Transnational activities of migrant organizations in the Netherlands and political participation: the case of the Surinamese organizations

Annelien Meerts, Gery Nijenhuis and Annelies Zoomers
Additional contact information
Annelien Meerts: Utrecht University
Gery Nijenhuis: Utrecht University
Annelies Zoomers: Utrecht University

No 1353, Working Papers from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Migration and Development.

Abstract: The potential of migrants to promote poverty reduction and development in their regions of origin - which is generally referred to as the "migration and development nexus" is a hot topic on the development agenda. Several seminars on this issue have recently been held, such as the 2006 UN Migrants in Development Cooperation conference, the three Global Forums on Migration and Development, and the Brussels-based M4D initiative, which explicitly targets civil society. In addition, several host countries have developed specific co-development programmes aimed at supporting migrants' transnational activities and linking these to development (IFRI, 2008; Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2010). Migrants are enthusiastically welcomed in international development cooperation for two reasons. First, the role of remittances, and particularly the amount of money sent back to areas of origin, is recognized. In many countries, the flow of remittances surpasses the ODA flows, and in some countries is even larger than FDI flows. Second, migrants1 who are involved in transnational activities are considered "bridge builders" between communities and development organizations in both their countries of origin and their countries of settlement. Since they know the language and culture of both countries, they are considered capable of building the capacity of communities in their countries of origin and linking them to development organizations in the North. They are thus expected to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and development in their regions of origin (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, 2009).

Keywords: Netherlands; Suriname (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://cmd.princeton.edu/sites/cmd/files/working- ... 2012-Netherlands.pdf

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:cmgdev:wp11-03hworking-paper_meerts-nijenhuis-zoomers.pdf

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Migration and Development. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Bobray Bordelon ().