Harnessing the Development Potential of Labor Migration
Migration has transformative potential for international development but is often overlooked or portrayed as a challenge. Learn why this bias exists and consider recommendations for change.
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The movement of people in search of better economic opportunities is a common and enduring livelihood strategy, with 90% of international migration considered to be economic migration. At the national and household levels, research demonstrates that migration and remittances can lead to positive socioeconomic and development outcomes, including improvements in living conditions, investments in children’s education, improved food security, accumulation of assets and reductions in poverty.
Despite such transformative potential for international development, migration is often portrayed as a challenge rather than an opportunity. Certainly, migration can give rise to challenges, including the risk of exploitation of migrant workers and the potential to exacerbate inequality. It is also a contentious issue in the domestic politics of many of the world’s largest donors. However, policy tools, including development aid, that implicitly aim to reduce migration and root people in their communities of origin lack an understanding and appreciation of how migration shapes and is shaped by development. Not only is this a missed opportunity, but it perpetuates flawed and ineffective policies and programs.
This paper draws on qualitative and quantitative evidence, including case studies from Nepal and Niger, to explain why aid actors continue to focus on keeping migrants at home and to highlight the socioeconomic implications of this missed opportunity. It concludes with recommendations for policymakers, aid actors and donors on how to better harness the development potential of economic migration.
Why Does This Bias Persist?
- Economic migration remains politically sensitive in many donor countries.
- The international development paradigm is not conducive to supporting people on the move.
- Development practitioners and the institutions they work in operate with a flawed understanding of migration.
What Are the Ways Forward?
- Reconsider economic migration as a choice and an opportunity, which has both benefits and risks that must be proactively managed.
- Integrate economic migration as a key component of development strategies and investments.
- Pilot, test and scale programs that support people on the move and those who stay behind.