World Development Report 2023

World Development Report 2023

• Recently, the World Bank published the World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees & Societies.
• The report estimated a 120% income gain for Indians who migrate to another country for work, compared to a 40% rise in the case of internal migration.

Highlights of the Report :

• An Increase in Income: Under-skilled Indian citizens migrating to the US noticed a hike in their income of nearly 500%, followed by the UAE by almost 300%.
  • Those migrating to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations other than UAE stand to gain less.
• Overview of Global Migration and Refugees: There are currently 184 million migrants globally, which is 2.3% of the population, including 37 million refugees. 
• There are four types of migrants:
  • Economic migrants with strong skill match (e.g., Indian IT professionals in the US or construction workers in GCC nations)
  • Refugees with skills in demand at the destination (e.g., Syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey)
  • Distressed migrants (e.g., Some poorly skilled migrants at the US southern border)
  • Refugees (e.g., Rohingya in Bangladesh)
• Increase in Remittances: The remittances have increased to some of the countries with a large migrant population, including India, Mexico, China and the Philippines.
  • India received the highest ever foreign inward remittances of USD 89,127 million in FY 2021-22.
  • In 2021, total global remittances were estimated at USD 781 billion and have further risen to USD794 billion in 2022.
• A Decline in Working-Age Adults: The share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries over the next few decades.

 Challenges in this Regard :

• Global Inequalities:  in terms of real wages, labour market opportunities, demographic patterns and climate costs.
• Lack of Citizenship: A significant number of people do not have citizenship in the country where they reside. 
• Distressed Migration: Some migrants move without skills that match the needs in the destination country and they are not refugees either.

Way Forward :

• Match-Motive Framework:
  • The “match” aspect is grounded in labour economics and focuses on how well migrants’ skills and related attributes match the needs of the destination countries.
  • “Motive” refers to the circumstances under which a person moves in search of opportunity.
    • This determines the extent to which migrants, origin countries and destination countries gain from migration: The stronger the match, the larger the gains.
  • Manage Migration Strategically:
    • Origin countries should make labour migration an explicit part of their development strategy.
  • Balancing Skill Demand and Social Inclusion:
    • Destination countries should encourage migration where the skills migrants bring are in high demand, facilitate their inclusion and address social impacts that raise concerns among their citizens.
  • Ensuring Protection:
    • Provide international protection to refugees in a manner that can be sustained, financially and socially because most refugee situations last many years.
  • Manage Cross-border Relations Differently:
    • Bilateral cooperation can be used to strengthen the match of migrants’ skills and attributes with the needs of destination economies.

Practice Questions for Prelims

Mains Practice Question

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