The second annual conference of INIR was hosted by Observatoire de l’Immigration & de la Démographie (OID) in Paris on 20 November, 2024 in the building of the French National Assembly.

In his introductory note, OID director Nicolas Pouvreau-Monti highlighted the achievements of organizing three other events between the two annual conferences.

In his opening speech, Member of Parliament for Alpes-Maritimes Éric Pauget lauded INIR and the serious scientific research conducted about immigration. He pointed out the significance of holding the conference at the National Assembly, for the challenges of immigration concern the entire nation.

The first panel featured speakers from INIR member organizations.

Mark Krikorian from CIS and Eric Ruark from NumbersUSA presented the social costs and demographic effects of irregular immigration. They also discussed issues with e-verify, concluding that the system meant for screening employees for eligibility to work in the USA is inadequate for keeping irregular immigrants out of the labor market.

In his presentation, Israeli Immigration Policy Center director Yonatan Jakubowicz acknowledged that while the situation in Israel is quite different in several ways, the issues and the social costs related primarily to irregular immigration from Africa pose a great burden also for the Jewish state.

For his part, MRI director Viktor Marsai stressed that labor issues can be alleviated through targeted family support and reintegration programs aimed at the long-term unemployed.

The presentations on the second panel were delivered by invited guest speakers. Director of Research at the Centre for Policy Studies (UK) Karl Williams highlighted that while illegal crossings of La Manche to Britain tend to be at the center of attention, the volume of annual net legal immigration has reached 700,000, resulting in a housing crisis in the country.

Jan Van de Beek from the University of Amsterdam presented the statistical results of his longitudinal research that demonstrated the costs of non-European immigration to the Netherlands totaling €100 billions.

Professor Emeritus of Demography at Oxford University David Coleman discussed the nexus of demography, migration, and the economy, pointing out that states in Europe need not fear for the extinction of their population.

Prefect and former Director of Reception, Integration and Citizenship at the Ministry of the Interior Michel Aubouin talked about the major challenges for social housing posed by immigrants parallel to French-born populations.

The conference concluding note was delivered by OID chairman and former Director of the DGSE Pierre Brochand who lauded the one-day event.