67970 The ECA’s Diaspora Populations Can Aid Growth and Development Timothy Heleniak and Sudharshan Canagarajah The ECA diaspora populations are large in absolute size and as a share of the home countries’ populations, and are Key Messages1 highly educated and skilled. The size of the ECA diaspora,  The diaspora populations from Europe and defined as people living outside their country of birth, is Central Asia (ECA) countries are large in both estimated to be 49 million people, totaling one-quarter of absolute and relative terms. Nearly 11 percent the global diaspora population. Nearly 11 percent of the of the population in the region resides outside region’s populace resides outside the country of birth the country of birth (compared to 3.1 percent (compared to just 3.1 percent globally), as shown in figure globally). 1. Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina have 40 percent or more of their populations outside their countries, while  The ECA diaspora populations are highly Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, and Moldova educated and skilled. have roughly 25 percent. A number of other countries have  Formulation of diaspora policies in the region is smaller but still significant shares of their populations in its early stages; most ECA countries started residing outside their home countries. developing diaspora policies and institutions only after the year 2000. There Are “Old� and “New� ECA Diasporas  ECA countries need to identify their diaspora The ECA diasporas are a mix of older and newer goals, map diaspora geography and skills, create populations. A large number of people migrated from ECA a relationship of trust between diasporas and countries during the period between World War II and governments of both origin and destination 1990, providing a vast stock of migrants in Europe, North countries, and mobilize their diasporas to America, and elsewhere. With the economic transition and contribute to sustainable development. emergence of newly independent countries over the last two decades, there has been a new wave of people leaving The Large ECA Diaspora Populations Can Aid the ECA countries. Government policies should thus Growth and Development in Home Countries differentiate between these two diaspora populations, since each group offers something different to the home The notion that diaspora populations can contribute in countries. different ways to development in their home countries is rather new in the ECA region. Yet, large numbers of people from ECA countries who have migrated abroad have The ECA Diaspora Populations Are Highly already been assisting in the development of this region by Educated and Skilled sending remittances, facilitating trade and investment in Globally, 2.4 percent of the total population and 5.4 percent their homelands, donating to philanthropic causes, of the tertiary-educated population live outside the country volunteering, providing knowledge transfer, promoting of birth. For the ECA countries for which data are return migration and travel, and bringing diaspora tourism. available, emigration rates of the tertiary-educated populations are substantially higher. In seven ECA 1 This Knowledge Brief is based on a longer paper by Timothy Heleniak, countries, 20 percent of the highly skilled population live “Harnessing the Diaspora for Development in the Europe and Central outside the home countries; in 11 other countries, the figure Asia Region,� completed for Migration and Remittance Peer Assisted is 10–20 percent (see figure 2). Learning (MiRPAL) (Washington, DC: World Bank, Europe and Central Asia Region, 2011). ECA Knowledge Brief Figure 1: Percentage of ECA Population Residing Outside Home Countries, 2010 Czech Republic Hungary Turkmenistan Turkey Slovenia Uzbekistan Russian Federation Poland Slovak Republic ECA region Tajikistan Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Estonia Romania Lithuania Ukraine Bulgaria Azerbaijan Croatia Belarus Moldova Macedonia, FYR Kazakhstan Georgia Armenia Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Source: Diaspora population: United Nations Population Division, United Nations Global Migration Database v.0.3.6 (http://esa.un.org/unmigration/index.aspx accessed March 22, 2011) Figure 2: Emigration Rate of Tertiary-Educated People from ECA Region (2000) (as a percentage of the total tertiary-educated) Sources and Notes: Jean-Christophe Dumont, Gilles Spielvogel, and Sarah Widmaier, “International Migrants in Developed, Emerging and Developing Countries: An Extended Profile,� OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 114 (Paris: OECD, 2009), www.oecd.org/els/workingpapers. ECA Knowledge Brief The foreign born from ECA residing in the United States States from nearly every ECA country was significantly are much more highly educated than the U.S.’ overall higher than the U.S. average of $27,100. Only those from foreign-born population. Members of this group have higher Moldova, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Albania, and Bosnia and rates of citizenship and naturalization, are disproportionally Herzegovina had lower median incomes. These high represented in management and professional occupations, incomes are reflected in the high values of owner-occupied have higher incomes, and own homes with a generally homes. In 2009, the median home value in the United States higher market value. was $191,900; for the ECA diaspora populations, it was greater than $300,000, with those from Armenia the highest As shown in figure 3, between 2007 and 2009, the per at $494,900. capita income of the diaspora population in the United Figure 3: Per Capita Income of ECA Diaspora Population in the United States, 2007–2009 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 $0 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007-2009 American Community Survey. ECA Diaspora Populations are Concentrated in a and institutions, though most have not designed policies Few Countries towards their diaspora populations at all or have done so only recently. What is more, few ECA countries explicitly ECA diaspora populations are concentrated in a few link their diaspora policies to internal economic destination countries, with half residing in just four development but rather to foreign policy concerns, and for countries: Russia, Germany, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. that reason, diaspora offices are often housed within the There are also a sizable number of ECA emigrants in Italy, ministries of foreign affairs. Spain, the United Kingdom, Greece, Austria, the United States, and Canada. Countries with comprehensive diaspora policies include Lithuania, Armenia, Georgia, Romania, Montenegro, and Nearly half the ECA diaspora resides in other former Soviet Bulgaria, whose policies incorporate many different states, mainly Russia, and about 35 percent live in high- elements of engagement with their diaspora populations. income countries of the Organisation for Economic Co- Ukraine, Croatia, and Macedonia have only recently operation and Development (OECD). developed diaspora policies, and Kyrgyzstan is lacking a diaspora policy altogether. Diaspora Policies in ECA Countries A number of ECA countries are quite remittance-dependent, ECA countries are at varying levels of development. Their including Moldova, Tajikistan, Albania, Kosovo, and diaspora populations also vary, differing considerably in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, and size, geographic dispersion, socioeconomic characteristics, Poland mention the return or engagement of highly skilled and ties to the home countries. ECA governments also differ diaspora members prominently in their policies. All of these significantly in the development of their diaspora policies countries have large, highly educated diaspora populations ECA Knowledge Brief that include people who left decades ago as well as more It is difficult in the ECA region to systematically determine recent emigrants. the level of diaspora investment in home countries, although there is considerable anecdotal evidence. Several ECA In Latvia, Estonia, and Kazakhstan, using the diaspora to countries use external diaspora organizations as their point compensate for demographic decline through return of contact and in some cases, offer direct financial support migration seems to be a major focus of policy. All three to them. countries are experiencing a significant decline in population, a trend that is projected to continue into the Increasing the Role of the ECA Diaspora foreseeable future. The ECA countries are relatively new to having diaspora Using the diaspora as its representatives in the European populations. Nevertheless, it is important that ECA Union (EU) seems to be the main goal of Turkey’s current countries first and foremost try to determine the exact levels diaspora policy. Previously, however, when it was sending of involvement of their diaspora populations by better large numbers of labor migrants to Europe, Turkey had tracking them. The governments of these countries also successfully used remittances as a source of economic need to define their diaspora goals and link them to growth, a policy that many ECA countries are now seeking development, drawing on international best practice and the to replicate. experiences of other countries - such as Mexico and the Philippines - in formulating their own diaspora policies. The preservation of culture and language is the main aim of According to a recent policy report, any government’s emigrants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, although strategy for diaspora engagement should include: the diaspora policies of most countries mention this as well. identifying goals, mapping diaspora geography and skills, Hungary’s diaspora policy seems focused on the creating a relationship of trust between diasporas and enlargement of the nation by drawing back in the large governments of both origin and destination countries, and diaspora in neighboring countries. About 5.5 million ethnic ultimately mobilizing diasporas to contribute to sustainable Hungarians have migrated to neighboring countries due to development in their country of origin. Although the exact border changes in the past. institutional arrangement for a government’s interaction with its diaspora population will vary, ECA countries should not ignore the enormous development potential of Challenges in Diaspora Relations their large, highly educated, and highly skilled diaspora members. Diaspora policy is a subset of a country’s overall migration policy. Tracking diaspora populations is important for ECA About the Authors countries and many of them make some effort to collect this Timothy Heleniak is a Research Associate in the kind of data. Nearly all countries cite assistance to citizens Department of Geography at the University of Maryland, abroad, especially labor migrants, as one goal of their USA. diaspora policies. Given that many labor migrants do not enter other countries under fully legal conditions, their Sudharshan Canagarajah is a Coordinator for the MiRPAL protection abroad is often a priority. Network and Lead Economist for the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit of the Europe and Central Dual citizenship is a policy advocated by those who support Asia Region of the World Bank. diaspora engagement as a way of keeping diaspora populations connected to the homeland. Some of the ECA  Kathleen Newland, ed., Diasporas: New Partners in Global countries allow dual citizenship and more seem to be Development Policy (Migration Policy Institute: Washington DC, revising their policies in this direction. 2010). Policies to encourage or reduce the cost of remittances are currently not well integrated into the diaspora policies of many ECA countries. This is surprising given that, as noted above, many lower-income ECA countries are highly dependent on remittances, with several among the most remittance-dependent countries in the world. “ECA Knowledge Brief� is a regular series of notes highlighting recent analyses, good practices, and lessons learned from the development work program of the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region http://www.worldbank.org/eca .