E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
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

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries
June 2022
La Declaración de Los Ángeles podría representar un gran paso para la cooperación migratoria real en las Américas
By  Andrew Selee
Cover image for Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica
Reports
June 2022
Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica: ¿Son vías prometedoras para gestionar la migración centroamericana?
By  Cristobal Ramón, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Ana Martín Gil
Cover image for Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica
Reports
June 2022
Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica: Promising Pathways for Managing Central American Migration?
By  Cristobal Ramón, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Ana Martín Gil
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries
June 2022
The Los Angeles Declaration Could Represent a Big Step for Real Migration Cooperation across the Americas
By  Andrew Selee
Migrants and natives dance at a multicultural celebration in La Vega, Chile.
Articles
May 18, 2022
Chile’s Welcoming Approach to Immigrants Cools as Numbers Rise
By Cristián Doña-Reveco
Instructors teach an African dance class in Miami.
Articles
May 11, 2022
Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States
By Jane Lorenzi and Jeanne Batalova
cover image for Destination-Country Policies to Foster Diaspora Engagement in Development
Reports
April 2022
Destination-Country Policies to Foster Diaspora Engagement in Development
By  Kathleen Newland
A teacher leads a lesson on the Korean alphabet in a U.S. dual-language immersion class
Articles
April 14, 2022
Korean Immigrants in the United States
By Cecilia Esterline and Jeanne Batalova

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Reports
May 2014
Supporting Immigrant Integration in Europe? Developing the Governance for Diaspora Engagement
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio
Policy Briefs
May 2014
The Global Forum on Migration and Development: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific
By  Imelda Nicolas and Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
Cover IOM BriefNo8 ClimateChange 2014
Policy Briefs
March 2014
Human Rights, Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration: A New Paradigm
By  Rabab Fatima, Anita Jawadurovna Wadud and Sabira Coelho
Cover HLD Newland
Policy Briefs
October 2013
What We Know About Migration and Development
By  Kathleen Newland
Cover HLD Ratha
Policy Briefs
September 2013
The Impact of Remittances on Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
By  Dilip Ratha
Cover HLD Hugo
Policy Briefs
September 2013
What We Know About Circular Migration and Enhanced Mobility
By  Graeme Hugo
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Policy Briefs
September 2013
Does Respect for Migrant Rights Contribute to Economic Development?
By  Donald M. Kerwin
Download Policy Brief
Policy Briefs
September 2013
Environmental Change and Migration: What We Know
By  Susan Martin

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Two boys pose in an informal settlement east of Johannesburg largely populated by immigrants.
Profile
November 18, 2021
South Africa Reckons with Its Status as a Top Immigration Destination, Apartheid History, and Economic Challenges

South Africa hosts the most immigrants of any African country. Yet it faces conflicting pressures, including the legacy of apartheid, a steady outflow of well-educated South Africans, and the need to juggle bilateral labor mobility schemes at a time of economic insecurity and high unemployment. This article traces these pressures and how they have developed over time.

A woman stands onboard the U.S. Navy vessel on which she was born.
Spotlight
October 15, 2021
Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

Vietnamese immigrants are among the largest foreign-born groups from Asia in the United States. The first significant arrivals came at the end of the Vietnam War; more recent immigrants from Vietnam have been more likely to come through family sponsorship programs. This article examines different dimensions of this immigrant population.

A woman and her child in southern Ethiopia.
Profile
October 5, 2021
Once Primarily an Origin for Refugees, Ethiopia Experiences Evolving Migration Patterns

In 1980, more than 2.5 million Ethiopian refugees lived in other countries. Now, Ethiopians are more likely to migrate for labor reasons, particularly to the Middle East and southern Africa, and meanwhile the country has become a refuge for humanitarian migrants from its neighbors. This article traces the history of migration from, to, and through Ethiopia.

A Haitian man hugs his daughter in Peru.
Feature
September 30, 2021
Haitian Migration through the Americas: A Decade in the Making

The chaotic arrival of thousands of Haitians at the U.S.-Mexico border in September 2021 was the culmination of a journey through the Americas that began for many a decade ago. This article examines how Brazil became a refuge for many after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, and how Haitians then moved on to Chile and other countries as conditions changed, and then onward again further north.

An Afghan refugee in the United States.
Spotlight
September 9, 2021
Afghan Immigrants in the United States

The dramatic evacuation from Afghanistan may bring more than 50,000 new Afghan immigrants to the United States, according to government predictions. These new arrivals would join a small but growing population of Afghans in the United States, most of whom have arrived since 2010. This article provides insights into this immigrant group, many of whom arrived on the Special Immigrant Visa.

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Video, Audio
March 19, 2018

Immigration Data Matters: How to Find the Most Accurate Resources

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.

Audio
January 18, 2018

The State of the World on Migration – Vitorino & Papademetriou Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Ahead

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.

Audio
December 12, 2017

Beyond Stock-Taking: The Path Ahead to a Global Compact for Migration

To reflect on the outcomes of the stocktaking meeting in December 2017 on the progress made towards conceptualizing the Global Compact for Migration, MPI hosted a conversation with Eva Åkerman Börje, from the office of the UN Special Representative for International Migration, and Ilse Hahn, from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Video, Audio
July 13, 2017

The International Migration System: Reflections on the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

A reflection by MPI's co-founder, Demetrios Papademetriou, on the challenges and opportunities ahead for international migration systems in the United States and internationally over the next few decades. After opening remarks, Papademetriou engages in a conversation with incoming MPI President Andrew Selee about the trends and realities confronting policymakers and publics, including over immigrant-selection systems, the disruptions artificial intelligence will bring to workforce needs, and more.

Audio
September 30, 2016

A New Era in Refugee Protection and Migration Management? Looking Forward After UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants

MPI experts discuss outcomes from the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, the Leaders Summit on Refugees, and related private-sector meetings and how these efforts may gain momentum to change international responses to the complex threats refugees and migrants face.

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Recent Activity

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.

Policy Briefs
February 2019

Global Governance of International Migration 2.0: What Lies Ahead?

The vast majority of UN Member States in December 2018 adopted the first-ever international agreement to cooperate on migration. This policy brief traces the trajectory of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration's negotiation and endorsement. It also explores the factors that will determine whether the compact lives up to its aim of improving how states cooperate on international migration.   

Reports
February 2019

Exploring New Legal Migration Pathways: Lessons from Pilot Projects

As European countries launch ambitious new legal migration partnerships with several origin and transit countries in Africa, this report takes stock of the long and mixed history of such projects. To make the most of their potential to encourage skills development and fill pressing labor gaps, policymakers will need to think carefully about the partners and sectors they choose, among other key considerations.

Reports
January 2019

Sustainable Reintegration: Strategies to Support Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America

Reception and reintegration programs for deported and other returning migrants represent a long-term investment for migrant-origin and destination countries, holding the potential to reduce re-migration and permit communities of origin to benefit from the skills migrants learn abroad. This report offers recommendations to make reintegration programs more effective in Mexico and Central America.

Commentaries
December 2018

An Overheated Narrative Unanswered: How the Global Compact for Migration Became Controversial

While the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration was formally adopted by 164 of the UN's 193 Member States, it's worth asking how it became a point of contention and ultimately was rejected by more than a dozen countries. The answer? A long lag time between negotiation and adoption, during which overheated claims against it went largely unanswered, as this commentary explores.

Articles
December 12, 2018

A Once-Smooth Path for the Global Compact on Migration Becomes Rocky

The world’s first international agreement on migration was approved by 164 countries in December 2018, but not without turbulence. U.S. withdrawal from the nonbinding Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, on grounds it could impinge on sovereignty, triggered similar actions by others, particularly in Eastern Europe. Amid ongoing political ripple effects, attention now turns to implementation of the deal's goals.

Video, Audio, Webinars
November 15, 2018

Understanding the Policy Context for Migrant Return and Reintegration

In advance of the December 2018 adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, which includes a commitment to facilitate the return and reintegration of migrants, this webinar examines the policies, practices, and contextual factors that make compulsory returns such a difficult issue for international cooperation. Speakers also discuss the programs that are being implemented to make reintegration of returnees sustainable.

Policy Briefs
October 2018

Balancing Acts: Policy Frameworks for Migrant Return and Reintegration

In recent years, questions of whether, when, and how to return failed asylum seekers and other migrants to their origin countries have dominated migration debates in many countries. These issues were also taken up in the negotiation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, moving the discussion beyond the typical bilateral one. This policy brief outlines how states might more constructively work together on returns and reintegration programs.

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