Maintaining a high-quality workforce represents a key strategic goal for both employment and economic growth.

The purpose of this publication is to propose ways of thinking about new public policies that could better harness the skills of diasporas to foster development in the countries of origin.

The purpose of this joint OECD/AFD initiative is to propose ways of thinking about new public policies that could better harness the skills of diasporas to foster development in the countries of origin.

Germany is one of the OECD countries with the lowest barriers to immigration for high-skilled workers. However, long-term labour migration is low in comparison with other countries.

What is the extent and impact of the international mobility of skills? What can ensure that highly educated youth are used to their full potential and contribute to development by staying in their country or migrating? How to improve the matching between supply and demand for skills between potential (return) migrants and employers in destination and origin countries and in particular in sectors such as health and education?

An overview of OECD work on Employment, Social Protection and International Migration.

Migration has started to pick up again, driven largely by people moving within the European Union, after three years of continuous decline during the crisis. But the employment prospects for immigrants have worsened, with around one in two unemployed immigrants in Europe still looking for work after more than 12 months, according to a new OECD report.

A joint contribution by UN-DESA and the OECD to the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development, 3-4 October 2013

Conference co-organized by the United States Department of Homeland Security and the OECD, Washington, 18 November 2013

The OECD Development Centre is carrying out a project, co-funded by the EU Thematic Programme on Migration and Asylum, on the Interrelations between public policies, migration and development of partner countries.

The conference is jointly organised by the OECD, the French research center in international economics (CEPII) and its Club, the research team Equippe of the University of Lille, the Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti, the University of Luxemburg and IRES (Université Catholique de Louvain).

This report is a summary of the major policy issues raised at discussions among experts and practitioners from various international organizations and several Asian countries at the “Third Roundtable on Labor Migration: Assessing Labor Market Requirements for Foreign Workers and Policies for Regional Skills Mobility.”

The International Migration Division at the OECD together with the European Commission (DG Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion) organise a conference on migration and mobility and how to match economic migration with labour market needs.

The migration of women is a growing phenomenon in most countries. About half of all international migrants are women, according to OECD data. Over the years, the body of knowledge on the participation of highly skilled women to migration flows has increased but despite this growing knowledge, there is low visibility of research findings for policy makers and multilateral organizations.

On the occasion of the OECD High Level Policy Forum on Migration taking place on December 1 and 2 2014, Secretary General Angel Gurria congratulates President Obama on taking action to address the unsustainable situation of undocumented immigrants.

Migration is one of the morally, politically, and economically defining issues of the 21st century. Some 25,000 souls have died trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2000, including over more than 1,500 so far in 2015, and many thousands more have perished in the Gulf of Aden and in the South Pacific.

The children of immigrants continue to face major difficulties integrating in OECD countries, especially in the European Union, where their poor educational outcomes leave many struggling to find work, according to a new OECD/EU report.

Immigration in OECD Countries - 5th Annual International Conference - Call for Papers

This edition of the Migration Policy Debates looks at the capacity of the French educational system to integrate the most disadvantaged pupils and namely the foreign-born children or the offspring of foreign-born parents.

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría welcomes the initiative of President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel to put forward a structural and ambitious response to the current refugee crisis.

OECD countries are facing an unprecedented refugee crisis and the situation requires a comprehensive and co-ordinated international response to address the immediate needs of asylum seekers and the longer-term challenge of helping them integrate. This is the main message of two new OECD documents, the 2015 International Migration Outlook and a Policy Brief on the Refugee Crisis.

The current humanitarian crisis is unprecedented with an appalling and unacceptable human cost. This issue of Migration Policy Debates looks at the most recent developments in the humanitarian migration crisis and what makes this crisis different from previous ones.

It is time to shape a global consensus on the positive impact that migration has on our economies and societies, and on people’s lives everywhere.

This document reveals some of the difficulties immigrant students encounter – and some of the contributions they offer – while settling into their new communities and new schools. It also presents some of the policies governments can implement to help immigrant students integrate into their host societies.

This edition of Migration Policy Debates scrutinises the factors that facilitate human trafficking, as well as the smuggling routes to OECD countries. It synthesises available evidence and reviews existing policy tools for tackling such crime.

OECD recommendations for the integration of Humanitarian migrants

Sweden should address housing shortages, begin integration activities early, and improve the support for those with low skills to speed up the effective integration of refugees, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD and CEB have led global work on migration for decades: the OECD has contributed analysis, data, knowledge, and tools to inform dialogue and shape policy; and CEB has worked on the frontlines, financing social projects for migrants, refugees, displaced persons, and other vulnerable groups. Given the complementarities between our work, the potential synergies from co-operation are clear.

When nearly a million Vietnamese “boat people” fled their country in the late 1970s and early 1980s and sought refuge elsewhere, they were typically seen as a burden and often turned away. Eventually, many were allowed to settle in the US. Most arrived speaking little or no English and with few assets or relevant job skills. Yet Vietnamese refugees are now more likely to be employed and have higher incomes than people born in the US.

The European Union should reform its legal labour migration policies to get its fair share of the global talent pool, according to a new report published by the OECD.

The Netherlands should improve its policies to attract and retain highly skilled migrants in order to address labour shortages and strengthen its position as a knowledge-based economy, according to a new OECD report.

This article by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría addresses the refugee crisis, encouraging governments to seize the opportunity that refugees bring for our economies and societies.

OECD countries need to address the growing anti-immigration backlash and reinforce migration and integration policies while fostering international cooperation in this area, according to a new OECD report.

This document provides an overview of the key challenges for Canada’s labour migration system, along with recommendations for future policy making.

Perspectives on Global Development 2017: International Migration in a Shifting World shows that while the share of global migrants originating from developing countries has remained fairly stable at around 80% over the last 20 years, the share of developing country migrants heading to high-income countries has jumped from 36% to 51% of the world total.

Emigration is a significant and growing phenomenon for Cambodia. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of Cambodians abroad increased by about 160%, from around half a million to 1.2 million people. The country would benefit from strengthening its whole-of-government approach to making migration an integral part of its overall development strategies.

When it comes to labour and migration, global governance of almost any kind is missing. When it comes to labour, the International Labour Organization, which is the oldest among the institutions mentioned here, has little power and deals mostly with national labour rules.

The Dominican Republic stands to benefit from integrating migration further into sectoral and national development strategies, says new joint OECD Development Centre – UNIBE report

OECD calls on governments to foster the integration of family migrants – a large and often forgotten group of immigrants

In a new report, the OECD says that France should modernise and strengthen the co-ordination of labour immigration in order to attract foreign talent and align itself more closely with the needs of the labour market.

In recent decades, Thailand has been an attractive destination for migrant workers due to its relatively high wages and its fast economic growth. A joint report by the OECD Development Centre and the International Labour Organisation, How Immigrants contribute to Thailand’s economy, demonstrates the contribution of migrant workers and makes recommendations regarding the enhancement of this contribution.

Since its independence from the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan has rather been known as an emigration country, however around 4% of the population was born outside the current national territory and the country keeps attracting new immigrants.

7th Annual OECD-CEPII International Conference on Immigration in OECD Countries on 11-12 December 2017

This edition of Migration Policy Debates assesses the intergenerational transmission of the disadvantages encountered by migrants, in absolute and relative terms, and the conditions under which the native-born children of immigrants may be resilient in the face of the challenges of their parents’ generation. It summarises a recent OECD report (OECD, 2017) on this issue, funded by the European Commission.

How immigrants contribute to developing countries’ economies shows that negative perceptions are often unjustified. It points out that immigrants are no burden on the economies of host countries, and that in developing countries, their impact on labour markets, economic growth and public finance is generally positive although relatively limited.

Gaps in data covering refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and internally displaced populations are endangering the lives and well-being of millions of children on the move, warned five UN and partner agencies today.

Lithuania’s economy has recovered strongly from the global financial crisis, with GDP, wages and employment levels back up to their pre-crisis levels. The country should now focus on tackling the demographic challenge of a fast-declining population and making the job market more inclusive, according to a new OECD report.

Socio-economic disadvantage and language barriers are the biggest obstacles to success at school and in society for students with an immigrant background. More effective and better targeted education and social policies are needed to help migrant children integrate and fulfil their potential, according to a new OECD report.

This report documents the increase in labor migration in Asia and looks at how finance and technology can aid its positive impact on home countries. As diasporas increase, governments have reached out to citizens abroad to provide them with financial instruments. Remittance channels have long been consolidated, but financial technology is changing the ways in which migrants remit—reducing fees and opening opportunities for new actors.

The countries and regions covered in this publication are Austria, the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, North America and Sweden.