migration

Newly released data from nine countries underscore the resilience of remittances

Contributions also made by Sanket

In my backyard, or not—but is that really the question?

Photo © World Bank

For years scientists have argued that in order to grab the public’s attention to global warming, citizens must be told how the towns, regions and communities in which they and their children live will be affected. Information on local level impacts – the argument runs – makes climate change “real” and should therefore be the cornerstone of public support for mitigation.

The financial crisis and immigration policy: how some developed countries are coping

More restrictive immigration policies by developed country governments are being implemented as the financial crisis deepens. For example, the United Kingdom just published a bill which contains some of the following measures:

1) Migrants who are not citizens or permanent residents of the UK will not have access to full services benefits and social housing; and

India to Nepal remittance service launched

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the launch of the “Indo-Nepal Remittance Scheme” for Nepali migrants in India. This scheme allows migrants, including those who don’t have bank accounts, to send up to Rs. 50,000 (about $1000) in a single transaction.

Cities on the rise?

The developing world is rapidly urbanizing, as a previous World Development Report noted. Low and middle-income nations are home to three quarters of the world’s urban population. Urban areas are likely to absorb almost all of the world’s population increase over the next two decades. The most populous urban areas tend to concentrate in coastal zones--China and India alone have more than a quarter of the world’s urban population and the world’s largest population living in low-lying coastal zones. Even Africa, generally considered a rural continent, has two-fifths of its population in urban areas, and a large concentration of coastal cities.

Chinese migrants in Africa (and vice versa)

China's trade, aid and investment linkages with Africa have increased exponentially in the last few years.

International Migrants Day: the role of women

On this International Migrants Day, I would like to focus on female migrants and labor migration policies that affect them.

I took a one day field trip to Arlington, Virginia last summer to observe how international migrant women contribute to development in their home countries, particularly through remittances and tapping the skills of diaspora communities.

International Migrants Day: How are international migrants perceived in destination countries?

Today marks the celebration of the unquestionable contribution and sacrifices that many international migrants make to both destination and origin countries. Migrants work hard, fill jobs that are needed, and send a large portion of their earnings to support their families at home. Despite all of their contributions, native populations’ opinion and the policies developed by their governments continue to be mixed.

As the economic crisis deepens, migration and remittances has become even more important for development

Today is International Migrants Day. Standing in the middle of a global crisis, worried that many countries facing harsh economic realities might make matters harsher for migrants, let me reiterate a few points that I have made before:

How to hold back the ocean?

How to hold back the ocean?

Sea-level rise is not a phenomenon of increasing frequency, but rather increasing magnitude in a persistent and continuous way. The effect of climate change is most palpably felt in small, low-lying island states such as Panza Island, the southernmost island off Pemba in Tanzania. Farming and fishing are the main means of livelihood. Significant parts of the island, especially the lower elevation southeastern side, are inundated by seawater bimonthly, during the spring cycles and most prominently during the diurnal flood tides. The local residents report up to four feet of water in some areas, which have only become vulnerable in the past year. Previously agricultural land can no longer be farmed. The area near the local school has been flooding for the past 15 years. Salt water has intruded into all the wells on the island, so drinking water has to now be piped in from a neighboring island.