Brussels, 19/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - According to a report published on Tuesday by CARIM (the Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration), there are between 5 and 6.4 million immigrants from the Mediterranean countries of North Africa and the Middle East (med-MENA) residing in the European Union, the majority in Germany and France. The majority of these immigrants come from Turkey, Morocco and Algeria. The countries of the Persian Gulf and Libya are the second destination of the immigrants, followed, a long way behind, by the United States. Here are a few results featuring in the report and which confirm that the med-MENA countries are a large source of international emigration. The study also stresses the fact that immigration from these countries is showing a tendency towards speeding up. The report points to major differences in numbers of the immigrant populations between the country of origin and the host countries, because the countries of origin continue to count second-generation immigrants in their national population.
European Commissioner Franco Frattini considers this report "very important, because it provides an overview of national migratory policies in the Mediterranean region in 2005, and allows us to improve our understanding of the links between migration and development" at a moment in time when the European Union is making the management of migratory flows in the Mediterranean region, particularly to prevent further human tragedies, one of its priorities. This report will allow the EU to see how it can step up cooperation with the partner countries on the shores of the Mediterranean, said Franco Frattini, who went on to say that the report is a "complete study of the issue, and the first to give a South-North perspective, rather than the other way round". The report also contains interesting conclusions on immigration rates into the med-MENA countries, which confirmed the conclusions of the Commission, which is that while they remain a major source of emigration, the med-MENA countries are, at the same time, becoming a transit and destination region for migrants from other countries, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa. This will mean that the countries of med-MENA will have to develop policies governing immigration in the future, stressing not only the management of illegal immigration, but, and above all, the capacity of their employment market to absorb the newcomers, and on a normative framework to protect their rights.