Sverige mot strömmen

Jag läser i Voice of America att Sverige än en gång framhålls som ett land mot strömmen i migrationsfrågor.

De uppmärksammar att invandringen till Europa minskar och ställer frågor till Georges Lemaitre, OECD.

Immigration specialist Georges Lemaitre, of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is not surprised by these reports.

"The first thing that affects migration is the fact employers do not want as many workers," he said. "They are not looking to hire as many immigrants. So this is the first thing that reduces the level of migration. The second is the fact immigrants themselves do not see many opportunities. So they themselves tend to come less often."

Lemaitre says this trend is reflected elsewhere in Europe and in richer nations as a whole. And it concerns legal and illegal immigrants.

"Two very significant labor migration countries, Ireland and the United Kingdom, they have seen very significant drops in labor migration," he added.

Lemaitre says Sweden is one of the few countries bucking the trend. Sweden has opened immigration channels since the economic crisis and the numbers of immigrants have jumped 30 percent.