A new study finds the economic crisis is hitting a key engine of growth - foreign migrants. The report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warns this trend could hurt richer and poorer nations.
一项新的研究发现，经济危机正在危及经济增长的关键动力之一：外国移民。总部设在巴黎的经济合作与发展组织发布报告，警告说这种趋势会对贫穷和富裕的国家都造成伤害。
Immigrants are an important part of the labor market in richer nations - making up about 10 percent of the labor force and taking jobs native workers cannot or do not want to fill. But a new study finds the economic downturn means hard times for these immigrants, as unemployment rises and governments increasingly favor native workers.
移民是富裕国家劳动力市场一个重要的组成部分，约占总劳动力的10%。他们从事当地工人无法胜任和不愿从事的工作。但是，新的研究发现，经济低迷让移民的生活异常艰难，因为随着失业率增加，政府更加照顾本土工人。
Released Tuesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the report also predicts the crisis will lead to a drop in immigration to OECD countries for the first time since the 1980s.
经济合作与发展组织发布的报告还预测，经济危机会导致移居到经合组织国家的人数自20世纪80年代以来首次下滑。
Thomas Liebig is an economist at the OECD.
托马斯.李比格(Thomas Liebig) 是经合组织的经济学家。
"In many, most, OECD countries, unemployment (among migrants) is rising much more rapidly than among native populations," Liebig said. "And there are a number of reasons. First, all migrants are more often represented in sectors such as construction, hotel and gastronomy - and also manufacturing - which are more cyclical. They are much more hit by the downturn."
他说：“在经合组织的大部分国家里，移民的失业率和本地人口相比，增长更快。这其中有多种原因，首先，移民通常在建筑工地、旅店、餐饮业和制造业等周期性行业工作。他们在经济低迷时更容易受到冲击。”
Liebig says migrant workers also tend to hold part-time jobs that demand unskilled labor, which again makes them vulnerable.
李比格说，很多移民劳工往往靠打零工为生，而这类零散工作往往不需要多少技术。这也使他们更加脆弱。
Migrants working in the 30-OECD nations come from all over the world - in the case of the United States, many hail from Latin America. In western Europe, they come from Africa and eastern Europe.
在30个经合组织成员国中，移民劳工来自世界各地。美国有许多来自拉丁美洲的移民劳工。西欧则有来自非洲和东欧的移民劳工。
Just a few years ago, they were a critical factor in the economic booms witnessed in Spain, Ireland and Britain. And the money they sent back to their families in the form of remittances was also important to the economies of developing nations.
就在几年前，移民劳工是西班牙、爱尔兰和英国经济飞速增长的主要因素。移民劳工以侨汇的方式把自己挣到的钱寄给家人也对发展中国家的经济发展起到了推动作用。
Almost one-in-10 immigrants working in Spain was unemployed during the first quarter of this year, for example, almost twice the unemployment rate of local workers. Immigrants also face discrimination in their host countries, many of which are tightening their immigration policies.
以西班牙为例，今年第一季度，差不多十分之一的移民劳工失业。这个数字几乎是本地工人失业率的两倍。移民在东道国还受到歧视。许多国家收紧了他们的移民政策。
But Liebig says that does not necessarily mean these migrants are going home.
但是李比格说这并不表示移民们就要打道回府了。
"We still have the (economic) crisis in origin countries. So financial incentive might not be sufficient to incite migrants to go back in a situation where they face even poorer working conditions in poorer nations," Liebig said.
“移民们的原籍国家也有金融危机。所以，从经济上讲，回到更贫穷的国家对于移民来说并没有什么吸引力，因为那样他们只会面对更糟糕的工作环境。”
The OECD is urging governments not to slam the door on migrants and to adopt fairer immigration policies because they will need foreign labor in the future when the economy picks up.
经合组织敦促各国政府不要把移民拒之门外，而应采取更公平的移民政策。因为在未来，当经济好转时，他们仍需要外来劳工。 |