European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen has argued that more legal mass migration is needed to reduce illegal entries while announcing a pilot scheme to import migrants into Europe from India.
Addressing the second International Conference of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling in Brussels on Wednesday, the EU Commission president called for “more bridges between our continents” for the free flow of labour across borders.
Von der Leyen argued the European Union “must open more safe pathways, legal pathways,” to address the skills demands of the future, implying that native workers will be insufficient to manage the workload of the supposedly booming EU economies of the future.
“We must make sure that people can find a job where their talent is needed, match the skills and bring skills across our borders,” she said, arguing that more legal immigration will reduce the influence of “lethal criminal smuggling networks.”
The EU chief said the bloc has agreed to create a “Talent Pool” that will “match European employers and their needs with non-European jobseekers and their skills.” To launch this new scheme, the EU will open up a “Gateway Office” in India to facilitate the influx of migrants from the subcontinent.
“This will offer opportunities to work in Europe legally and it could serve as a blueprint for partnerships with other countries if we do it well. The point is here – we have plenty of ideas for legal mobility, but only together can we make this work,” von der Leyen said.
It is unclear how increasing immigration from India will decrease illegal migration into the European Union. Indeed, according to Eurostat, the number of illegals from India is relatively small compared to other nationalities, with Syria leading the way with around 140,500 identified illegals living in the EU last year.
In comparison, there were approximately 15,080 illegals in Europe from India, ranking 17th among all nationalities.
On the other hand, India already ranks among the top countries of origin for legal migration for the bloc. Last year, Indian nationals received the second-most first-time residence permits among any nationality, at 192,400, trailing only Ukraine at 295,600.
The European Union’s move to import more Indian migrants comes amid a fierce debate in the United States, particularly over H-1B visas favoured by tech elites like Elon Musk.
Critics of the scheme, which has been a major driver of Indian immigration into the United States, have claimed that the influx of so-called skilled workers from India has served to displace young American workers and to drive down the cost of labour.
A recent investigation by the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labour found that companies employing H-1 B visa holders paid them far lower wages than their American counterparts, forcing U.S. workers to accept lower wages in turn to remain competitive with the mass influx of cheap foreign labour.
Adding insult to injury, many American workers are literally forced by large corporations to train their own replacements from India and other nations before being kicked to the curb in favour of their foreign trainees.
In a bid to reduce the strain on particularly young American workers, President Donald Trump announced in September a $100,000 fee on firms for each migrant arrival hired under the H-1B visa scheme, which he said has been “deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”