Migration

Much happened in migration related matters across the globe this week. Following the conservative victory in the parliamentary elections, the French president moved ahead on realizing his new restrictive immigration policies, while at the same time creating the most inclusive government in the country’s history. Elsewhere, US conservatives are stepping up the pressure to move ahead on the immigration bill, while the UK joins the chorus of European countries introducing measures to attract the most talented migrants to the country to fill existing skills gaps. This week’s news roundup also features two new pieces of analysis from the MPI and ECRE. Happy clicking:

• This week’s edition of the Economist features an article about Malta’s changing attitude towards migration and the start of Operation Nautilus II, designed to control the waters between Africa and European islands.
• We recently reported that France’s new government is moving swiftly to implement changes to existing institutional structures governing immigration affairs and changing legal requirements for family members looking to join migrants in the country. Well, not without a fair amount of opposition, as is the French tradition. Plans for a national ministry of immigration and national identity caused controversy during the Presidential campaign and drew protest from various groups. Now, the IHT reports a new petition has been published in the left-leaning newspaper Liberation. These types of protests will have little impact on M. Sarkozy’s plans, but are a part of the French democratic tradition.
• While he seems to be cracking down in his policies, M. Le President’s most recent cabinet reshuffle (following the parliamentary elections) produced the most inclusive government France has ever seen. In what is largely interpreted as a move to reconcile withe the minority groups he isolated throughout his campaign and his tenure as interior minister, Sarkozy has named three women (WOMEN!) of Northern African origin to his cabinet. Two new junior ministers now join the already appointed justice minister, Rachida Dati, around the president’s cabinet table.
• In the run-up to the presentation of Germany’s national plan for migrant integration on July 12, a number of federal states are publishing and promoting their individual approaches. On June 21st I attended a panel discussion hosted by the Koerber Foundation, which featured one of Berlin’s leading integration policy makers, Guenter Piening. He presented parts of the new program, which is available in full here (in German). The plan includes a number of functional changes that will facilitate access to basic social services, including full and equal access to education and the full integration of migrants into the work force - changes, which are long overdue. Monitoring and measuring the success of integration policies is another new element introduced in this updated plan. I will review Berlin’s approach in the context of Germany’s new  toward integrating migrants in a separate post. To understand the evolution of Berlin’s integration concept, Piening’s 2005  policy action plan (in English) is an interesting read.
• The Senate immigration bill is still one of the hottest topics on the Hill. On Thursday, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff went on the record to oppose an amendment, which could make a new program to stop businesses from hiring illegal workers less burdensome. In a letter to Senators he said that taking such a decision “would be a serious step backwards in our enforcement effort.” This statement came as news broke that Federal agents had arrested 81 suspected illegal immigrants during a raid at a manufacturing plant in the Pocono mountains in Pennsylvania. The company said an agency that provided temporary workers was , the IHT reports. Mr. Chertoff, meanwhile, might have other recent worries: the ACLU is suing the Department of Homeland Security in the name of two migrants who say they were drugged by department officials to ease their deportation. Just days earlier and hoping to influence the Congressional debate on the immigration bill, the White House released a study citing the positive effects of immgrant labor on the nation’s economy. The New York Times has a full report.
• The first Muslim prayer site was opened on Friday in Athens, Greece since the end of the Ottoman Empire, the New York Times reports.
• We recently reported that German industrial organizations were pressuring the German government to ease up their requirements on admitting labor migrants into the economy. Britain seems to be interested in doing the same. Where only a mere three years ago, critics complained that the generous welfare system was attracting too many unwanted migrants, the Guardian is now reporting that immigration minister Liam Byrne is planning to launch an “an international marketing campaign designed to attract businesses and people with the right skills” - the global war for talent is on.
• On the reports and analysis front: the always prolific Migration Policy Insitute issued a new report coinciding with World Refugee Day entitled “Bridging Divides: The Role of Ethnic Community-Based
  Organizations in Refugee Integration” (pdf).   As the German EU Council Presidency comes to a close and the Portuguese government prepares to take over, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles has prepared a memorandum on EU asylum and refugee policy over the next six months.

German industrial associations are reporting a marked shortage of blue collar workers in certain sectors to keep up with rising demand. On June 8, Ludwig Gerhard Braun, President of the country’s Chambers of Industry and Commerce, went on the record to demand the economy open itself to qualified migrants as a part of a comprehensive initiative to address this newly arising gap.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile quotes one of the country’s leading economic research institutes, which estimates that the country is 48,000 missing engineers, whose absence last year cost Germany about €3.5 billion ($4.6 billion) in lost annual output.

This is somewhat of a watershed moment for Germany, as foreign labor has not been so in demand since the early ’50s and ’60s. Braun and fellow industrialists demand that politicians facilitate circumstances for highly-qualified migrants to enter the country. They also want to see the earnings threshold lowered: currently highly qualified migrants must prove that they make over 85,500 Euros a year.

The issue drives a wedge right down the center of the government coalition, but surprisingly the majority of Conservative ministers are in favor of a shift. Education minister, Annette Schavan, has promised a program to lower the wage requirements to 40,000 to 60,000 Euros to encourage highly educated migrants to either remain in Germany after finishing their degree programs or to attract the most talented engineers and scientists from the international labor market. Her conservative colleague and Economics minister, Michael Glos, has her back and his ministerial minions are currently preparing a similar analysis.

Just how far these two will get within their coalition government remains to be seen, however, as both the Social Democrat Employment Minister and Christian Democrat Interior Minister are less convinced that increased migration will offer the necessary quick fix the economy seemingly wants. German news weekly, der Spiegel, highlights that structural problems in the German labor market are part of the reason some highly skilled natives are sitting at home unemployed, while less and less German teenagers are attracted into blue collar jobs. The country is alos losing a lot of potential through the longstanding inadequacies in educating second and third generation migrants and preparing them adequatelz for the demands of the German labor market.

Thus, the solution - as always - lies somewhat in between. In a country that still boasts a 3.8 million unemployment figure, a decision to ‘open the doors to migrants’ looks likely to be met with the type of public outcry that has so often put a stop to comprehensive migration policies. At the same time, the effects of demographic change are already being felt in Europe’s most populous economy. The country needs a more flexible overall labor market that allows for the kind of rotating system currently being discussed at EU level. This system would allow highly-qualified migrants the chance to exit and enter the European labor market with greater ease. There is no reason why comprehensive strategies cannot be developed alongside one another - in fact, they must be, in order to respond to changing labor market needs. The education of young migrants must be part and parcel of this thought process much as creative solutions of encouraging the older generation to remain employed for longer, passing on their skills to the younger generation. Education and training must programs must be developed in line with micr- and macro-economic development. And above all, these plans need to be communicated early - to prevent and actively address concerns, because apart from any monetary incentives, migrants need to feel welcome, even if they don’t plan to stay forever.