ABSTRACT
Some 175 million people live outside the country of their birth (2000 estimate)2, including some 12 million refugees and 1 million asylum seekers (UNHCR 2000 figures). Each year, more than 5 million people migrate, through formal and informal channels. This paper will refer mainly to migration from developing countries into OECD countries, though significantly, the great majority of international migration takes place among developing countries. The term international migration is used loosely to refer to movement of people across borders, whether as job seekers, refugees or asylum seekers, for shorter or longer periods of time.
