AEMI

NONJA PETERS
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Map of the European settlements in IOR
ple attracted initially by a job in trade or
shipping but later by the possibility of
acquiring great wealth following multiple
discoveries of gold in the colonies.
Fortunately, finding gold not being so
easy to acquire, most of these mobile
people were quick to turn their hand to
any sort of work so long as it enabled
them to financially sustain themselves
and their families back home. 34 Many
became sojourners staying in the host
land long enough to save the money
they needed to improve the lives of their
families in the village back home. 35
Remittances as they were commonly
known, or transfers of money between
international migrants and their origin
families, are therefore an important outcome
of the migration process from the
earliest period of European diaspora.
Two forms of ‘financial remittances’ –
personal and governmental – both were
representative of the nineteenth century.
The personal ones that relied on people
mobility significantly supported the
lives of family members in Europe and
though not central nonetheless assisted
in the development of the European
economy.
1. Personal Remittances
Remittances increasingly assumed an
important role in the economies of numerous
countries. Although the overall
effects of remittance flows are not readily
quantifiable. However, even if they constitute
private funds, they have nonetheless
had a positive impact in terms
of poverty reduction, household welfare
and human development of the receiving
country. 36 The New York Post Office
estimates that between 1901 and 1906,
approximately 12.3 million individual
money orders were sent to foreign