There is a distinct rise in nationalism - especially economic nationalism - conservativism across Europe. In the UK, we increasingly hear the cry for 'British jobs for British workers'. I am hard pressed to oppose their anger and their righteousness. The financial crisis no doubt plays a role in this - jobs have been cut, and with the imminent threat of increasing cuts in public spending to pay for the very expensive bank bailouts, people are left wondering who is going to bail them out.

Meanwhile, around the world, the financial crisis is also affecting poor people in poor countries. Britain'sDFID estimates that by Dec 2009, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day was about 90 million higher as a result of the financial crisis. The World Bank estimates the number of new poor in developing countries will range from 46 million (on less than $1.25) to 53 million (on less than $2 a day). The African Development Bank estimates that a reduction in growth of GDP per capita of three percentage points would result in 98 million additional poor people in 2010 in Asia as compared with a baseline scenario of no economic slowdown. Regardless of which figure you want to use, they all suggest that many people who were previously not poor will be pushed into poverty, and others who were poor will become poorer.

And in those countries, migrants and immigrants are suffering, leading to slow falls in remittances and impacting the lives of those back at home, who watched them leave with a mixture of sadness and desperate hope.

Is it their fault? No.

It is the fault of a financial system that does not promote sustainable international growth and governments who trusted the banks enough to give them blank checks even when their ability to provide for the public good was under severe question. Could these different groups of poor people find connection instead of nationalism? The 'bad guy' isn't the migrant. And while it is not as simple as blaming bankers, the financial system has a lot to answer for - including getting poor people in poor countries far away from the UK sustainable livelihoods that can make a sustainable difference.

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