Guiding the Invisible Hand: Making Migration Intermediaries Work for Development

This paper traces the legitimate role of intermediaries in providing information and extending critical services in various stages of migration, thereby expanding migrants’ range of choices. However, the value of intermediaries is, in many cases, overshadowed by the costs they impose on migrants, from exorbitant fees to outright abuse of basic human rights. Clearly, there is room for intervention to regulate intermediaries and shape their operations in more positive directions.