Returned Irish emigrants big factor in boom economy, says UN report

UN REPORT: Emigration from Ireland and the eventual return of emigrants here has played a decisive role in reinvigorating the economy, according to a United Nations report on international migration.

The report, drawn up in advance of a UN summit on the issue in September, cites Ireland as a successful example of the benefits of inward and outward migration.

It states: "It should be no surprise that countries once associated exclusively with emigration, including Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Spain and many others, now boast thriving economies, which themselves attract large numbers of migrants."

Former attorney general and EU commissioner Peter Sutherland oversaw the compilation of the report in his role as UN special representative of the secretary general Kofi Annan on international migration. Since he was appointed last January, Mr Sutherland has been consulting world leaders on improved international co-ordination on migration and development issues.

Launching the report in New York last night, Mr Annan commended migration as a phenomenon that could create "triple wins" for the migrant, the receiving country and the country of origin. However, he warned, the costs and benefits of migration are distributed unevenly, both among countries and social groups within them.

Mr Annan called on governments everywhere to re-examine their migration policies in the light of globalisation and changes in technology. He acknowledged that migration can deprive countries of their "best and brightest", generate social tensions and be exploited by criminals and terrorists.

The personal experience of being a migrant had also changed. Just 25 years ago, going abroad meant a "wrenching, long-term separation" but now, affordable airfares and phone and internet technology allowed for constant exchange of news and information.

While it was for governments to decide whether more or less migration was desirable, the UN's focus was on the quality and safety of the migration experience. Mr Annan said a consultative forum open to all 191 members of the UN would offer a venue to discuss issues relating to migration in a systematic and comprehensive way.

There were 191 million migrants internationally last year, 115 million in the developed world. One in every five lives in the US and migrants constitute at least 20 per cent of the population in 41 countries.