Remittances to developing countries were a resilient source of external financing during the recent global financial crisis, with recorded flows expected to reach $325 billion by the end of this year, up from $307 billion in 2009, according to the World Bank’s latest Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011. Worldwide, remittance flows are expected to reach $440 billion by the end of this year.

ROME, Oct (IPS) For the entire month of August the front pages of the world's major daily papers gave considerable coverage of developments in the Indus Valley: monsoon rains in the north of Pakistan in late July, the flooding of rivers and tributaries, submerged land, villages, and towns, then more flooding in the centre and south of the country, the contamination of wells and aqueducts and other sources of water, inadequate international funding, flight, desperation, and anger.

Leaders and members of trade unions at the international, European and national level joined the thousands of people who demand that the member states of the European Union finally ratify the Convention. Signatories include: Sharan Burrow (Secretary-General ITUC), John Monks (General Secretary ETUC), Peter Waldorff (General Secretary PSI),Carola Fischbach-Pyttel (General Secretary EPSU), Luc Cortebeeck (President, ACV-CSC), and Education International

As states address the issue of irregular migration through policies with a predominant focus on preventing entry and facilitating return, undocumented migrants and the civil society groups that support them face increasing challenges to guarantee that a basic level of human dignity is upheld. The international human rights framework outlines a broad range of rights that are applicable to all individuals regardless of their status. This paper provides insight into the divergence from these principles in core aspects of undocumented migrants’ daily lives.