Many poor households in the MDEs are kept afloat financially thanks to transfers from relatives and friends working abroad. Worker remittances also make an important contribution to the balance of payments of these countries, especially Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen (see tables 7, 8 and 9).55 Emigration to the GCC, where incomes can be five times higher than in their home countries, has been facilitated by the common language shared across the region. Although the inflow of migrant workers can increase the flexibility of GCC labour markets, it is insufficient to resolve unemployment problems in the labour-exporting MDEs.