International migration-development nexus : the case of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT)

Abstract

The international migration-development nexus has attracted a lot of scholarly attention in the last few years. It is widely believed that international migration can have profound and positive impacts on the development process in migrant-sending countries if the governments of these countries adopt proper policies. In this paper, I take the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as a case study to examine the impact of international migration on the development process in this conflict-stricken country. The Palestinian case is an interesting case study because the OPT: has a very weak economy; has very high population growth rate; and suffers from high levels of political instability. Therefore, it has all key factors that push migration. In fact, migration, forced and voluntary, has been a consistent and structural feature of the life of the Palestinians since the late nineteenth century, and this extensive migration has resulted in a large number of spreading all over the world, including very successful and well-established communities in different countries such as the USA and Germany. In my paper, I examined five key aspects of international migration that could have a positive impact on the development process in the OPT: 1-Bilateral & multi-lateral temporary labor agreements between the OPT and other countries, that aim at reducing unemployment in the OPT; 2-Financial remittances sent back to the OPT; 3-Diaspora organizations that support development activities in the OPT; 4-Investments that are made by diaspora Palestinian businessmen in the OPT; 5-Return migration and brain circulation of highly skilled diaspora Palestinians. Based on a wide range of scholarly materials and official reports that are relevant to the international migration-development nexus in the OPT, I argue that international migration could be a potent development tool in the OPT if it is utilized effectively by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in a way that is sensitive and responsive to the peculiar and complex Palestinian context. The PA should formulate a clear policy about migration, and the issue of migration should be fully institutionalized and integrated into national development planning so that the positive developmental impact of international migration is maximized.