In the webinar “Economic Sanctions: A Root Cause of Migration,” leading experts presented evidence that US economic sanctions have devastating economic and humanitarian consequences for civilian populations, which in turn can fuel mass migration.

Additionally, below are related materials:

• Economic Sanctions: A Root Cause of Migration — A new issue brief from CEPR. A summary of the brief is also available here.
• Sanctions and Venezuelan Migration — Dr. Francisco Rodríguez’s report estimating that 4.1 million migrants left Venezuela as a direct result of US sanctions, and that an additional 1 million will leave if “maximum pressure” policies are maintained. His presentation slides are here.
• International sanctions and emigration — Dr. Jerg Gutmann et al’s first-of-its-kind cross-national econometric study which finds that US-EU sanctions increase emigration by 22-24 percent. His presentation slides are here.

Speakers:

Dr. Jerg Gutmann is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hamburg’s Institute of Law and Economics, and the co-author of “International Sanctions and Emigration,” the first cross-national econometric study on sanctions and migration.

Dr. Francisco Rodríguez is a CEPR Senior Research Fellow, the Rice Family Professor of the Practice of International and Public Affairs at the University of Denver, and the author of “Sanctions and Venezuelan Migration” and “The Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions.”

Dr. Denisse Delgado Vázquez is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and American University’s Department of Sociology. She is  a specialist on Cuba, migration, and development.

Dr. Mark Weisbrot is an economist, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research who has researched and written about the impact of economic sanctions, including as co-author of “Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment” and a forthcoming study on sanctions and mortality.

Moderator: Michael Galant is a Senior Research and Outreach Associate at CEPR, the author of the CEPR Sanctions FAQ and co-author of the monthly Sanctions Watch newsletter.