The international financial crisis has affected migrants and remittance receivers worldwide. The loss of jobs in large economies, such as the United States, has led migrants to reduce the remittances they send to their families. The World Bank’s prediction for 2008 was a decline in remittances of 4.4% to Mexico, India and China, the top receivers of remittances in the world. Many low income countries may not be in a position to assist families that counted on the remittances for their basic needs. Governments may need to review their policies or implement new ones to fill this gap. The economic crisis may encourage or force migrants to return home. Despite the fact that government action is fundamental to deal with the economic crisis, collective efforts from different stakeholders, including diasporas, is highly recommended.

Facilitating the Reintegration of Returning Migrants

Governments play a crucial role in the reintegration of returning migrants in their home countries. Some countries have policies in place to assist returning migrants, such as information systems on job opportunities, training courses to upgrade skills, business counselling, and low-cost incubator space for new small and medium-sized enterprise. However, many low income countries that are highly dependent on remittances have neither policies to facilitate the reintegration of migrants, nor resources to improve education, transport systems and social security for returning migrants.

The lack of a good environment for investment is another weakness in these countries. Besides insufficient infrastructure, many developing and least developed countries require too many procedures prior to opening a company. In some developing countries, it can take more than 100 days to incorporate and register a firm. Fees charged are also high compared with the average per capita income in many developing countries. By making it easier for returning migrants to invest in their home countries, governments would create an environment that is more attractive for investment at this hard times, and generate job opportunities.

Helping One Another to Reduce the Impact of the Financial Crisis

Although some migrants will return home during the global financial crisis, others whose jobs are in demand may choose to stay abroad. As individuals, members of diaspora communities may want to contribute to the development of their countries. The support of their governments, however, is fundamental since diasporas alone cannot manage development. One of the actions that governments could take is to approach countries to which their citizens have migrated, and seek the tax deductibility of both remittances and money placed in special savings account to support development projects in a migrant’s home country. Germany and France, respectively, already provide migrants with these benefits, and they are encouraging migrants to invest in their home countries. More needs to be done in this direction in the context of the G20 efforts to address the financial crisis.

Collective action will be welcome, in particular, in this time of financial crisis. The involvement of non-governmental organisations, development agencies and the private sector can complement government efforts to improve the capacity of diasporas to contribute to the development of their countries. Among other actions, these stakeholders can advise overseas citizens regarding savings and business opportunities, and facilitate the transfer remittances and reduce costs associated with such transfers as well as new opportunities that might be opening up as foreign investment dries up. The involvement of international organisations and universities from the North is also very important. The United Nations (UN), for instance, could focus more attention on encouraging professional migrants inside and outside the UN system, to participate, as individuals, in programmes and activities that foster the transfer of knowledge to their countries of origin. Universities and governments from the North could encourage their students from the South to transfer knowledge to their home countries. Although the involvement of these stakeholders has not been emphasised by the international community dealing with migration, the potential of these migrants to transform “brain drain” into “brain gain” is very high and should be given prominent attention.

Looking forward

In times of economic crisis good governance is fundamental. Governments should analyse migration from different angles to identify how they may reduce the impact of the financial crisis on migrants. Two migration issues should be considered: the effect of the crisis on returning migrants and on diaspora communities. An assessment of national programmes and policies that are in place to facilitate the reintegration of migrant citizens is essential, as is a review of laws and procedures required to enable returnees to open a business. An analysis of the initiatives undertaken by other stakeholders is also fundamental. This exercise may allow governments to (i) have an overview of the initiatives on migration that were or are being implemented by other stakeholders, and (ii) identify possible partners that could help them to provide support for diasporas who want to contribute to the development of their home countries.

Stakeholders concerned with migration should consider discussing new ways that diasporas could help to bridge the knowledge divide in low income countries. One avenue would be to involve UN staff, and citizens from the South who are studying in the North, in activities that have the potential to transfer knowledge to their home countries. A symposium on migration in Geneva would be a good platform to launch this discussion. Geneva, for example, has excellent universities and a large number of students from the South, as well as the largest concentration of UN personnel in the world. A symposium in Geneva could be a very good vehicle to call the attention of governments, as well as the international community, to the valuable role staff from international organisations and students from the South can play to span the knowledge divide.