World: Labour Migration a Mixed Blessing, Says U.N.

from allAfrica.com:

International migration is a mixed blessing because it has both positive economic benefits and negative social consequences, says a new U.N. report, suggesting that temporary relocation of workers might offset some of the problems.

Rising migrant earnings and the transfer of technology and investments -- mostly from rich to poorer nations -- have been offset by social disruptions, broken families and exploitation and abuse of migrant workers, according to social activists.
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The good news is that migrant remittances have grown parallel with the number of international migrants and are estimated to have reached 130 billion dollars in 2000, compared with about 55 billion dollars in official development assistance (ODA).
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The bad news is that the country of origin of a skilled migrant loses both its earlier investment in the education and training of the person who emigrates and the future contributions that person would have made to the economic development of his or her home country.

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