Migration can both hurt and help developing countries, said a report released this week by the United Nations. "It is for governments to decide whether more or less migration is desirable," said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the introduction to the report, International Migration and development. "Our focus in the international community should be on the quality and safety of the migration experience and on what can be done to maximise its development benefits."

Annan proposed a standing forum of all 191 UN member states where governments could share ideas and best practices related to migration and its links to global development. People living outside their home countries numbered 191 million in 2005-115 million in developed countries and 75 million in the developing world. Developing countries earn roughly $167 billion a year in money repatriated by migrant workers. Remittances contributed 11.7 percent of Nepal's GDP in 2004, says the report.