PARIS: India remains the largest source country for immigrants in Canada and the International Migration Outlook Report for 2020 by the OECD said the number of new Indo-Canadians more than doubled in 2019 compared with 2016.
(The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is an intergovernmental economic organization with 37 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade,) Permanent migration flows to OECD countries have remained stable through 2018 and 2019 – but estimates say this could plummet by 46% in 2020 because of the COVID-10 pandemic, according to the International Migration Outlook of the OECD for 2020.
The report said there was also a significant increase in the number of Indians migrating to countries like Germany (3,900), Italy (3,300), and Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden (approximately 2,000 each).
Migration from India accounts for almost 5% of migration to OECD countries – a total of 330,000 people in 201.
In terms of overall migration, China still retains the top spot as a source of migrants, but India has replaced Romania to occupy the number two position (according to 2018 records).
The Indian figures are climbing because of a high number of Indians travelling to Canada, followed by Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden. The number of Indian immigrants to Canada rose by 30 %, to the United Kingdom by 43% – but declined by 7% to the US in 2018.
The report said the, compared with other migrant-receiving countries, Canada, Australia and New Zealand had more success in the integration of migrants with a high share of skilled jobs, especially in the IT sector in Canada with 33% and Australia in the financial services sector with 37%, while New Zealand has accommodated migrants in public services, including defence.
The report said that among the 3.9 million international students in the OECE countries, the Chinese account for 904,000, India- 317,000 and Korea – 96,0000. Afghanistan, Venezuela and Honduras were the top three countries or origin for asylum seekers, making a total of 20% of all applicants in OECD countries.
The report also pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a ‘global health emergency which has turned into an economic and social crisis.
It has also shown once again the key contributions that migrants make in keeping our societies functioning.”
The report stressed that OECD nations should not roll back progress made on migration and integration and pointed out that during the crisis “foreign-born workers were highly represented in essential activities such as health care and food retail…. even when travel and admission were severely restricted, most countries realized they needed to make exceptions for some migrants in these sectors.”
The Outlook report noted that migrant workers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis and that they account for almost 24% of doctors and 16% of nurses in the health sector in the OECD countries.
‘They are also overrepresented in the domestic services, the cleaning industry, seasonal agricultural work and the transportation sector. Their contributions…should at least be recognized, if not rewarded.”
In its summary, the report said that in 2019, 135 million people living in OECD countries were foreign-born…with a third of them living in the United States and almost half in European countries. And in 2018, 1.95 million people took up citizenship in OECD countries, a climb of 3% over the 2018 figures.