Rich nations changing attitude towards immigrants

UNITED NATIONS: Rich countries have changed their attitude toward would-be immigrants since 1990 and are now adopting or changing laws to allow in skilled and low-skilled workers to meet specific workplace demands, according to a new U.N. report.

At the same time, countries are stepping up efforts to prevent and combat illegal immigration, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Tuesday report stated.

According to the latest U.N. statistics, the number of international migrants reached 191 million in 2005, nearly half of them women. Sixty percent live in developed countries - and 20 percent are in the United States where Congress is currently engaged in a divisive debate over what to do with the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants.

The report by the U.N. Population Division was prepared for this week's meeting of the U.N. Commission on Population and Development which is focusing on developing a coherent global migration policy - a goal which participants agree is a long way off.

According to Tuesday's report, given the low fertility levels in developed countries, migration has become the major source of population growth especially in Japan and much of Europe. It accounted for half the population growth in 1990-95, two-thirds in 1995-2000 and three-quarters in 2000-2005. "If current trends continue, between 2010 and 2030 net migration will likely account for virtually all their growth," the report said.

Between 1996 and 2005, it said, the proportion of governments seeking to reduce migration dropped from 40 to 22 percent.

"Since 1990, the governments of many receiving countries have been taking measures to facilitate the inflow of the types of migrants they need, especially skilled migrants and temporary low-skilled workers," the report said.

"The trend away from restricting immigration is more pronounced among developed countries, 60 percent of which had wished to lower immigration in 1996, but only 12 percent of which wished to do so in 2005," it said.

Today, the report said, just six developed countries want to reduce immigration: Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania, the report said. But Denmark, France and the Netherlands hope to admit more skilled workers while Italy promotes temporary migrant workers.

In addition, countries whose workers are migrating have more actively encouraged their return and strengthened ties with their expatriates to encourage their participation in promoting development at home.

The report said 75 percent of international migrants are concentrated in just 28 countries - with the United States the top destination followed by Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France.

According to the World Bank, remittances from migrants rose to US$226 billion (euro184.99 billion) in 2004 - $145 billion (euro118.69 billion) of which went to developing countries. The main receiving countries were India ($21.7 billion; euro17.76 billion), China ($21.3 billion; euro17.43 billion), Mexico ($18.1 billion; euro14.82 billion), and the Philippines ($11.6 billion; euro9.49 billion).

"I think that we waste a lot of human potential because we have a negative image of migrants - they all are weak, they need the Europeans and the developed countries," said Rita Sussmuth, a German professor who was on an independent global commission appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to review migration issues. "But on the other side, we need them."

The Global Commission on International Migration, which issued its report last October, decided "we need a new look at the contribution of migrants within both receiving and sending countries, and we have to maximize the benefits and to minimize the negative consequences of migration."

"It's not only an economic question," Sussmuth stressed, "it's a cultural question because one of the challenges we are confronted with is the question, 'Are we able to live together peacefully and in a productive manner to prevent a clash of civilizations?"' New York,Wednesday AP