RP among top migrant sending countries

By Agence France-Presse
Inq7.net

GENEVA--The Philippines is among the top migrant sending countries and its workers among the top for remittances, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Wednesday.

The Philippines ranks third, with seven million Filipinos abroad, behind India, with 20 million, and top-ranked China with a diaspora of 35 million workers in different parts of the globe, the IOM said in its new study, which showed that concerns in Western countries that immigrants cause job losses and increases in welfare spending were not only flawed but contradicted evidence.

Mexico topped the list for remittances, followed by India, the Philippines, Egypt, and Morocco, the IOM study said.

Migrants are a key source of income for many poorer countries, the report said. They officially sent home 100 billion dollars in 2004.Another 100 billion dollars is thought to flow home through informal channels, the IOM said.

The world's estimated 185-192 million migrants -- up from 175 million in 2000 -- boost the economies of their new countries and the homelands they leave behind, although the impact of the brain drain on poor nations remains a concern, the IOM also said.

"We are living in an increasingly globalized world, which can no longer depend on domestic labor markets alone. This is a reality that has to be managed," said Brunson McKinley, the IOM's director general.

"If managed properly, migration can bring more benefits than costs," McKinley told reporters at the launch of the 2005 World Migration Report.

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