Development and migrations have so much in common, despite the fact that the common perception of the two words is quite different. In public opinion – whatever that means - development is perceived as a good thing; migration as a problem. However, both processes are driven by human decisions aimed at "bettering the human condition", to use the expression that Adam Smith himself used to identify the driver and the goal of economic decisions. The effort to better one's condition takes place, for each one of us, within external conditions that individuals can only partially control, conditions that  may facilitate or hinder one's bettering, independently of one's merits. In some cases, the social, economic, political, climatic conditions in one place may be so adverse to actually impede a decent life. Human history , across millennia, tells a story of peoples moving and developing new places. This is happening once again, and much faster: it is time to look at development and migrations beyond stereotypes.