Origin countries’ governments are increasingly adopting policies to attract the resources of their migrants and their communities to stimulate development. These policies, sometimes referred to as ‘diaspora engagement policies’, range from securing the rights and protection of migrants while they are abroad, to strengthening the migrants’ sense of national identity and their linkages to the origin country and promoting remittances, financial investments and contributions to development. This study examines migrant communities and organisations from three countries – Ghana, India and Serbia – and explores how the governments of these countries have perceived ‘their’ respective migrants and, more specifically, the way in which these governments have attempted to engage migrants and their organisations in the interest of national development.