Migration of highly skilled and educated people has depleted poor Caribbean economies of valuable human capital and has created social dislocation among families and communities, according to a paper produced by: the Canadian Foundation for the Americas.

This paper examines the developmental impact of the growth of the diasporic economy on Caribbean countries, focusing on the issues of remittances, diasporic exports, brain drain, as well as the new health and security risks associated with migration and mobile populations.

It finds that remittances have emerged to be the fastest growing and most stable source of capital flow and foreign exchange in the last decade, but questions whether remittances alone can outweigh the loss of investment in human resource development.

The paper's main conclusion states that diasporisation is likely to further peripheralise the region, and recommends that the policy dialogue should move beyond the remittances issue to take into account wider developmental concerns.

Recommendations include the negotiation of bilateral or multilateral agreements that would encompass some investment by labour importing countries. This should be complemented by regional attempts to counter "global poaching".

* This summary was compiled by Pambazuka News from the Eldis email newsletter. The full paper can be read online at the following address: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC17409