New Delhi: India retained its top ranking not only as the origin of new migrants to Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries but also in acquiring their citizenship, a report released by the 38-member bloc has revealed.
“Having replaced China as the main country of origin of new migrants to OECD countries in 2020, India maintained first place in 2021 and, according to partial data, in 2022,” says the report titled ‘International Migration Outlook 2023’. It adds that India has been the “main origin country” of new citizens in OECD countries since 2019.
Released late Monday, the 2023 edition of the International Migration Outlook primarily breaks down migration data collected in 2021 and partially in 2022 from the 38 OECD member countries. India is not a part of the OECD.
According to this analysis, India was the country of origin for 4.07 lakh new migrants entering OECD countries in 2021, up 86 percent from the previous year. China ranks second with 2.27 lakh while Romania is third with 2.15 lakh.
But the increase in the number of migrants comes with a caveat, owing to border closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Obviously, variations between 2020 and 2021 need to be considered with some caution as they partially reflect changes in the reopening of borders in major destination countries and not only relative change in push factors in countries of origin,” the report states.
As many as 1.33 lakh Indians acquired the citizenship of an OECD country in 2021, with the US, Canada and Australia accounting for most of this figure, thereby retaining the top rank in the category since 2019. Mexico ranks second with 1.18 lakh, with most migrants taking up US citizenship, while war-torn Syria in third also exceeded 1 lakh.
“Many of the Syrian citizens who left their country during the war in the mid-2010s have reached the required duration of residence in the host country to apply for citizenship. More than 1,00,000 Syrians were granted citizenship of an OECD country in 2021 (+154 percent), of which 31,000 were in Sweden, 27,000 in the Netherlands and 19,000 in Germany,” the report adds.
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Number of Indian students more than doubled
The OECD report also looks at other aspects of migration trends, such as international student visas and applications for asylum.
At 4.24 lakh, India ranks second for having the most international students in OECD countries, behind China at 8.85 lakh, but well ahead of the likes of Vietnam, Germany and France.
“Many Asian countries of origin have seen strong increases in the number of international students to OECD countries between 2014 and 2021. The number of students from India, Vietnam and Nepal has more than doubled. Furthermore, the number of Syrian students increased almost ten-fold, partly driven by international study as a complementary migration pathway for displaced populations,” the report adds.
India also ranks tenth among countries of origin for asylum seekers, with numbers having increased “five-fold” from 2021 to 2022 at a little over 50,000. Venezuela, Cuba and Afghanistan made up the top three rankings in this category.
“The OECD as a whole received about 1,500 new asylum requests per million population in 2022, a 10 percent increase year-on-year,” says the report.
Originally founded in 1948 as an administrative body for implementing the Marshall Plan and known by its current name since 1961, the OECD is a multilateral group comprising 38 members and focuses on economic development and trade.
While 19 members, including the United States and Canada, joined the organisation in 1961 itself, the others joined in the decades that followed — the newest members being Colombia and Costa Rica which joined the OECD in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)