In The News

A Nation of Nations

September 8, 2004
Given the dual threats of aging workforces and decreasing populations, many countries face fierce competition in attracting international professionals. Singapore, according to this editorial in The Straits Times, must broaden its immigration policy to ensure a vibrant, globally competitive population. Even the US, traditionally an international talent magnet, has shown signs of complacency...

Commonwealth Ministers Move to End Teacher "Poaching"

Polly Curtis September 1, 2004
Friction between rich and poor Commonweath nations has increased amidst accusations of teacher "poaching." Representatives from thirty nations are meeting to discuss the international recruitment of educators. Many member nations have expressed frustration with the practice of developed countries recruiting teachers from those less developed. In several regions, the need is striking...

Coping with World Population Boom and Bust – Part I

Joseph Chamie August 19, 2004
The world’s population - currently at 6.4 billion - has quadrupled over the past century. In the first of a two-part series, UN demographer Joseph Chamie says that the global population boom has been accompanied by revolutionary changes in life expectancy, fertility, population aging, and large-scale migration – issues that will fundamentally shape the politics of the next century. Even with...

Report Reveals London's Sex Slaves

Simon Jeffery August 19, 2004
A recent report provides a snapshot of London's off-street prostitution, claiming that more than 8,000 women are working in brothels, saunas and massage parlors across the city, as well as businesses that put up ads in newspapers and websites. A closer look at the nationalities of these women, however, finds that three quarters of them are non-British, coming mostly from eastern Europe and...

A Question of Identity

Hasan Suroor August 17, 2004
The million-strong Indian community in Britain is expressing concerns over being lumped together with Bangladeshis and Pakistanis by media and government. The generic term “Asian,” they argue, obfuscates the facts when used to describe social problems such as honor killings or the Bradford riots, because most of the perpetrators were non-Indian. Hasan Suroor, the author of this opinion piece in...

Kuala Lumpur Cracking Down on Illegals – Again

Leslie Lau August 12, 2004
Malaysia, a nation of 24.5 million inhabitants, has over 1.3 million legal foreign workers and another 700,000 who are undocumented. Though these migrants generally have jobs that are low paying and unattractive to native Malaysians, public sentiment has turned against them, says this article in Singapore's Straits Times. Some Malaysian natives have begun to blame the country’s recent...

Many Bay Area Immigrants Have Split Olympic Loyalties

Mark Emmons August 11, 2004
Sporting allegiance can be a telling indication of personal identity, particularly in such a multi-cultural place as the San Francisco Bay, where nearly one in three people was born outside of the United States. Such immigrants often wrestle with multiple identities in deciding whether to root for athletes from their native land, or nationals of their adopted country. In this article, Mark...