Dear colleague:
I want to introduce to you the International Organization for Remittances & Migration. IOREM was born after the visits to our IMTC WORLD event in 2018 by Professor Roy Germano and in 2019 by Professor Sabith Khan. Roy had written a book on Remittances entitled “Outsourcing Welfare: How the Money Immigrants Send Home Contributes to Stability in Developing Countries” and shared his views and research with participants at the event as well as signing copies of the book. Here is a link to his interview at IMTC in 2018: Interview.

I met Sabith in a conference in Mexico City and then he came to my course on the Money Transfer Industry in 2019 and was able to network at the event with industry participants. He was finalizing his book “Remittances and International Development: The Invisible Forces Shaping Community” written with Daisha Merritt. Here is a link to the interview he gave at the event last year: Interview.

Reflecting on the experience of IMTC, Sabith, Roy and myself, we pondered on the absence of a worldwide network of scholars, researchers and students on remittances and migration. One thing let to another and IOREM was born. At the core of the organization is communication between all interested parties in the fields of migrant and worker remittances and the links to diasporas, international migration, seasonal migration, refugees, organized labor agreements, social & economic integration, policies and regulation as well as issues that impact senders and recipients.

Now Sabith has convened a Board of Directors and the non-profit is been organized and we are reaching out to colleagues that want to help us make this dream a reality. We have plans, we are prioritizing, we are forming working groups to discuss initiatives that we care about and we are looking for leaders and committed colleagues in the different countries and regions in the world. Check today’s press release here.

IOREM will help to bridge the gap between academia and industry, between academia and regulators, between research and the companies that are willing to give a hand and help when surveys, data, knowledge, are needed. As any non-profit, IOREM will need funding for projects too. It is a long road ahead and I am proud to help this network get launched.

Read the short paragraph below by Professor Sabith Khan, connect to him on Linkedin, contact him through his email at khanpgg@vt.edu if you are interested in IOREM and if you want to receive the newsletters from IOREM, please go to IOREM’s website and subscribe. We have pledged a free pass to IOREM Members to our upcoming IMTC WORLD 2020 event.
Hugo Cuevas-Mohr
PNET Director

I want to welcome you to the International Organization for Remittances & Migration (IOREM). We started IOREM since there is no exclusive network for scholars and practitioners who are focused on remittances & migration.

The story of remittances has a rich past, a strong present and a stable future. We aim to help articulate this story through data, research and collaborations across universities, governments, & money transfer companies.

As a newly formed organization, our aim is not only to provide a network for scholars – both upcoming and established ones – but also to create a community of likeminded people.
With covid-19 ravaging communities worldwide and remittances flows being disrupted, there is much more than what meets the eye, as far as impacts of this deadly epidemic are concerned. Analysts warn that the impacts of this epidemic may last decades, if not years.
We are living through a historic moment in time and believe that it is critical for us to not only study the changes ongoing, but also to create new discourses in terms of how remittances are a lifeline for communities. Remittances are crucial for not just survival, but also development. While this economic aspect of remittances is crucial and much studied, we are also interested in examining the human dimensions of this critical phenomenon. Beyond the statistics, the numbers and the regressions, there is a human angle to every dollar that flows around the world.
Often, this human element is missing in our narratives. We hope to act as a bridge to bring various perspectives from around the world – from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America – to help us understand how individuals, companies, governments and nation-states are dealing with the challenges before us.
Welcome again, visit our website and please invite your friends to visit and join our network. Anyone can join. We value diversity in all forms and welcome you to bring your ideas to the table, to help shape this narrative. At a time when migrants around the world are facing unprecedented challenges, we believe our work can, in a small way, help dispel myths, bring more clarity and offer hope.
We hope to speak with you, soon! Contact me if you are interested in IOREM.
Yours truly,
Sabith Khan
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Hugo is a writer, a conference speaker, a conference/event producer, an inquisitive panel moderator and an opinionated money transfer consultant and mentor with vast experience. who speaks English, Spanish, French and who loves to run, swim... and walk over long distances.

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