While the relevance of financial remittances for developing countries is well documented and has gained attention during the last years as an important and stable source of external development, the flows of ideas, knowledge, behaviours and social capital transmitted by migrants to their families, friends and communities in their home countries, defined as “social remittances”, is still overlooked.

Over the past years, migration research and policymaking have focused much attention on South-North flows and on certain aspects of the migration and development nexus, such as remittances and ‘brain drain’. Cultural remittances have received little attention in policymaking. Nevertheless, culture is an important channel in the relation between migrants and their home communities and can be perceived as a potential contribution of diasporas to their countries and communities of origin.

The Workshop on Migration and Development, held in Geneva on 2-3 February 2005, was organized in cooperation with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main objectives of the workshop were to examine why migration should be considered a development issue, to look at the synergies between migration and development agendas, and to examine how migration could be mainstreamed into development policy agendas, focusing on MDGs, partnerships and engaging diasporas.

Thousands of African nationals leave their home country each year to pursue better economic prospects within or outside Africa, depriving the continent of its vital human resources. Despite this enormous loss, the African diaspora, equipped with their competencies, new ideas and expertise gained abroad, are a tremendous asset to the development of their countries of origin as well as to their host country.

Migration brings substantial benefits to destination countries by easing labour shortages, for instance in such activities as childcare or house cleaning, low skilled jobs in the underground economy, but also jobs in industries requiring high skills and specialist knowledge. Migrants can contribute to the development of new technologies and skills, and enrich the human capital, create job opportunities and wealth that result from migrant entrepreneurial activities. These are factors that can enhance flexibility and productivity and contribute to economic growth and GDP.

Governments at both ends of the migration cycle increasingly recognize the value of diasporas’ spontaneous engagements with their countries of origin and are seeking ways to cooperate with them. Beyond the remittances they send back to their homelands (more than USD 400 billion in 2010), diasporas are major direct investors in critical and emerging industries, known patrons of nascent tourism initiatives, and generous philanthropists.

The research presented in this volume was directed by Nina Nyberg Sorensen and is

Policymakers increasingly recognize the value that diaspora populations bring to develo

The emigrant population has certain emotional, social and cultural requirements, which they fulfil by maintaining a certain degree of relationship with their origin country. This in many cases result in strong economic, social and cultural interactions. Because of these links, Bangladesh along with the host countries has made significant gains from long-term emigration of a section of its population.

Contemporary migration from Morocco can be traced back to the colonial period. Sustained by the economic boom in Europe and the need for labour migrants, migration was sharply restricted in the early 1970s, although already existing transcontinental family networks as well as official family reunion schemes in Europe enabled further migration and settlement. Originally from rural areas, post-1970 migration flows originated in larger urban areas, targeted a wider range of destinations and included a growing share of well educated Moroccans and, increasingly, also women.