A new Global Migration Barometer measures opportunities for migrants

Western Union and the Economist Intelligence Unit recently released a new Global Migration Barometer.  I was a member of the panel of peer reviewers as well as a panelist at the launch event held in Washington with my good friends Don Terry, Demetri Papademetriu, and Thomas Debass.

I am happy to see the outcome of this exercise. The first of its kind, the GMB makes a small but significant beginning towards fact-based analysis of migration policies and outcomes, opposed to policy-making based on anecdotes and personal likes and dislikes which appear to be the norm today. By pointing out where a country may stand in terms of attractiveness to migrants, accessibility for migrants, and its need for migrants, the GMB will help a country make informed decisions about whether to change migration policies or not.

As I stated in this WSJ article by Miriam Jordan, I was surprised to see that some countries which clearly need a lot of migrants appearing not accessible and not attractive to them. That's a sort of eye-opener for these countries. It goes to show that a country may open the gates, but migrants may not come in! That has serious implications for countries aspiring to move into the next phase of development in this globalized world.