emigration in the long run.