Brussels, 23/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The most recent annual report by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) on international immigration trends, has revealed that with the latest comparative data, fewer people emigrated to the major OECD countries in 2003 (Germany, USA, Canada and Australia: the detailed figures for 2004 are not yet available). The number of asylum seekers fell in 2003-04, reversing the rising trends of the last half of the 1990s. Therefore, in 2004 figures fell by an average of 25% in the EU15 (with France constituting an exception, it received the most asylum requests, 61,600 compared to 59,284 in 2003).
The report also points out that several OECD countries are imposing stricter laws for better management of immigration flows; therefore, for example, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Denmark introduced or reinforced legislation that restricted families rejoining immigrants who were already settled. At the same time many countries have introduced measures to facilitate integration of immigrants, with new laws against racism and discrimination in France, Germany and Sweden, as well as Spanish government guaranteed rental contracts (where accommodation is one of the most serious problems facing immigrants); language courses in Denmark and Norway. Despite these measures, insertion of immigrants into the labour market remains difficult. Young foreigners aged 25-29 have a 14% lower participation rate to those from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (where the gap for women is 34%) and 12 percentage points in France. In the countries applying policies to attract highly qualified workers (United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and Australia); one observes the highest proportion of highly educated persons among immigrants (30%-42%). In OECD countries there has been a steep increase in foreign students: 2001-03 the rate increased by more than 36% in the United Kingdom, by 30% in France and by 13% in Australia. In the USA, the rate fell by 26%. For the first time, the OECD publication presents a comparative picture of the number of people born abroad in OECD countries, which in several European countries appears to be similar to that observed in the United States.