Photo credit: Takver By Hippolyte d’Albis, Ekrame Boubtane and Dramane Coulibaly Contrary to public perceptions, new research shows that asylum seekers don’t harm the economies that receive them. On the contrary, the faster they are allowed to work, the bigger their contribution can be While the number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe has plunged since 2015, tensions among EU governments remain high. Asylum seekers are typically seen as a …
Continue readingOur open world is under threat; the business case for employing refugees; the new global talent race
Trump. Brexit. Salvini. Trade wars. Border walls. The Great Firewall of China. America First. Italians First. New Zealand First. After decades in which our world has become ever more closely connected as people, products, money and data criss-cross borders ever more intensively, resurgent nationalists now seek to close borders and stamp on difference. It is tragic, though perhaps not surprising, that foreigners are increasingly scapegoated for all manner of primarily domestic problems. Immigrants are …
Continue readingHow do we persuade sceptics of the value of immigration?; overcoming the politics of pessimism
Image thanks to Max Pixel By Philippe Legrain Openness to immigration is a good thing, as I hope you agree. But how can we persuade moderate sceptics? Presenting rational arguments and evidence is important, but often insufficient. As part of its excellent Open Future series, The Economist has published an open essay by Philippe Legrain on this topic. The first part is out today, and the subsequent parts will feature readers’ best …
Continue readingPushing back against anti-immigrant forces; EU democracy; trade wars
For the first time in years, anti-immigrant hardliners in the UK are on the back foot. The Windrush scandal has generated an outpouring of support for people who have contributed so much to Britain for so many years, only to be threatened with deportation by Home Office officials because they couldn’t prove their immigration status – a chilling reminder that without proper safeguards some EU citizens could suffer a similar post-Brexit fate. The new …
Continue readingOPEN briefing: migrants’ right to vote, Brexit blunders, good news on refugees
Nativists are in the ascendant in many countries right now. Governments are responding by curtailing migrants’ rights. And whether it is Brexit Britain or Trump’s America, immigrants are often powerless to fight back. That needs to change. Giving long-term foreign residents the right to vote isn’t just a matter of human rights, it’s about bringing democracy into the 21st century, argues Iana Dreyer in a must-read new piece for OPEN. Electing the people who …
Continue readingWho said populism had peaked? Plus Global Compact, steel tariffs & more
Following the Brexit vote and Trump’s victory in 2016, many feared that a populist wave would sweep through Europe. But with the decisive victory of Emmanuel Macron over Marine Le Pen in France’s presidential election last year, anxiety quickly morphed into complacency. Yet France came perilously close to a presidential run-off between far-right and far-left anti-EU populists. Austria’s election was won by a conservative party that has adopted much of …
Continue readingNotre rapport sur l’intégration des réfugiés cité par Reuters
Selon une enquête dédiée d’Eurostat de 2014, 58,4% des personnes ayant obtenu l’asile en France y travaillent. Cette part augmente à 64,5% pour les réfugiés y résidant depuis 10 ans ou plus, souligne Philippe Legrain, chercheur associé à la London School of Economics et fondateur de l’institut de réflexion Open. En 2016, le taux d’emploi global des populations immigrées dans l’OCDE était de 67,4%, contre 55,3% en France, dans le …
Continue readingTwo cheers for the Global Compact
By Rebekah Smith The draft Global Compact on Migration is surprisingly ambitious – but will it be implemented? The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the talks last December. Hungary’s authoritarian nationalist government threatened to pull out too. But the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) is going forward without the US – and its current draft is a surprisingly progressive document. The international community now has an unprecedented opportunity …
Continue readingWeekly report featuring Dayton, Jersey, Italy and refugees
America’s Rust Belt. Old industrial towns in the north of England. France’s northern Hauts de France region. Eastern Germany. The places that have suffered from industrial decline in recent decades often focus their anger on immigrants. But what if newcomers could actually help regenerate such areas? After its economy suffered and its population slumped, the city of Dayton, Ohio has put that theory to the test. Its innovative “Welcome …
Continue readingThe threats to migrants’ right to stay
Plus: France’s asylum reforms The 3 million EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK are understandably concerned about their post-Brexit residency rights, as are the 1 million or so UK citizens who have settled in the EU. While there is a broad political consensus that they should be able to stay and the prospect of legal certainty in the UK’s EU exit agreement, the uncertainty is still deeply unsettling. So …
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