MRS N°19 - Internal Migration and Development: A Global Perspective

Description : The report argues that internal migration can play an important role in poverty reduction and economic development; internal migration should therefore not be controlled or actively discouraged. Policy should instead concern itself with ways of maximizing the potential benefits of migration to the individual concerned and society at large. While there have been few formal efforts to estimate the economic contribution of migrant labour, it is evident that many developing countries would probably not have had the roads, buildings, manufacturing and trade centres that they have today had it not been for migration. By not acknowledging the vast role played by migrant labour in driving agricultural and industrial growth, governments escape the responsibility of providing basic services to millions of poor people who are currently bearing the costs of moving labour to locations where it is needed most.

Table of Contents : 

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Broad Patterns of Migration
• Who Migrates?
• The inadequacy of quantitative surveys
• The Causes of Migration
• The Impacts of Migration
• The Government and Elite View of Migration
• The Vulnerability of Migrants
• Conclusions and Implications for Policy
• Appendix

Number of Pages : 80
Format : Softcover
Volume/Number : 19