The Palestinian migration: Causes of decline of Palestinians’ remittances

This paper will look at the causes and the financial impact of Palestinian migration. It contains three main sections. The first section will discuss the evolution of Palestinian migration: from forced migration due to the war of Israeli- Arab of 1948 to force/voluntary migration following to declaration of the Palestinian Authority due to Oslo peace declaration between Israel and Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1993. The second section, meanwhile, will focus on the causes of decreased of remittances sent by Palestinians abroad to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the exodus of 1948. It was noticed that the remittances from Palestinian workers abroad decreased sharply in the 1990 because of political and economic changes in the Arab region in addition to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The paper finds that, although, the number of immigrants increased, due to the degradation of political and socio-economic situation since the second Intifada in 2000, the volume of remittances still below it is rates in the 1970s and 1980s. Finally, the paper will discuss the correlation between decrease of remittances and identity factors in the Palestinian case.