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Terrorism can endanger innocent human life and tear the very threads that hold society together, namely, trust and security. Governments have mobilized a variety of tools in response, ranging from the political to the economic. In attempting to prevent and detect terrorist financing and other forms of material support, those offering financial services have been required to heighten their vigilance of potential terrorist abuse of those services. While protecting financial services from potential abuse, care should be taken not to deny access to those services to those most in need. Dejection and social exclusion are very often conducive to terrorism; therefore, ensuring inclusion of the disenfranchised and creating possibilities for their advancement are key parts of the broader, long-term struggle against terrorism and extremism. The paper begins with a brief description of alternative remittance system (ARS) models and their prevalence. It then covers their potential relationship with terrorist financing, citing cases where ARS have been abused for terrorism financing (TF) purposes. Ways in which countries may control these risks and indications of their effectiveness are covered next. The final chapter provides recommendations on how best to mitigate the risks while ensuring legitimate access to financial services via ARS.

This survey was conducted by the World Bank Payment Systems Development Group, at the request of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic, as a follow up to the World Bank-led mission that visited the country in 2008 to assess the market for remittances. This survey aims at analyzing the main characteristics of the market for remittances in the Czech Republic and should serve as a guide for both public authorities and the private sector in identifying possible actions to improve the efficiency of the market. A total of 880 migrants from eight different nationalities were interviewed during the summer of 2009 in Prague. The nationalities selected represent the largest and most important migrant communities in the country: China, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Ukraine, and Vietnam. The following main findings can be extracted from the analysis of the survey's outcomes: i) a low level of transparency and consumer protection can be observed in the market for remittances in the Czech Republic. Senders are often not provided with all the relevant information by the Remittance Service Provider (RSP) at the moment of the transaction; ii) the lack of transparency is confirmed by the analysis of the cost as perceived by the interviewees, who do not generally consider the margin applied by the RSP as a price component. As a result, remittance senders are in general not aware of the actual cost that they are paying for the service; and iii) the market is dominated by Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) and, in particular, some MTOs hold the great majority of the market shares.

Several economies in the Caribbean region, especially from the lower income group, are highly dependent on remittances. Between 1991 and 2006, the combined flows of total remittances reaching the Caribbean have seen almost a 17% average annual growth rate, surpassing USD 6billion in 2005 and overtaking ODA and FDI into the region. In addition, remittances represent more than 20% of the domestic gross domestic product (GDP) in some Caribbean countries and have played a significant role in lessening both balance of payment deficits and the impact of natural disasters to which the region is particularly vulnerable. Given the importance of such remittance flows, this study undertakes an analysis of the various dynamics underlying the Canada-Caribbean remittance corridor, including Caribbean migration issues, remittance market landscapes and regulatory frameworks. This study is intended to assist Canadian and Caribbean national authorities in their mandate of providing incentives for the continued growth and competitiveness of their remittance industries, while protecting remittance markets from being abused by criminals.

This report on the U.S.- Honduras remittance corridor describes the remittance regulatory and market environment, financial inclusion strategies by financial institutions, transnational economic activities, and the impacts of remittances on the Honduran economy. Six areas provide the focus of this report: (i) regulatory reforms for the remittance market are urgent in order to improve clarity in regulations as well as to include money transfer companies in the regulatory framework; (ii) money service businesses will benefit from an examination of state regulation and their subsequent harmonization and coordination; (iii) rural areas need to improve distributive infrastructure to better reap the benefits of the remittance flows; (iv) financial education and awareness for Honduran migrant communities are critical components with the overall remittance flow equation; (v) the regulatory environment of remittance flows would be greatly enhanced through the promotion, inclusion, and expansion of proper identification; and (vi) public policies can be directed to building an environment for diaspora investments in the community and local business developments for exports to Honduran communities abroad.

Many low-income countries and development organizations are calling for greater liberalization of labor immigration policies in high-income countries. At the same time, human rights organizations and migrant rights advocates demand more equal rights for migrant workers. The Price of Rights shows why you cannot always have both. Examining labor immigration policies in over forty countries, as well as policy drivers in major migrant-receiving and migrant-sending states, Martin Ruhs finds that there are trade-offs in the policies of high-income countries between openness to admitting migrant workers and some of the rights granted to migrants after admission. Insisting on greater equality of rights for migrant workers can come at the price of more restrictive admission policies, especially for lower-skilled workers. Ruhs advocates the liberalization of international labor migration through temporary migration programs that protect a universal set of core rights and account for the interests of nation-states by restricting a few specific rights that create net costs for receiving countries. The Price of Rights analyzes how high-income countries restrict the rights of migrant workers as part of their labor immigration policies and discusses the implications for global debates about regulating labor migration and protecting migrants. It comprehensively looks at the tensions between human rights and citizenship rights, the agency and interests of migrants and states, and the determinants and ethics of labor immigration policy.

The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 attempts to present numbers and facts behind the stories of international migration and remittances, drawing on authoritative, publicly available data. It provides a snapshot of statistics on immigration, emigration, skilled emigration, and remittance flows for 210 countries and 15 regional and income groups. The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 updates the 2011 edition of the Factbook with additional data on bilateral migration and remittances and second generation diasporas, collected from various sources, including national censuses, labor force surveys, population registers, and other national sources.

Sending states have taken various measures to protect their female nationals serving abroad as domestics. A most-similar case comparison is constructed between the Sri Lankan and Philippine states’ defenses of ‘their’ female migrant domestic workers (FMDWs), employing process tracing and relying on data from archival research, interviews, policies, and official statements. Existing explanations for sending-state actions stress dependence on remittances, receiving-country conditions, and the democratic incorporation of emigrants. Here, however, a stock of FMDWs with more highly valued human capital attributes, combined with a stronger civil society and greater gender equity, is shown to compel and enable the Philippine state to adopt a more assertive approach than its Sri Lankan counterpart in defending those migrants.‘

How does female out-migration reconfigure gender values surrounding son preference in origin communities? We propose that the feminization of migration has the potential to infuse origin communities with economic and ideational changes that may challenge son preference. Rural China provides an interesting setting, both because its unprecedented labor out-migration has increasingly included women and because of its persistent son preference. Using data from rural China and instrumental variable regressions to adjust for potential endogeneity bias, this study shows that out-migration of women, but not of men, attenuates son preference among those in origin communities. The role of female out-migration transcends families with direct ties to migration and extends to the entire village. However, cultural context and family positions within that context condition the role of female migration: specifically, the preferences of individuals in families and villages embedded in strong patrilineal cultural practices are less likely to be shaped by female out-migration.

Sri Lanka is a major labour sending country in Asia, with a high proportion of female labour migrants employed as domestic housemaids in the Middle East with increasing remittances. Despite such financial gains for families and national economy, health and social effects on the left-behind families have had limited exploration. This qualitative study was carried out across five districts with high labour migration rates in Sri Lanka. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with participants recruited through purposive sampling. Data was analysed using content and thematic analysis and emerging themes were mapped. Pre-migration socio-economic situation, economic difficulties and higher earning possibilities abroad were considered to be the major push and pull factors for labour migration. Post-migration periods were shown to be of mixed benefit to left-behind families and children suffer the negative effects of parental absence. The absence of support mechanisms for dealing with adverse events such as serious injury, death, abuse or imprisonment were cited as major concerns. Post-migration periods affect the health, well-being and family structures of left-behind families. Promoting economic prosperity while ensuring health and social protection is a formidable policy challenge for ‘labour sending’ countries such as Sri Lanka.