World Development Report 2023 : Migrants, refugees, and societies

Mobility is an integral part of the development process. It is a mechanism for reallocating labor across economic sectors and geographical areas. It enables adaptation to shocks, stresses, and imbalances. Cross-border mobility inevitably comes with economic and social consequences for those who move, their communities of origin, and their destinations. And this mobility involves primarily people from developing countries, who make up a large majority of the 295 million people living outside their country of birth -- economic migrants and refugees -- and a large share of their hosting communities. How can we manage cross-border mobility in a manner that is beneficial to all? This question is key to achieving the development mandate of the World Bank Group as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. The World Development Report 2023 takes a fresh look at these issues. It shifts from a narrow focus on labor markets for migrants and legal protection for refugees to a more holistic perspective -- one that recognizes the humanity of migrants and the complexity of the societies of origin and destination. The Report focuses on three main themes: drivers of mobility and the role of development; impacts and policy responses; and the need for collective action to strengthen the nexus between international protection and development. While recognizing that situations are very diverse and that there can be no one-size-fits-all approach, it seeks to identify policy options for each group of stakeholders -- migrants' origin and destination countries, refugee-hosting countries, the international community, and development actors, as well as the private sector and civil society -- to deliver a system of better mobility in a transforming world--