In 2001 the OECD Council identified International Migration as one of the OECD's priorities. "Migration is an increasingly pressing issue, for immigrant and emigrant countries, their governments and the general public. It raises a host of social, economic, development and foreign policy challenges and opportunities.

High priority objectives include comparative analysis of migration movements and policies, the employment situation of foreigners, especially among the young and women, the fight against the illegal employment of foreigners, the achievement of greater coherence between migration policies and other policies related to economic development, and co-operation between sending and receiving countries.

A special focus is on the economic aspects of migration, including effects on wages, on employment, on labour shortages, on output growth and productivity, as well as on public finance. Reports on individual member countries' experiences and policies will be written in the context of country surveillance for selected OECD Member countries.

The international mobility of highly skilled workers aims at international mobility, including inflows and outflows of workers, characteristics of employment, and duration of stay. Issues include identifying possible policies to facilitate mobility of the highly skilled and to offset potential negative effects of migration on human capital (brain gain but also brain exchange)