Migrant crisis: Desperate young Guatemalans try to reach the US even after horrific deaths of migrating relatives
GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO, of Associated Press, reports from Comitancillo in Guatemala’s highlands…
Flown back and forgotten: Filipino migrants face tough homecoming
Repatriated migrant workers want more government support as they struggle to rebuild their lives back in the Philippines. MARIEJO RAMOS, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Remittances from Nicaraguan migrants mark new record, passing $US4 billion
San JoseReuters Nicaraguan migrants sent relatives back home record remittances this year through November, data from the country’s central bank showed on Wednesday, fueled by massive waves of migration leaving the Central American nation in recent years. In a statement, the bank noted a record haul of about $US4.24 billion in remittances for the 11-month […]
Salaries to remittances: Afghans embrace crypto amid financial chaos
Thomson Reuters Fiundation When Roya Mahboob began paying her staff and freelancers in Afghanistan in bitcoin nearly 10 years ago, little did she know that for some of these women the digital currency would be their ticket out of the country after the fall of Kabul in August. Mahboob, a founder of the non-profit Digital […]
Migrant families wary as El Salvador becomes first to adopt bitcoin
Colon, El SalvadorReuters Each month, Salvadoran tailor Julio Ramirez receives a small wire transfer from his two daughters in the United States, who have to pay a few dollars in commission fees for the transaction. As of this week, El Salvador’s government says its historic adoption of bitcoin as legal tender will save Salvadorans living […]
Banking access: Cryptocurrency promise for UAE’s unbanked migrants – but not yet
SALIM ESSAID, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the UAE is moving toward opening licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in a step that could boost financial inclusion for the millions of expatriates who make up most of the region’s workforce…
Coronavirus impacts: Bangladeshi overseas workers seek local jobs as loans mount
MOHAMMAD RAKIBUL HASAN and NAIMUL KARIM, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on the hardships many, including returned migrant workers, are facing in Bangladesh…
“How will they survive?”: Myanmar coup cuts lifeline for migrants’ families
BEH LIH YI and NANCHANOK WONGSAMUTH, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on the impact of Myanmar’s military coup on the pipeline of money migrant workers send home to help their families…
Dreams dashed: Malawi migrants return empty-handed from South Africa
Blantyre, MalawiThomson Reuters Foundation Siphat Simali imagined that when she finally got back to Malawi she would return with pride and enough earnings from South Africa to support her two children and start a small business. Instead, the 28-year-old former domestic worker was bussed home empty-handed and shamefaced, one of a thousand to return last […]
“My world stopped spinning”: Life on hold for millions of Philippine migrant workers
MANUEL MOGATO, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected Philippines army of migrant workers…