No need to work against the tideTwo new Policy Briefs discuss brain drain and the role of diasporas in fragile situationsOpinions on the desirability of migration flows from developing countries to developed countries are highly diverse. The dominant view is that rich countries are poaching the best and the brightest from poor countries that desperately need highly skilled people to further their development process, thereby robbing them of their prospects for development. Today, other views on the brain drain have emerged, which are more hesitant to conclude that its impact on developing countries is solely negative. They stress benefits such as remittances, increased trade and investment links, and so-called brain gain effects even in fragile situations. Indeed, some argue that the positive effects may very well outweigh the negative ones. |
Through the transfer of money, values and ideas, diasporas participate in the economic, political and socio-cultural life of their homelands. The relationship between diasporas and fragile states is complex, depending on the emergence, nature and composition of the diaspora, and the specific form of state fragility. State fragility often triggers large diasporas whenever poverty, civil war, a lack of employment opportunities and basic social services make people leave their homelands in search of better and safer havens. The development potential of diasporas depends on whether people leave as refugees or migrants, on their human and financial capacities, and on whether they oppose or support the government back home. |
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