On September 21st, 2021, The Inter-American Dialogue hosted a panel titled “The Changing Face of Migration in the Americas” to discuss the growing scale of migration in Latin America and the Caribbean and the changing composition of these flows over the past two years.
This report from the Migration, Remittances & Development Program presents the findings of a survey carried out with more than 1,000 US immigrants from eight Latin American and Caribbean nationalities during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study identifies critical aspects that shaped migrants’ experiences in 2020 and early 2021, and, more importantly, the determinants of continuing to send money back home in times of crisis.
El 15 de abril del 2021 se llevó a cabo “Diálogo de alto nivel: el rol clave de la transparencia de datos en las remesas” con el objetivo de ampliar las discusiones sobre la transparencia en los datos sobre remesas que ingresan a Guatemala y conocer la perspectiva de actores claves sobre la posibilidad de crear un observatorio nacional sobre remesas.
El 28 de enero del 2021, El Diálogo Interamericano, en colaboración con la Red Nacional de Grupos Gestores de Guatemala-San Marcos, organizó un conversatorio privado, “La migración como elemento del desarrollo integral: Alianzas y prácticas para su inclusión estratégica” con el apoyo de Cities Alliance. El conversatorio se concentró en el caso guatemalteco con el objetivo de socializar y discutir perspectivas planteadas por actores que trabajan con los lugares de origen, destino y retorno.
On October 29, 2020, the second virtual session of the Housing Laboratory on Migration and Cities in Guatemala (LAV for its initials in Spanish) took place. The Housing Laboratory’s objective was to explore the role of urban and land use planning in the context of international migration and return migration. It further considered how these processes can be integrated into Guatemala’s National Housing Council’s (CONAVI) ongoing efforts to update Guatemala’s National Policy on Housing and Human Settlements in order to guarantee access to decent housing and boost local economic development.
Kathryn Klaas
Event Summaries ˙
˙ The Inter-American Dialogue
On August 27, 2020, the first virtual session of a Housing Laboratory on Migration and Cities in Guatemala (LAV by its Spanish initials) was held. As Guatemala’s National Housing Council (CONAVI) works to update Guatemala’s National Policy on Housing and Human Settlements with strategies to increase access to decent, sustainable housing, this event contributed to discussions regarding the potential that remittances offer for financing the provision of decent and broader urban development.
This report discusses the impact that Covid-19 has had on migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean with a focus on migrant job-loss and its effect on remittances sent to their native countries.
El 29 de julio, el World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid tuvo una sesión virtual para discutir el tema la “Movilidad en tiempos de crisis: La pandemia del Covid-19 como oportunidad para repensar las migraciones en América Latina”. Manuel Orozco, el director del Programa de Migración, Remesas y Desarrollo del Diálogo Interamericano, moderó la conversación y Laura Chinchilla, co-presidenta de la Junta Directiva del Diálogo, fue panelista.
El 10 de julio, Manuel Orozco, el director del Programa de Migración, Remesas y Desarrollo del Diálogo Interamericano, participó en una conversación sobre las tendencias en el envío de remesas hacia América Latina durante la pandemia de Covid-19. Propuso tres soluciones para que se pueda aprovechar la pandemia para modernizar la industria de las remesas e integrar a toda la población en los procesos de globalización.
El pasado 16 de junio, el experto en migraciones, remesas y desarrollo Manuel Orozco fue entrevistado por la periodista Gabriela Frías en conmemoración por el Día Internacional de las Remesas Familiares. Orozco explicó el impacto que la actual crisis del Covid-19 está teniendo en los trabajos de los migrantes, así como para las remesas y la importancia de remesas para familias.
Manuel Orozco was interviewed on CGTN America about the impact of the United States’ Covid-19 related economic crisis on Latin American migrants and remittances sent to Latin America. “Migrant workers all over the world are losing their jobs, and perhaps the job losses are higher than for the native-born population. One of the consequences is that migrants feel constrained from continuing sending money to their families.”
This report offers an overview of how foreign currency regulations affect money transfers to Venezuela in addition to describing and explaining Venezuelan migrant remitting behavior in six migrant host countries. It also provides an estimate of the aggregate volume of remittances sent to Venezuela.
On April 2, Manuel Orozco, Mariellen Jewers, Piero Coen and Gene Nigro discussed the economic and health consequences caused by Covid-19 to migrants and how it impacts Latin America and the Caribbean. Estimates show that remittances to LAC countries will register at a negative seven percent decline in 2020.
This analysis offers a glimpse of the potential impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on US immigrants and family remittances. Past events involving worldwide crises can offer insight as to how this pandemic will likely affect remittance transfers. Considering migrants’ financial and health vulnerabilities as well as the forecast recession, a conservative estimate shows that remittances will register a -3 percent decline in 2020 relative to 2019, from $77 billion to $75 billion.