Impact of Financial Crises on International Migration

The current global economic crisis is impacting migration patterns and processes around the world. A reduction in migration flows globally has been reported. Migrant workers are laid off, and while some return home, others stay. How to respond to these migration impacts poses challenges for policymakers in both countries of origin and destination. Against this background, this report considers the lessons for migration policy to be learned from the major financial crises of the 20h century, namely the Great Depression (1930s), the oil crisis (1973), the Asian financial crisis (1997 to 1999), the financial crisis in Russia (1998), and the Latin American financial crisis (1998 to 2002). As the impact of previous crises on migrants and migration has been uneven and unequal across countries and regions, depending on a range of factors, this report draws out the wider lessons for policy that can be learned from previous responses to economic crises.