Migration into OECD countries — which comprises many of the world’s wealthiest countries — dropped by at least a third in 2020 to about 3.7 million.
It is the lowest figure since 2003 and has been attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, said the OECD, the economic organisation of 38 member states.
Temporary labour migration fell in all countries, particularly in Japan (66 per cent), South Korea (57 per cent), Canada (43 per cent), Australia and the US (both 37 per cent).
New asylum applications in OECD countries in 2020 plummeted by 31 per cent, the biggest fall since the end of the Balkan crisis in the early 1990s.
In the US there were 576 000 new lawful permanent immigrants registered, 44 per cent less than in 2019, and the UK there were slightly fewer than 250,000, a fall of 30 per cent.
Typically in OECD countries, foreign-born workers were disproportionally hit by job losses “given their generally more precarious labour contracts but also their strong concentration in deeply affected sectors, such as hospitality”, the International Migration Outlook said.
“Young people with migrant parents are also facing particular difficulties in dealing with the disruptions and challenges brought about by the pandemic. About one in two children of immigrants do not speak the host-country language at home.
“As their parents tend to be less well able to support learning in the host-country language — and as their homes tend to be less well adapted to provide an appropriate learning environment — children of immigrants have often been particularly hard hit by the interruption of in-person education,” it said.
The report highlighted how migrants living in areas of high immigrant concentration typically faced greater disadvantages, including poor housing.
“This year’s Outlook shows that residential concentration, a feature of all OECD countries, can have an impact on immigrant’s integration and social cohesion,” OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann said.
“This may not always be negative. In the US for example, it’s associated with higher employment probability for migrants. In Europe on the other hand, areas with high concentration of migrants tend to be more disadvantaged areas with lower overall education outcomes,” Australia's former finance minister said.
“In a number of EU countries this can amount to the equivalent of a loss of more than a year of schooling, which is, of course, an area of concern.”
He said that there were trade-offs when it came to residential concentrations “among immigrants with short-terms gains for recently arrived immigrants, but risks for integration in the long run, especially for children”.
The report states that disadvantages often reinforce one another.
“There is, for example, a further penalty for living in areas of high immigrant concentration, which results in fewer opportunities for language learning and lower education outcomes for children of migrants.
“Policy action should thus not only enhance integration offers in these neighbourhoods but also promote social and geographical mobility, which are closely interlinked. To enhance the opportunities of those who remain, improving housing and broader local infrastructure need to be an integral part of recovery programmes,” it says.
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELee%20Cronin%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlyssa%20Sutherland%2C%20Morgan%20Davies%2C%20Lily%20Sullivan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
