(Indeed, to raise more awareness about this demographic and the role they play in the $600 billion remittance market, the UN has declared Tuesday "World Family Remittance Day).
Of more direct benefit to Sri Lankans are the remittances the refugees send to their families.
"Remittances: the New Development Mantra?" asked an article by Devesh Kapur of the University of Pennsylvania.
So remittances, the lifeblood of many families and a big source of income for the country, have fallen sharply.
Further, along with other benefits of out-migration, including remittances, the resulting enriched commercial and social networks should be considered.
Apart from the sheer spending power of their remittances, the money pays for education and entrepreneurial activity, from jeepneys in Manila to small businesses in the countryside.
The Suez Canal, tourism, overseas remittances, the river Nile, minerals, industry, agriculture, regional educational institutions and foreign private investment provide plenty of state income.
For India or China, which together receive nearly a third of the remittances, the cash flows have a negligible impact on their burgeoning economies.
The most visible impact the diaspora has on development comes in the form of remittances – the US $400bn£254bnbn) migrant workers sent home to their families in 2012.
That is more than three times the global total in foreign aid, making "remittances" the main source of outside money flowing to the developing world.
