REMITTANCES AFTER ETHNIC CONFLICT:
A CASE STUDY ON BURUNDI
IS-Academy Migration & Development: A World in Motion
Sonja Fransen, PhD Candidate
OECD July 2011
Presentation overview
1.
IS-Academy Migration & Development
2.
The country context: Burundi
3.
Remittances after conflict: previous studies
4.
The fieldwork in Burundi
•
Methods & sampling
5.
Preliminary results
6.
Overall findings: an overview
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I.
IS Academy
Migration and Development: A World in
Motion
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
The IS-Academy Project
Overall research question:
What is the relationship between migration and development and how
can the positive effects of migration be enhanced?
Objectives of the research:
-
To strengthen the scientific foundation for M&D policy making &
the policy relevance of research in the area of M&D
Research themes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Remittances, development and poverty allevation
Brain drain and development policy
Return migration in the life cycle of migrants
Migration and development in EU policy
The external dimensions of EU migration policy
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
The IS-Academy Project
Overall research question:
What is the relationship between migration and development and how
can the positive effects of migration be enhanced?
Objectives of the research:
-
To strengthen the scientific foundation for M&D policy making &
the policy relevance of research in the area of M&D
Research themes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Remittances, development and poverty allevation
Brain drain and development policy
Return migration in the life cycle of migrants
Migration and development in EU policy
The external dimensions of EU migration policy
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
II. The Country Context:
Burundi
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Burundi
- Waves of civil conflict (1965,
1972, 1988, 1991, 1993)
- ‘fragile state’ and ‘low-income’
country (WB, 2011)
- Large refugee flows
- Substantial diaspora
- Government interest in diaspora
involvement in reconstruction
processes
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Net migration rates 1950 - 2010
10
8,1
5,5
5
4,3
0
-0,1
-2,8
-5
-5,4
-5
-5,5
-5,9
-8,4
-10
-12,7
-14,5
-15
-20
19501955
19551960
19601965
19651970
19701975
19751980
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19801985
19851990
19901995
19952000
20002005
20052010
At a Glance: The Burundian diaspora
Stock of emigrants:
356,000
% of population:
4.1
Top destination countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Belgium,
Canada, NL, UK, France, Australia, US
Stock of immigrants:
60,800
% of population:
0.7
Top destination countries: Rwanda, DRC, Tanzania
Source: World Bank, 2011
Burundian diaspora:
- mostly relatively highly educated 1972 or 1993 caseload refugees
- increasing flow of Burundian students to Europe and US
However:
- difficult to estimate the exact size of the diaspora and the
characteristics of the diaspora members
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At a Glance: Remittances in Burundi I
Remittances (million US Dollars): 2003 - 2010
Compared to other countries in the region
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At a Glance: Remittances in Burundi II
International transfers (million US Dollars): 2005 - 2010
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III. Remittance flows and impact after
conflict:
What do previous studies
tell us?
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Remittances after conflict
Remittances systems and flows
• Remittance systems tend to adapt to changing circumstances (Lindley, 2009)
• Remittance flows tend to increase in times of crisis
Household level effects:
• High level of dependence on remittances during and after conflict (Fagen & Bump,
2006; Lindely 2008)
• Function as a substitute for failing government support (Maimbo, 2007)
Country/regional level effects:
• Contribution to economic development/reconstruction
• Risk of stimulating inequality levels (Van Hear, 2004)
Gaps in the literature:
There is still little empirical evidence on remittances flows after conflict
And the effect of remittances on households in conflict-affected societies
- Lack of (micro-level) data
- Focus in remittance literature on labour migration
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IV. The fieldwork in Burundi
(Jan. – April 2011)
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Fieldwork in Burundi
• Methods:
-
National household survey (n = 1500)
Urban household survey (n = 810)
Community survey (n = 154)
Anthropometric measurements (height and weight)
Qualitative interviews
• Local research partner:
- Universite s’Agesse d’Afrique
- Practical support
- Development Through Expert Consultancy (DevEC)
- Logistics, interviewers, data management, etc.
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Anthropometric measurements:
Measuring and weighting one randomly selected child under the age
of five in the household and his/her mother to check for malnutrition
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Sampling of households: National
household survey
- PSU = sous-colline (smallest administrative unit in Burundi)
- three-staged design
1. Distribution of collines (2nd smallest adm. unit) over provinces
based on the demographic weight of the provinces
2. Within-province selection of collines proportionally to population
size
3. In each colline, one sous-colline was randomly chosen
- households in the sous-collines were randomly selected from
household lists provided by community leaders
Total: 100 sous-collines selected, 15 interviews per sous-colline
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Surveys conducted (national survey)
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V. Preliminary Results
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The remittances market in Burundi
Main players:
•
•
•
•
Banks & MTOs
Microfinance organizations and diaspora initiatives
Telecom providers
Informal channels
Recent trends:
• Fast growing formal market
• Growing internal remittance market
• Growing diaspora investments in e.g. construction sector, business,
etc.
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International remittances
International remittance receivers
• National household survey:
– 2.6% of households (n = 39) received international remittances
– Most of these households live in urban areas
• Urban household survey:
– 17.3% of households (n = 140) in Bujumbura received
international remittances
– Most of these households live in the richer neighborhoods, are
relatively highly educated and have more wealth
• Only 2 percent of households send international remittances
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Households & remittances
• Remittances are mostly send by family members (> 80%)
• 65% of the households received remittances regularly
• The average yearly amount of remittances received is 1700 US Dollar
(+/- 122 US Dollar per month)
• Remittances are mostly spent on
– daily needs (food, drinks, etc.)
– education
– healthcare
– to finance certain ceremonies (especially marriage)
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Remittance flows & channels
Remittance origins
• Most remittances were sent from Europe, US, and Canada
• Regional remittances were mostly absent
Remittance channels
• Most households received remittances through MTOs (>80%)
• Banks are also popular (>15%)
• Hand-carriers are only mentioned as a second option
• Costs are indicated as the most important problem
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Internal remittances
Internal remittances
• More than 30% of households living in Bujumbura sent remittances to
households in the rural areas
• More than 97% of these transfers are sent to family members
• Informal transfers dominate (>80%) for these transfers
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VI. Interesting findings:
An overview
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Overall findings
• Development potential of remittances is small but growing in
Burundi
– Role for government to introduce remittance enhancing policies
• Remittances market is changing rapidly
• Rural-urban differences are substantial
– Role for government to provide infrastructure
• Remittances are substantial for receiving households but only
reach a few
– Implications for vertical inequality
• Most remittances are sent along family (ethnic) lines
– Implications for horizontal inequality
>> further research will disentangle the relationships between
remittances and development in Burundi
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Thank you
sonja.fransen@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance