China, India top migrant remittances list-Report
October 5, 2013, 5:37 am

232 million people live and work outside their countries, according to the United Nations and migrant remittances have tripled in the last decade and are three times the size of global aid budgets [Getty Images]

According to fresh data, China and India will receive $131 billion in migrant remittances in 2013.

Remittances to the developing world will equal $414 billion, an increase of 6.3 per cent from 2012.

The latest issue of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief also projects that remittances to the developing countries will rise to $540 billion by 2016.

In India, $71 billion worth of remittances sent home from migrants will eclipse earnings from IT exports this year.

With the weakening of the Indian rupee, a surge in remittances is expected as nonresident Indians take advantage of the cheaper goods, services and assets back home.

232 million people live and work outside their countries, according to the United Nations and migrant remittances have tripled in the last decade and are three times the size of global aid budgets.

China on Friday urged the UN to highlight the issue of migration when drafting the post-2015 development agenda.

Wang Min, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the statement at a High-Level Dialogue on the International Migration and Development at the UN headquarters in New York.

“All nations should create an inclusive environment for migrants,” Wang said, proposing to make efforts to eliminate inappropriate restrictions on migrants, ensure their legal rights and promote their inclusion in local communities.

International migrants have made great contributions to economic development, Wang said.

Meanwhile, anti-migrant sentiments, illegal migration, and human trafficking have also become more distinct, he said, urging joint global measures to address these issues.

The top recipients of officially recorded remittances for 2013 are India ($71 billion), China ($60 billion), the Philippines ($26 billion), Mexico ($22 billion), Nigeria ($21 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion).

Meanwhile, the scale and direction of remittances in conflict-ridden states like Syria is unclear.

In 2010, the last date for which data is available, Syria received over $1.6 billion in remittances, says the report.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR says two million Syrians are now refugees.

The UN’s $4.4bn appeal for Syrian refugees is only 50% funded.

The BRICS Post