The global economic crisis and migrant workers: Impact and response

This paper aims to analyse the actual and potential impact of the global crisis on international migrant workers through a focus on four issue-areas. These areas include the employment and migration opportunities available to migrant workers, including changes in the demand for migrant labour and possible return to countries of origin; the volume of financial remittances sent by migrant workers to their families; situations of discrimination and xenophobia that may confront migrant workers along with their conditions of work; and the policies that both countries of destination and origin have put in place to deal with the impact of the crisis. After analyzing the impact of the crisis in the four issue areas, the paper reviews its consequences on migrant workers from a gender perspective. The paper concludes with a set of suggested policy measures to protect migrant workers and preserve the interests of both countries of origin and destination.