Book Review: Saman Kelegama (ed.). 2011. Migration, Remittances and Development in South Asia.
| Author | P.A. Mathew |
| Date | 01 April 2014 |
| Published date | 01 April 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2347797013518405 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Journal of Asian Security
and International Affairs
1(1) 107–122
2014 SAGE Publications India
Private Limited
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/2347797013518405
http://aia.sagepub.com
Saman Kelegama (ed.). 2011. Migration, Remittances and Development
in South Asia. New Delhi: SAGE Publications. 346 pp. ISBN: 978-81-
321-0641-8 (HB)
Migration, Remittances and Development in South Asia is a collection of articles
in a comparative perspective on the migration experiences of different countries
in South Asia. The main focus of the book is on the South Asian diaspora and the
macro/micro level impact of migration. It examines poverty reduction and income
inequality, trade and balance of payment effects, labour market effects, saving and
investment and economic growth effects. Micro level impacts like consumption
and livelihood development of households in various countries in South Asia also
find a place in the book. It is a comprehensive attempt to map the challenges and
opportunities posed by migration and to show how the individual countries have
had an impact in terms of development due the effects of migration. It shows the
distinct characteristics of South Asian migration, differences and similarities in
individual countries’ approach to migration and the limitation in terms of regional
cooperation with regard to migration flows and protection of migrant workers.
The volume discusses the impact of remittances and their utilization in South Asia
and more importantly the lack of credible and consistent policies with regard to
utilization of the remittances and its impact on development. The book is path
breaking and fills the gap in terms of mapping the individual countries’ experi-
ences with regard to migration considering the fact that there is a considerable
outmigration from South Asia especially to Middle East countries.
Saman Kelegama’s introductory chapter is a masterful survey of the issues in
migration and development especially in South Asia. Migration and remittances
have transformed the landscape of many countries in South Asia in terms of the
contribution to GDP and both macro and micro level changes. Numbering close
to 30 million and divided into two distinct periods—‘age of colonial capital’ and
‘age of globalization’—there have been some major changes in the way the
migrants operated in the recent times.
Migration is connected to demographic trends in both developed and develop-
ing countries and factors like ageing population, growing employment opportuni-
ties, cheaper communication and transportation have increased the demand for
108
Book Reviews
migration. Although government-imposed barriers to movement have increased
over the years, most of the international migrants strive to reap the benefits of
higher incomes, better access to health and educational facilities and these improve
the prospects for the children. The relationship between migration and develop-
ment is often seen from the angle of remittances, which reduces the current account
deficits and helps improve the BOP situation. It is also seen as a source of external
funding which surprisingly exceeds both overseas developmental assistance and
foreign direct investment. More importantly remittances impact local livelihood
and help in poverty reduction. But Kelegama also points out:
Remittances alone are however are unlikely to lift people out of poverty; rather it is
their interplay with other economic, social and cultural factors which determine the
scale and type of impact remittances can have on poverty reduction. Thus, the focus
should be on what remittances can add to the process of moving people out of poverty
or reducing their vulnerability to poverty. (p. 4)
However national development and poverty reduction in developing countries
have largely ignored the potential of migration in the development process.
One of the major issues the developing countries face with regard to remit-
tances is dominance in terms of informal channels rather than the formal chan-
nels. Formal channels although expensive reduce illegal activity and lead to
economic growth through savings and investments. There is an increasing use of
mobile phones in many developing countries and this has been used in countries
like Kenya widely to transfer money. There is a need for creating more financial
institutions and diverse investment options to give more options to the migrant
workers to transfer the remittances. The situation of the low-skilled workers is
often difficult. As pointed out,
There are injustices that the foreign labourers face in both the destination country and
at home. Informal recruitment agencies often take advantage of the migrant’s lack of
knowledge and cheat them off their money. Additionally, once abroad, migrants may
face low wages and poor working conditions and living conditions and even worse,
sexual exploitation and harassment…. it is important therefore that these workers wel-
fare is seen to and their human rights protected while on foreign soil. (p. 10)
One of the interesting aspects regarding the book is the section on individual
countries’ experiences. Although there are close to 30 million people from
South Asia and there are a large amount of remittances, there is a dearth of
material in the context of individual countries’ experiences. This book fills the
gap in terms of explaining the individual countries’ position vis-à-vis migration
and remittances.
Section 1 on country studies starts with Irundaya Rajan’s chapter on ‘India’.
Numbering around 20 million, this is the second largest diaspora in the world and
contributes substantially in terms of remittances. The remittances in 2008 were
US$26 billion and this constitutes 3 per cent of Indian GDP. As noted by the
Journal of Asian Security and...
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