This is what Koreans feel. Korean parliamentary think tanks are of the opinion that policymakers of the country should give eye and ear to immigration reforms when preparing a strategy to curb falling birthrate in the country. They are of the opinion that government should amend its immigration policy for attracting highly skilled workers. Survey conducted has shown that Koreans have no problems with foreigners landing on their soil as they feel that they are hardworking and would contribute towards cultural diversity.

Experts feel that the positive attitude of Koreans towards foreigners working on their soil would make it simpler for the government to consider immigration as means for curbing falling birthrate. In number of European countries even subsidies, maternity leave and other types of monetary compensations have not been able to arrest falling birthrates and a number of empirical studies have suggested that immigration is one of the options to deal with it.

If the opinion is that immigration can counter falling birthrate then in order to attract migrants to the country the government should offer benefits in the form of social welfare, education and tax concessions to them and their families if it has to be made a reality.

Since the time Barack Obama has taken over the reigns from President Bush everyday has been a challenge for him. Having to deal with problems of terrorism, war, recession at the start of the career as a president of world's most powerful country has certainly made his life difficult and 2010 is not going to be any different for him. The area of immigration and impending reforms will have to be dealt by Mr. President this year. The problem of immigration spans several administrations and at stake is the lives of 12 million undocumented immigrants living in US most of whom comprise of Latinos.

Barack Obama had termed the problem of immigration as priority in his presidential campaign and in past few months has personally made clear and through his aides that he is committed to bring reforms in the immigration policy. He said that he was committed to bring change in 2010 as currently he was preoccupied with the agenda of health care reforms. This could not be achieved earlier under the previous two regimes of George W. Bush.

People looking to migrate freshly into the country don't need to smile as these immigration reforms will be meant for 12 million people residing in US with no legal status and would not be aimed at people looking to hop into the country in the future. The legislative moves which have happened recently have raised hopes that year 2010 would bring solution to this problem which has been lingering for a very long time.

December 2009 saw Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez bringing a bill for migration reforms in lower house of the US Congress and bipartisan initiative from Democrat Charles Schumer and Republican Lindsey Graham was expected to reach the Senate in 2010. There has also been intensification in civic and political pro-reform campaigning featuring the likes of celebrities like Eva Longoria. But before this happens the health reform debate has to finish so that there is enough room to bring forth the issue of immigration in a successful manner which leads to positive outcome.

On the other hand immigration activists feel that a discussion needs to happen soon as the mid term elections are expected to take place for all the lower house and one-third of the senate. Politicians are well aware of the fact that the Latino community, which is the largest minority in the US, is a big vote bank. As per he US Census Bureau, number of minority voters shot from 2004 to 2008, to 9.8 million Latino voters whereas Asian voters stood at 3.4 million. It has been said that Latino vote has played a major role in the win of President Obama and he certainly can't ignore them.

2008 US elections saw immigration issue being brought into limelight and now everything rests on the shoulder of the President as to whether he keeps his promise or not and it needs to be seen whether the road for illegal immigrants gets easier or tougher.

Moving to USA is tougher and the same may become a reality in case of Austria too. The Austrian coalition government is tightening its noose around immigrants and has adopted a new action plan for them by including mandatory German tests for foreigners intending to migrate to Austria. Opposition parties have also called for Green Card policy on the lines of United States in order to make it difficult for them to enter the country.

As per the government proposal foreigners intending to move to Austria along with their family will need to prove that they are well versed with German before applying for residency in the country. This rule is however not applicable for asylum seekers, highly qualified personnel or seasonal workers. The reason behind this plan is to enable non European immigrants to integrate into the Austrian labor market in a better manner.

With mobility having increased in the last decade a number of people have started moving for greener pastures and this heavy influx of people has promoted a number of countries to start taking serious measures to curb it so that it doesn't affect the culture of the country. Now this opens a debate whether liberalization is good or bad and its repercussions in the long run.

Is France losing its much famed French identity? This is what President Nicolas Sarkozy feels after having launched a nation wide debate on what constitutes French national identity leading to xenophobia among the countrymen. Some term this as a pure electoral strategy as regional elections are to be held in March and Mr. President wants to enhance his electoral base and gives his candidates a better chance in the elections.

Not many people will be aware of the fact that France is home to Europe's largest community of Muslims and the figure stands somewhere around five million. Eric Besson, Minister for Immigration, Integration and National Identity was asked to initiate the debate on behest of Mr. Sarkozy even though most of his socialist colleagues tend to disapprove of him. The debate has already created a spark in the country with ministry website receiving several thousand hits with some of the messages being shocking indeed. It has already led to anti Islamic sentiments and fear of unknown in their country. Around eighty percent of the people feel that foreigners are diluting the French national identity.

French Parliament has been rocked by discussion on sensitive topics such as whether or not to allow Sikhs to wear turban or whether Muslim women should wear burqa or not leading to a general feeling of fear for foreigners on French soil. The debate invited severe criticism from several quarters with many signing petition for scrapping of the Ministry of Immigration, Integration and National Identity. It seemed Sarkozy would backtrack from the debate but till now he seems adamant.

I just wonder are such thoughts good for the modern progressive society of today? How can we call ourselves progressive with such rotten thoughts? If such thinking is not curbed very soon it could lead to anti-French sentiments across the world and French nationals residing in other countries might start getting the dose of same medicine being administered by French President. Are you listening Mr. Sarkozy?

A few years back Australia was the dream destination for one out of every three Indian looking to forward their career prospects and future abroad. Truck loads of Indians landed in Australia with the dream of better living and opportunity chucking the traditional favorites destinations such as USA and Europe but the scenario of today is quite different from what it used to be a few years back.

Today Indians are victim of racial attacks and violence in the country and with no signs of violence abating parents are thinking a thousand times about sending their children to Australia.

Brides to be, students, professionals who were eager to go to Australia are now putting their plans on hold or looking for some alternative destination. Marriage bureaus and immigration consultants have already started to feel the heat of the present situation and have reported a drop in the number of enquiries already. Even parents whose children are already in Australia are making frantic calls everyday to their children pushing their call expenses to the roof. Australian government seems confused and doesn't know how to stop these acts of violence which are not refusing to come to a halt.

At the end of the day Australia definitely stands to lose in terms of tag of 'unsafe country', loss of revenue which could runs into billions of dollars besides pool of talented professionals at prices unheard of. Even Indians currently living in Australia stand to lose in terms of fear of becoming victim of racism violence, bleak prospects of bride from India, having to return back to their country due to constant pressure from their parents or due to deteriorating conditions out there.

As far as Indians living in India seeking greener pastures would have to spend a lot more to travel to good old USA or UK as compared to Australia apart from stricter immigration laws in these countries.

2010 would certainly be crucial for Australia as well as India.