Transnational activities of migrant organizations in the Netherlands and political participation: the case of the Surinamese organizations

The potential of migrants to promote poverty reduction and development in their regions of origin – which is generally referred to as the ‘migration and development nexus’ – is a hot topic on the development agenda. Several seminars on this issue have recently been held, such as the 2006 UN Migrants in Development Cooperation conference, the three Global Forums on Migration and Development, and the Brussels-based M4D initiative, which explicitly targets civil society. In addition, several host countries have developed specific co-development programmes aimed at supporting migrants’ transnational activities and linking these to development (IFRI, 2008; Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2010). Migrants are enthusiastically welcomed in international development cooperation for two reasons. First, the role of remittances, and particularly the amount of money sent back to areas of origin, is recognized. In many countries, the flow of remittances surpasses the ODA flows, and in some countries is even larger than FDI flows. Second, migrants1 who are involved in transnational activities are considered ‘bridge builders’ between communities and development organizations in both their countries of origin and their countries of settlement. Since they know the language and culture of both countries, they are considered capable of building the capacity of communities in their countries of origin and linking them to development organizations in the North. They are thus expected to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and development in their regions of origin (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, 2009).