“Migration is not just about movement. It’s about meaning.”
Migration today is at the center of global conversations, but often, it’s misunderstood as a crisis rather than recognized as a driver of development.
We often talk about migration through numbers: how many people left, how many arrived, how much money was sent home. But behind every statistic is a person, someone who left behind familiarity in search of opportunity, safety, or dignity. While destinations often get the spotlight, there’s a deeper story unfolding where many of these journeys begin: in the Global South (mainly in the MENA regoin).
For decades, migration studies focused primarily on the movement from developing countries to wealthy, industrialized countries. A significant shift in research has taken place. Today, more attention is being paid to how migration affects both sending and receiving countries, especially within the developing world. Scholars like Papademetriou and Martin, Nyberg-Sørensen, and De Haas helped lead this shift. Recent findings by the World Bank and IOM confirm its urgency: nearly half of all migrants from developing countries, around 74 million people, are living in other countries of the Global South. Remarkably, 80% of these movements occur between neighboring countries.
Why is this happening?
Researchers Hujo and Piper (2007) outline several reasons: shorter distances reduce migration costs; ethnic and family networks facilitate the journey; middle-income countries attract workers from poorer neighbors; and in times of crisis, proximity determines refuge. Some countries have also evolved into transit hubs for those hoping to eventually reach the Global North.
This South–South migration doesn’t just reflect changing routes, it carries transformative potential. Organizations like the International Labour Organization (2004), the Global Commission on International Migration (2005), and the United Nations (2006) have all emphasized how migration presents both social and economic opportunities for communities on both sides of the journey.
As Skeldon (2020) and others have observed, migrants are not passive recipients of aid or opportunity. They are agents of development. Especially across the Global South, migrants are building transnational communities and diasporas that power innovation, investment, and cultural exchange. They return more than remittances, they bring back ideas, skills, and networks that can shape local futures.
Nowhere is this link more urgent, or more visible, than in Syria.
After more than a decade of conflict, millions of Syrians sought refuge in neighboring countries. Now, many are beginning to return. Not just with stories of hardship, but with knowledge and the skills they gained in exile. In Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, Syrians have opened businesses, filled labor gaps, and led community initiatives. They’ve developed expertise in education, digital media, and entrepreneurship.
As they go home, they take that experience with them, becoming catalysts for rebuilding schools, reviving markets, and reconnecting communities. Yet challenges remain: infrastructure is fragile, services are stretched, and uncertainty lingers.
Migration and development are not two separate stories. They are deeply intertwined. The migrants themselves; whether workers, students, refugees, or entrepreneurs, are at the center of that story. Their contributions don’t just support economies; they transform them.
Researchers like Levitt and Nyberg-Sørensen (2004) have argued that the impact of migration extends far beyond remittances. Migrants are helping shape policies, shift perceptions, and foster global collaboration. They challenge the idea of migration as a “problem” and replace it with a view of migration as a shared resource, one that should be supported, not managed.
Across cities and rural areas in the Global South, migrants are opening small businesses, improving agricultural practices, starting cooperatives, and connecting markets. They’re not just boosting GDP, they’re building resilience. They’re making development more inclusive, sustainable, and connected. As Nyberg, Nicholas, and Poul emphasized, migration links survival strategies to opportunity. It drives investment and cross-border partnerships. It empowers people, even in the face of instability, to shape their futures.
If we are serious about development, we must be serious about migration.
That means protecting rights, enabling mobility, and recognizing the immense value of diaspora communities. It means building systems that reflect how people live, move, and contribute, especially across the Global South.
In Syria, we see what’s possible when return is supported with dignity and strategy. Migration doesn’t stop at borders. It evolves. If guided wisely, it has the power to transform not only lives, but entire societies.
Development doesn’t just happen in places. It happens in people. And people move.
The question is not whether migration and development are linked, it’s whether our policies, investments, and narratives reflect that truth.
