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In the last several years, migrant remittances have received an increasing amount of attention from policymakers. While in the beginning the focus was on the volume and methods of remitting, gradually attention has been shifting towards using remittances as a development tool for the communities and countries of origin. However, while certain regions are very well researched and are characterized by an institutional structure that harnesses remittance-oriented policies (e.g. Mexico, the Philippines, Senegal and Morocco), others are not. The Great Lakes region (in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC, Burundi and Rwanda) belong to the latter group. Furthermore a number of factors, such as an underdeveloped financial and governmental infrastructure, the unstable political environment, the lack of available research and reliable data, hinder the implementation of policies aimed at remittances. According to the Belgian Department of Federal Immigration, about 22,000 Congolese, 2,000 Burundians and 6,000 Rwandans are living in Belgium. Taking into account Belgian inhabitants of Congolese, Burundian and Rwandan origin and undocumented migrants, the total size of the diaspora would amount to a number that is significantly higher than 30,000. Figures from the national banks of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda show that the three countries, respectively, received US$ 97 million, US$ 4 million and US$ 16 million in 2004. These figures only include formal remittances. When informal money transfers are taken into account, these amounts would undoubtedly be much higher. TABLE REMITTANCE TYPES CLASSIFIED BY SENDER AND RECEIVER Recipient Sender Migrant Non-migrant(s) Collective Government Migrant Personal deposits or investments Intra-family transfer or transfers to friends Charitable donations Taxes or levies Collective Development projects Government Social security transfers Private business Company pensions Source: Carling 2005: 12. Among the formal remittance methods, the most important include cash-based electronic transfers, electronic account-to-account transfers, and card-based and paperbased transfers. Besides personal carriers of money, informal remittances systems often make use of informal transfer agencies. Cash-based electronic transfers Money transfer operators (MTOs) take a central place in this system. The main The main activity of MTOs is remitting money from one place to another. To remit money the sender has to deposit cash at an agency of an MTO, and the recipient can collect the money at an agency of the MTO in the destination country. To use this system, a number of conditions have to be met. The sender has to fill in a form with his or her coordinates and the coordinates of the recipient. In addition, the sender has to provide proof of identity and proof of residence. The sender then gives the amount of money she or he wants to remit to the agency, together with a commission fee, which can be a flat fee or dependent upon the amount of remitted money. The sender also fills out a form with the se...

In this paper, we will investigate the popularity of marriage migration between Turkish communities in Western Europe and emigration regions in Turkey. Our focus here is specifically on the Belgian case, namely the 'Emirdag connection'. In Belgium, the majority of immigrants with a Turkish background come from the region of Emirdag, in the province of Afyon. On the basis of quantitative research methodologies, we first consider the magnitude of the phenomenon and the socio-economic situation of those involved. Using the qualitative research techniques of participant observation and in-depth interviews, we analyze the mechanisms in an attempt to explain marriage migration between these regions. Why do so many young people, born and raised in Western Europe, opt for an unknown partner from a region that is largely unknown to them but which proves to be their parents', or even grandparents', region of origin? Why does migration remain such a valuable life project for many young people in these regions of origin, despite the real danger of many negative side effects? The popularity of marriage migration is often explained by its role in making migration possible. However, migration theories alone cannot explain this phenomenon. Here we will argue that the existence of a 'culture of migration' that binds the region of origin with the region of destination and in which 'the family' as an institution is capable of building a bridge between traditional praxis, as well as the challenges linked to international migration, are crucial for understanding the enduring popularity of marriage migration.

International migration and its consequences-the integration of newcomers to a society-has, in just a few years' time, developed from a purely demographic phenomenon into an issue that has altered the 'being' of the Western Nation-state in all its facets. The topic largely dominates the political debate in Flanders, Belgium and at the level of the European Union.

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