What We Know About Migration and Development

International migration has a strong impact on the living standards of vast numbers of individuals, and on the financial stability of developing countries. Yet the policy framework of migration and development remains relatively weak. This is in part because evidence supporting direct linkages between migration and development is not well known to policymakers, and controversies persist because what is known about migration and development has not been fully incorporated into the analysis of development dynamics. 

In some policy circles, emigration is still seen as a drain on a country’s human resources, rather than an opportunity for those who leave to become more productive and, if the circumstances are right, to contribute more to their countries of origin than if they had remained.

This policy brief distills findings from a series of policy briefs by a group of international experts on migration and development released in advance of the UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in October 2013. The series covers topics such as remittances, circular migration, skilled migration, the recruitment of migrant workers, the demography of migration, and more.