Press Release
December 4, 2008
Contact: Michelle Mittelstadt
202-266-1910
mmittelstadt@migrationpolicy.org

"Buyer's Remorse" and Race for the Highly Skilled Top List of Most Important Global Migration Issues in 2008

WASHINGTON – “Buyer’s remorse” from countries that brought in more immigrants in good times than their economies can sustain in a downturn rates as the most noteworthy issue of 2008 in the fourth annual ranking of top global migration developments by the award-winning Migration Information Source.

The online journal published by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute today released its Top 10 Migration Issues list.

In Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland, immigrants who had been welcomed with open arms and plentiful jobs felt the pinch of the economic downturn and a new cautiousness about admitting new immigrants on a permanent basis. Spain, for example, is offering compensation to certain unemployed legal immigrants if they agree to leave the country for three years.

Second on the Top 10 list is the race for highly skilled immigrants. As college-educated migrants become increasingly in demand internationally, new measures are being proposed around the world – including a European Union Blue Card – to attract talented professionals and foreign students.

The list is determined with input from experts in the migration field and is influenced by ongoing news events and developments.

The Migration Information Source Top 10 Migration Issues of 2008 are:
(click on links for the articles)

1. "Buyer's Remorse" on Immigration Policy
2. The Recession-Proof Race for Highly Skilled Migrants
3. Remittance Patterns in Flux
4. Immigration Ultimately Not an Issue in the 2008 Election
5. Xenophobia Rising
6. Return Migration: Changing Directions?
7. Demography and Migration Flows: Do Shrinking Populations Mean More Migrants?
8. Keep on Building Border Fences
9. Warming up to Circular Migration?
10. Struggles of Iraqi Refugees Continue

Released in advance of the United Nations-designated International Migrants’ Day on December 18, the compilation is part of a special year-in-review issue of the Migration Information Source. The entire list is at www.migrationinformation.org/top10_2008.cfm

The Source, a unique online resource that offers useful tools, vital data and essential facts on the movement of people worldwide as well as global analysis of global migration and refugee trends, can be found at www.migrationinformation.org.

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The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels.