News and comment on remittances, migration and individuals sending money to developing countries
May 2024
Soaring remittances to developing nations overtake foreign direct investment
Report finds money sent home by people who have migrated was $831bn in 2022, 650% up on 2000
October 2023
The future of work
UAE to investigate recruitment of Filipina domestic worker who died
The future of work
Lured to the UAE by bonuses and big money, what happened to Vergie Tamfungan?
May 2023
Rights and freedom
World Cup security guards still jailed in Qatar after dispute over unpaid wages
Workers at World Cup 2022 venues fired as tournament ended and allegedly jailed or deported after trying to claim unpaid wages
April 2023
Rights and freedom
Families mourn ‘devastating’ suicide rates among Nepal’s migrant workers
Almost 12% of Nepali migrant workers who die abroad, mainly in the Gulf and Malaysia, take their own lives
March 2023
Rights and freedom
‘I haven’t earned a single rial’: Qatar migrant labourers left stranded and jobless after the World Cup
Visa scams and a collapsed job market mean that 100 days on from the World Cup final, many workers face destitution despite promises of rights reforms
May 2022
Rights and freedom
Migrant fruit pickers charged thousands in illegal fees to work on UK farms, investigation shows
Evidence appears to show illicit payments taken from workers harvesting produce for M&S, Tesco and Waitrose
April 2022
Zimbabweans abroad switch to food delivery apps to help family at home
Rights and freedom
‘No one should suffer like me’: families of Qatar’s dead migrant workers left with nothing
March 2022
Rights and freedom
Up to 10,000 Asian migrant workers die in the Gulf every year, claims report
Campaigners say not enough is being done to prevent loss of life and the causes of death are not being properly investigated
January 2022
Guatemala’s economy buoyed by record $15bn sent home from workers overseas
Critics accuse the country’s government of doing nothing to stop the ‘escape valve’ of migration as it covers up their lack of spending
November 2021
‘Critical lifeline’ of migrant cash expected to near £600bn in total
Sum sent back home from former residents of low-income countries surpasses overseas aid and rich nations’ direct investment
April 2021
Aid agencies can be harmful, says Somaliland tycoon
Ismail Ahmed, a refugee turned multimillionaire, says his country has had to battle ‘negative PR’
February 2021
‘It’s as if there’s no Covid’: Nepal defies pandemic amid a broken economy
The return of extreme poverty
'Back empty-handed': Bangladeshis cut off from jobs abroad face rising poverty
April 2020
World Bank warns of collapse in money sent home by migrant workers
Covid-19 unemployment expected to cause $110bn drop in remittances to developing world
June 2017
Remittances help migrants’ families and the UK
Letter: This is a win-win situation, for individuals and countries receiving remittances and for a more financially and socially inclusive UK, writes Dipti Pardeshi
January 2017
Adventures in business
WorldRemit founder: 'I lost my job to uncover UN fraud'
Growing up in Somaliland, Ismail Ahmed saw the power of money transfers. He later learned the sector’s potential for corruption
July 2016
The Sudans takeover
How Sudan’s diaspora uses social media to marshal Ramadan meals
Expats raise unprecedented amounts for traditional meal packages as local groups keep donors updated over the internet
June 2016
Remittances are a mainstay for millions of the world's poor – let's improve them
Dipti Pardeshi
On International Day of Family Remittances, it behoves us to consider how we can help migrants working abroad to send money home more cheaply and easily