The impact of foreign aid on migration revisited

With the refugee crisis and the arrival of thousands of migrants on the Southern European coasts, there’s a growing pressure on the European Commission and the most affected EU member states to find a quick way to effectively manage (and stem) migration flows. And many see foreign aid as an essential part of the solution. Indeed, pledges to scale up aid to developing countries are now routinely accompanied by statements arguing that helping countries to develop gives their people an incentive to stay at home. In June 2015, for instance, the UK Defence Secretary declared that “Britain needs to spend more of its budget on helping stabilise countries so that it doesn’t have to ‘fish’ migrants out of the Mediterranean” (The Guardian, 21 June 2015). But does foreign aid really help reduce migration flows? [...]

Complete article