Germany counts foreigners
6.7 million foreigners currently live in Germany, accounting for 8% of the country's total population. This was announced in Berlin by the Federal Government's Commissioner for Migration, Marieluise Beck. According to her, the number of foreign citizens in Germany has decreased by 600,000 over recent years. This is due to a reduction in the immigration flow and a simultaneous increase in the number of cases of granting German citizenship. Over the past five years, Beck noted, more than a million foreigners have received German citizenship.
Britain tightens penalties for employing illegal immigrants
Fines and prison sentences of up to two years for British entrepreneurs who have long used the labor of illegal immigrants are provided for by a new law on immigration and asylum. According to Interfax, the document was published last week.
This is the fourth British law in this area since 1997. It significantly makes it easier for the authorities to punish entrepreneurs who deliberately violate it, owners of agencies hiring illegals, as well as mafia elements who make money from exploiting the cheaper labor of illegally arrived foreigners. The fine will be up to 2,000 pounds sterling (about €3,500).
The British government admits that it does not know the exact number of illegal immigrants in the country. Experts put the figure at 300,000 people, including applicants for political asylum who have been refused.
Statistics have vindicated labor migrants
The benefits of migration outweigh the inconveniences caused by the inflow of labor from other countries. This conclusion is contained in a new study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), reports the BBC.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), countries that take a sensible approach to the globalization of the labor market will never be at a loss, and this applies not only to the host country but also to the sending country.
Recently, much has been said that guest workers practically do not compete with local residents on the labor market. This is confirmed by the IOM report. Foreigners usually take jobs that the local population does not want or cannot take. Most migrants are employed in unskilled, high-risk work or earn a living through highly intellectual labor requiring fundamental knowledge in a particular field.
Civilized migration also promises considerable economic benefits to the host country. According to the IOM, from 1999 to 2000, migrants living in Britain paid four billion dollars more in taxes to the treasury than the country spent on various payments and subsidies to them.
Guest workers significantly affect the economies of their own countries. In 2004, only through official channels (via banks, by mail) they sent more than $100 billion to their relatives. And this is no more than half of the amount that actually reached poor countries. Migrant remittances occupy a very significant place in the economies of developing countries. For example, Morocco alone in 2002 received $2.8 billion from its citizens abroad, or 8% of the country's GDP. Even more tangible is the impact of migrants on the economy of the Philippines – remittances from citizens working abroad make up almost 10% of GDP. In addition, poor countries may benefit from the experience of those who worked in the West but then returned home.
"We live in a world where the process of globalization is increasingly felt and which can no longer rely only on its own labor market. This is a reality that has to be reckoned with," says Brunson McKinley, head of the International Organization for Migration. According to the IOM, over the past thirty years, the number of migrants has grown from 82 million to 192 million. In search of a better life, about three percent of the world's population have left their homelands. The most popular countries among migrants are the United States, which is home to more than 20% of foreigners, and Russia (8%).
Chinese most satisfied with their country, Poles least
Chinese are the most satisfied with their country, and Poles the least. This conclusion was reached by the authors of an annual study conducted by the Washington-based non-governmental center Pew Research in 16 countries around the world based on a survey of 16,766 people.
"Dissatisfaction with the way things are going in one's country is one of the common themes around the world," report the authors of the report prepared by the Pew Research Center under the leadership of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The study showed that China ranks first in the world in satisfaction with what is happening in their country, with 72% of people satisfied and only 19% dissatisfied. Poland ranks last on this indicator, with only 13% of residents satisfied and 82% dissatisfied.
Russia is in the bottom three along with Poland and Germany. 71% of Russians are dissatisfied with what is happening in their country, while 23% are satisfied. In Germany, 73% are dissatisfied and 25% are satisfied.
In the middle between 'satisfied' China and 'dissatisfied' Poland are the Netherlands and Great Britain. In the Netherlands, 50% are dissatisfied with their country, 49% are satisfied. In Great Britain, 51% are dissatisfied, 44% are satisfied. According to RIA Novosti, in the US, 57% are dissatisfied with what is happening in the country, 39% are satisfied.
The image of the US abroad remains negative
The image of the United States abroad remains, on the whole, negative. Of all the countries in the world, Americans themselves have the best attitude towards America.
As RIA Novosti reports, this is the conclusion reached by the authors of an annual study conducted by the Washington-based non-governmental Pew Research Center in 50 countries based on a survey of more than 90,000 people.
"The US, overall, is still disliked in most countries where the survey was conducted, and opinion of the American people is not as positive as it once was," the report's authors say. At the same time, the survey data show that "anti-Americanism in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, where it intensified as a result of the US war in Iraq, shows signs of decreasing."
Attitudes toward America improved the most in Russia, India and Indonesia, according to the document. And anti-American sentiment remains strongest in the Muslim countries of the Middle East. In Jordan, for example, 80% of respondents view the US negatively. In Turkey and Pakistan, this figure is 67% and 60%, respectively.
Americans themselves feel most positive about America. According to the study, 83% of respondents in the US reported a positive attitude toward their country, and only 14% reported a negative one.
Shanghai launches anti-smoking campaign
Shanghai has become the first Chinese city to tighten anti-smoking measures through legislation. Recently, a temporary regulation prohibiting smoking in public places was adopted here.
The regulation defines more than 6,200 public places: hospitals, schools, shops, cafes, bars, slot machine halls, etc., where smoking is strictly prohibited. According to Travel.ru, about 65% of adult residents of Shanghai smoke. The rate of passive smoking in workplaces and public places is 48.9% and 31.3%, respectively.
Coca legalized in Peruvian province
The government of the Peruvian department of Cusco, where the ancient capital of the Inca Empire of the same name is located, has announced the legalization of coca leaf plantations and the cultivation of this plant.
This decision by the regional authorities has drawn sharp criticism from the federal government. The Peruvian prime minister said the federal government will challenge the decision in the Constitutional Court because it contradicts the country's laws and its international obligations.
In turn, the regional authorities argue that the coca leaf is a national cultural, historical and biological heritage that is part of the national worldview and inseparable from the traditions and customs of Peruvians. As RIA Novosti notes, coca leaves are the main raw material for the production of the potent narcotic cocaine.