Conclusions and trends in the development of migration policies in the Arab region

Over the 30 years between the 1960s and 1990s, there was a clear division in the Arab region between labour sending and labour receiving countries. Oil played a major role in that division. Oil-producing countries and, in particular, the GCC States, have enormous oil wealth but insufficient manpower; whereas non-oil countries suffer from a deficit of capital and have an increasing surplus of labour. Given the demand of oil-producing countries for labour, the Arab region has become the third highest labour-receiving region in the world after North America and Europe.

Related Subject(s): Population and Demography