Session by Jean-Christophe Dumont, Head, International Migration Division, OECD Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate The challenges presented by migrant integration are complex, but we know that success requires comprehensive, well-tailored measures that take into account an individual’s country of origin, educational background and family situation. Integration becomes more complicated when migrants are refugees who have suffered trauma and were unprepared for their departure – due to poor language skills and a lack of documentation certifying their level of competencies. Factors such as a host country’s previous integration successes and failures, immigrants’ country of origin and scepticism over their willingness to integrate into the host country can further compound such issues. But investing up-front to allow refugees to settle and develop their skills produces medium to long-term economic and social benefits. Those who stay will contribute to the labour market and support economic growth, in the same way as other migrants have in the past. Much remains to be done to give immigrants and their children the opportunities to succeed in life, despite significant progress in many countries. This portion of the presentation will share recent trends in migration and refugee flows and provide new evidence on the integration of refugees with possible policy implications and advice for European and other OECD countries. One specific area essential to migrant integration success is education. Education can help young migrants integrate into society, learn the local language and develop the skills they will need for the adult world. Unfortunately, their track record in schooling is mixed – some do exceptionally well, but others encounter problems that can hold them back throughout life. Drawing on data from the OECD’s PISA programme, we can see how well immigrants do in education, and more importantly, ways in which they can be helped to make up for educational shortfalls.

1. RECENT TRENDS IN
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND
THE INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES
Jean-Christophe Dumont
Head of the International Migration Division,
Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
OECD
12 October 2016

2. The global picture: Sharp increase of permanent
migration flows to OECD countries in 2015
– but refugees are only a part of the picture
Evolution of permanent migration inflows to OECD countries
Distribution of permanent flows to OECD
countries by category in 2014
Source International Migration Outlook, (OECD, 2016)
Source: International Migration Outlook (OECD, 2016)
4.1
4.7
4.4
4.1
4.0 4.0 4.0
4.1
4.3
4.8
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (e)
Millions
Work
14% Acc. family of
workers
7%
Family
33%
Humanitarian
9%
Other
5%
Free
movement
32%

3. Permanent migration as a share of population
ranges from 4 to 40 per thousand
Permanent migration to OECD countries by category as a percentage of the population, 2014
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
% Work Family Free movement Other 3.6
Source International Migration Outlook, (OECD, 2016)
• Permanent migration from third countries to the EU is comparable to
that of the US

4. Temporary (labour) migration is
increasing fast as well
Temporary labour migration flows, 2014
Source International Migration Outlook, (OECD, 2016)
Thousands
(2014)
Evolution %
(2013-2014)
No countries
included
Seasonal workers 643 +27% 16
Intra-corporate transfers 141 +17% 10
Posted workers 1 436 +9% 24
Trainees 127 +17% 8
Working holiday makers 483 +5% 10

5. An unfolding
humanitarian crisis …

6. An unprecedented number of asylum
applications in 2015
Evolution of the number of new asylum seekers, 1980-2016
Source: UNHCR, Eurostat, OECD calculations.
0
500
1 000
1 500
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Thousands
OECD EU
0
500
1 000
2016 Jan-Jun
• Germany is the main receiving country for asylum seekers in absolute terms
(440k applications registered in 2015 but 900 thousand pre-registrations)
but Sweden is number one in relative terms (1.6% of the population)
• 4.8 million refugees in neighbouring countries of Syria including 2.7 million
in Turkey, 1 million in Lebanon and 640k in Jordan at the end of 2015.

7. 2016: continuing but decreasing entries
Source: UNHCR (9/10/2016)

8. Assessing, activating and
developing refugee’ skills

9. How are refugee faring on the EU
labour market ?
Source: EU-OECD (2016), How are refugees faring on the labour market in Europe? A first evaluation based
on the 2014 EU labour force survey ad hoc module, DG EMPL Working Paper 1/2016.
Employment and unemployment rate by immigrant categories
and gender European OECD countries, 2014

10. Labour market integration of refugees
takes time => early intervention & access
Employment rate by immigrant categories and duration of stay
European OECD countries, 2014
Source : EU-OECD (2016), How are refugees faring on the labour market in Europe? A first evaluation based
on the 2014 EU labour force survey ad hoc module, DG EMPL Working Paper 1/2016.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
0 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 14 15 to 19 20+
Years of residence
Employment
Family
Refugees
Study

11. Low educated refugees are lagging behind
=> targeted support, alternative assessment and upskilling
Source: EU-OECD (2016), How are refugees faring on the labour market in Europe? A first evaluation based
on the 2014 EU labour force survey ad hoc module, DG EMPL Working Paper 1/2016.
Employment population ratio of refugees and accompanying family by duration of
residence and education, 2014, Cohort arriving in 2000
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Low (ISCED 0-2) Medium (ISCED 3-4) High (ISCED 5+)

12. Language skill proficiency is key
=> modular language training combined with work exp.
Source: EU-OECD (2016), How are refugees faring on the labour market in Europe? A first evaluation based
on the 2014 EU labour force survey ad hoc module, DG EMPL Working Paper 1/2016.
Employment rate of refugees by host-country language proficiency level in the EU
15-64 yo, 2014
27%
59%
67%
59%
Native-born, 65%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Beginner or less
skills
Intermediate Advanced Language is
mother tounge
Employmentrate(%)

13. How can OECD help ?

14. OECD responses and support
• Learning from the past
and from good practices :
making integration work for
refugees and their children
• Engaging with employers
• Improving multilevel governance
and local integration
• Adressing the migration backlash
• Anticipating future developments
and upcoming challenges (e.g.
returning rejected asylum
seekers)

15. For further information:
www.oecd.org/migration
jean-christophe.dumont@oecd.org
15/11
Thank you for your attention