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1/16/07

World Bank: Labor Migration Likely to Grow in Europe and Central Asia

For the complete report from the World Bank click on this link

Labor Migration Likely to Grow in Europe and Central Asia

Russia is home to the second largest number of migrants in the world after the United States, with an estimated 3 million to 3.5 million undocumented immigrants. And many economies are heavily dependent on remittances—the money migrant workers send home to their families from abroad. According to official figures, remittances constitute over 20 percent of GDP in Moldova and Bosnia, and over 10 percent in Albania, Armenia, and Tajikistan. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the actual remittances flows may be much larger than these official numbers, according to a World Bank report. “Migration—in and out of the region—is here to stay,” says Bank economist Bryce Quillin, who co-edited the report with Ali Mansoor.

Migration will also likely increase in the years to come, as Russia and other countries that were once part of the Soviet Union suffer worker shortages as populations age and their own skilled young people seek work in Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America, he says.

Much of the migration is illegal—a situation that hurts countries and the workers themselves, who may be mistreated and not have access to medical and other services.
“Sending” countries experience “brain drain” as they lose skilled workers, and “receiving” countries lose out on tax revenue or suffer social costs or lower wages for low-skilled or legal migrants, notes Willem van Eeghen, lead economist of the Bank’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

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