Should remittances, money migrants send to family abroad, count as UK foreign aid?
Remittances do not count as UK foreign aid. Under OECD rules, official development assistance must be government-funded and aimed at development in countries on the DAC list, and private transfers between individuals are excluded. UK aid is being cut from 0.5% of national income towards 0.3% by 2027/28 (about £9.2bn) to fund defence. Migrants in the UK sent an estimated £9.3bn home in 2023, a sum comparable to the whole aid budget, although official data on destinations are patchy.
51 Opinions
Yes, but in addition remittances should be taxed on exit. Money earned in but leaving the UK economy is problematic. Many will argue that it's taxed already but fail to account for the multiplier effect. The problem will be with closing/policing other methods of offshoring funds.
We should stop aid now until we build up our own economy and sending money given or earned abroad to dependents doesn't get spent in our own economy so makes matters even worse
No,they should pay towards rent,medical,etc if not so doing.
No, they already pay into system, if they send some money back to their family, then so be it. Freedom of choice.
There should be a limit on the amount of money migrants in UK can send to foreign nationals. It undermines the economic benefit to the country if money earned in U.K. is transferred abroad rather than being spent on goods and services in the U.K.
If it's money gained through the benefit system yes if it's money earned through employment no
No, for two reasons, First, if we want to cut foreign aid, we should be honest about it and not smuggle it in through creative accounting. Second, foreign aid is often designed to serve Britain's enlightened self-interest, and it is right that it is (e.g. aid given to refugee camps near conflict zones is vital to prevent massive migration flows); remittances are a very different flow over which we have no control and which cannot serve that purpose. Edited
No, its a private matter for a person sending the money to other family members. If they've earned the money its fair, however if its money the government give them then that is up to them to decide if it is to be counted as foreign aid.
Stop giving them enough money to be able to send it home. Camps, food vouchers then home
If migrants send the benefits they receive back to their home, we should stop the money leaving and instead return the migrant instead