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Integration In Other Countries

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Editor's Corner

This page offers an overview of developments around the world in thinking and policy concerning the integration of migrants. It highlights recent noteworthy events and policy changes, longer-term trends, and a selection of recent research publications from Europe and beyond.

Our editor is Elizabeth Collett, European Policy Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and Senior Advisor to MPI's Transatlantic Council on Migration. She is based in Brussels and works on the International Program, with a particular focus on European policy.

Prior to joining MPI, Elizabeth was a Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre, an independent Brussels-based think tank, and responsible for its migration program, which covered all aspects of European migration and integration policy. During her time at EPC she produced numerous working papers and policy briefs focused on the future of European Union immigration policy. She has also worked in the Migration Research and Policy Department of the International Organization for Migration in Geneva and for the Institute for the Study of International Migration in Washington, DC.


Links

Canada’s immigrant integration programs are examined by Metropolis, an international network for comparative research and public policy development on migration, diversity, and immigrant integration.

To learn more about Australia’s integration programs, click here.

For more on European integration programs, visit IMISCOE, the network of 23 European research institutes studying migration, integration, and social cohesion issues.

The summary to Gaining from Migration, a 2007 report for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is available here.


Trends in Integration Policy

A review of international headlines in recent years (Riots in Paris. Debates about how well immigrants are assimilating. Tensions over religious views.) suggests that all is not well with Europe’s societies, and that change is occurring faster than can be absorbed. Much of the blame is placed upon the shoulders of migrants, particularly Muslim immigrants, and the policymakers who let them in.

Beyond the headlines, Europeans are struggling with a number of deeper issues, often sparked by flashpoint incidents: Should women be allowed to wear headscarves in schools and public life? Should immigrants vote in local elections? How much of the native language should they be asked to learn?

The frequency and urgency of these debates is leading policymakers to rethink their approaches towards immigrant integration. Whether promoting assimilation into a secular society, an acceptance of multicultural societies, or developing integration policies for the first time, it is clear that Europe has not yet found the golden formula for the integration of their immigrant populations, new and old.

In this policy shake-up, a number of trends have emerged. One is the recognition that national governments are not the final, or even most important, arbiter of integration success. Cities and regions have become key actors in the integration field.

Several key aspects of integration are emerging as a priority for policymakers. Labor market participation is considered essential, not least in promoting a positive perception of immigration within the host society. Education is becoming both a key indicator as well as a vital facilitator of integration, particularly for the children of immigrants.

Language acquisition is a priority for many governments. More countries are focusing on compulsory testing the language skills of migrants, in some cases as a condition of entry into the country, in others a necessity for citizenship.

And some form of citizenship testing is increasingly becoming the norm, aimed at improving integration outcomes by ensuring that new members of society have sufficient skills to succeed. Beyond this, a number of politicians – for example in France and Spain – have raised the idea of an immigrants ‘charter’ of rights and responsibilities, an idea which is taking hold.

For new countries of immigration, a process of learning is beginning. For older countries of immigration, the complexities of integrating a diverse and fast-changing society are emerging anew.

Comment & Analysis

A European Year of Intercultural Dialogue has been launched in the European Union, with a broad approach to linking different voices in society. It follows on from the European Year of Equal Opportunities. One of the themes is the link between intercultural dialogue and migrant integration, and this short paper outlines some of the parameters and issues associated with this:
Conversations across Cultures: Making Integration Work in a Changing Europe
By Elizabeth Collett, February 2008

The children that Europe forgot
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Werner Weidenfeld,
Co-Chairs, Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration
Op-Ed in the European Voice, September 20, 2007


Fact Sheet

EU Integration Policies – An Overview
By Elizabeth Collett, April 2008


Selected Readings

Handbook on Integration for policymakers and practitioners, European Commission, May 2007.

Social Integration of Migrants in Europe: A Review of the European Literature 2000 – 2006, Sarah Spencer and Betsy Cooper, MPI and OECD, September 2006

Managing Integration: The European Union's Responsibilities towards Immigrants, Süssmuth R. and W. Weidenfeld (eds.), MPI and Bertelsmann Foundation, 2005

Beyond the Common Basic Principles on Integration: the next steps, European Policy Centre, Issue Paper No.27, 2005.

 

What’s New

The Netherlands: From National Identity to Plural Identifications
By Monique Kremer
National identity has become a highly politicized issue in the Netherlands in the past decade, with many public figures voicing different opinions on what it means to be “Dutch.” Both right-wing and mainstream parties have adopted political rhetoric that appeals to the public’s growing anxiety about immigrants and their effect on local communities, and many have proposed policies designed to mitigate these fears. This new dialogue has marked a turn away from multiculturalism and a turn toward “culturalized citizenship” - the idea that being Dutch means adhering to a certain set of cultural and social norms and practices.
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Immigration and National Identity in Norway
By Thomas Hylland Eriksen
The number of immigrants and their descendants in Norway almost tripled between 1995 and 2011, resulting in increased debates about integration, immigration policy, multiculturalism, and national identity in recent years. The atrocities of July 2011 revealed an active, militantly anti-immigrant (particularly anti-Muslim) fringe that sees government’s acceptance of cultural pluralism as treacherous. This report assesses the connection between the recent rise of resentment against immigration and broader trends in Norwegian nationalism, and proposes a few policy recommendations with the aim of minimizing this rift in Norwegian society.
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Identity and (Muslim) Integration in Germany
By Naika Foroutan
Germany has become a country of immigration in recent decades, with one-fifth of its population comprised of immigrants and their children. Yet a dominant perception in public discourse and media is that of a homogenous German society in which those with a migration background cannot fully belong. This country case study explores how immigration influences national identity in Germany and the reciprocal influence that German national identity has on immigrants.
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Exceptional in Europe? Spain’s Experience with Immigration and Integration
By Joaquín Arango
Spain’s immigrant population increased from less than 4 percent of the country’s overall population to almost 14 percent in the span of one short decade. Unlike other European countries, however, Spain has not experienced a significant backlash against immigration, even amid an economic crisis that has hit the country hard and led to high levels of unemployment. This country case study from MPI’s Transatlantic Council on Migration explains Spain’s enduring openness to immigration and immigrants.
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Parenting Behavior, Health, and Cognitive Development among Children in Black Immigrant Families: Comparing the United States and the United Kingdom
By Margot Jackson
Racial disparities in child development in the United States are significant, with a particularly pronounced disadvantage among Black children. This report focuses on the development of children of Black immigrants, comparing against the outcomes for their peers in native-born and other immigrant families. The report also compares children in the United States to those in the United Kingdom, where there is a large Black immigrant population but a notably different policy context of reception.
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French National Identity and Integration: Who Belongs to the National Community?
By Patrick Simon
Since the mid-1980s, France has faced a contentious debate of crucial importance for immigrants and their descendents — defining what it means to be French. Though countries with rich histories of immigration have long accepted “dual belonging,” this concept has been criticized and perceived as at odds with a person’s commitment to French identity. A recent survey of French immigrants, however, shows that multiple allegiances are not an impediment to integration; it is possible to “feel French” and maintain links with a country of origin. However, because of external perceptions, native French citizens are far less likely to accept this adoption of French identity.
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Building a British Model of Integration in an Era of Immigration: Policy Lessons for Government
By Shamit Saggar and Will Somerville
Despite experiencing large-scale immigration flows and settlement over the past half century, the United Kingdom has not developed a formal integration program. Few public policies have specifically sought to advance immigrant integration, and the political debates surrounding immigrant integration have often been fraught and destabilizing, reflecting deep-seated ambivalence in British society about immigrants and immigration. The authors offer a menu of policy options and actions the government should consider to achieve a well-thought-out approach.
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Immigrant Integration in a Time of Austerity
By Elizabeth Collett
With austerity at the forefront of European government policy debates and rising debt levels sure to catalyze additional difficult public spending decisions, immigrant integration programs have been an early place for budget cuts in some countries. In this report, MPI European Policy Fellow Elizabeth Collett offers fresh analysis of how immigrant integration programs are faring in a number of EU countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. While the economic and political climate offer some explanation for governments' response, the report details how those factors alone are insufficient to explain countries' differing approaches to immigrant integration programs.
Download Report | Press Release

Immigrants and Welfare: The Impact of Welfare Reform on America’s Newcomers
This volume, edited by MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, rigorously assesses the 1996 welfare reform law, questions whether its immigrant provisions were ever really necessary, and examines its impact on legal immigrants’ ability to integrate into American society. The book probes the politics behind the welfare reform law, its legal underpinnings, and what it may mean for integration policy. It also focuses on empirical research regarding immigrants’ propensity to use benefits before the law passed, and immigrants’ use and hardship levels afterwards.
Purchase a copy


In the News

Bucking the citizenship trend – While countries such as the United Kingdom move towards a concept of “earned citizenship”, Australia is making moves to simplify its citizenship test after a review found it to be "flawed, intimidating to some, and discriminatory." Meanwhile, Spain has passed the “‘grandchildren’s” law, intended to offer citizenship to descendents who fled Spain during the civil war and ensuing Franco dictatorship. Up to half a million are expected to apply.

European politicians change direction – The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced plans in December to improve the education and employment prospects of ethnic minorities in France, marking a departure from the traditional “ethnicity-blind” approach. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Labor Party (PvdA) released a policy paper stating that the Dutch model of tolerance has actually hampered integration, and advocating a different approach.

New Commissions in the Southern Hemisphere – A new Multicultural Advisory Council will meet in early 2009 to develop a new strategy for diversity policy to promote social cohesion. In South Africa, the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will investigate the root causes of widespread anti-immigrant violence which took place in the country in 2008.

Boosting internal migration and integration – China is set to revise its household registration system – known as hukou – in order to facilitate the integration of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta area. In addition, hukou restrictions will be lifted for graduates who find work outside their hometowns to promote internal mobility. However, it may take a decade for the reforms to be put in place.

Economic troubles hit migrant workers – First figures from a number of countries suggest that foreign worker unemployment is on the increase. In Spain, for example, the number of unemployed foreigners rose by 198,996 people to 400,000 at the end of 2008, up 94 percent from a year earlier.


New Research & Policy

Sources of resentment, and perceptions of ethnic minorities among poor white people in England,
UK Ministry for Communities and Local Government, January 2009
The report interviewed people from four relatively monocultural “white” urban spaces with different migration experiences to ascertain key themes related to local community, national concerns, and integration and makes recommendations for improving social cohesion on the basis of these findings. Key issues raised include anxiety over competition for resources, the perception of integration as “assimilation,” and the negative connotations of “political correctness.”

Integration – a Description of the Situation in Sweden (summary in English)
Statistics Sweden, December 2008
This report highlights outcomes in education, housing, labor-market and political participation for the foreign born and native-born in Sweden, as well as a summary of demographic trends for both groups. The report revealed higher than expected levels of segregation in Swedish communities.

Strengthening actions and tools to meet integration challenges: Report to the 2008 Ministerial Conference on Integration
European Commission staff working document – October 2008
This report is the background document from the Commission which informed the Ministerial meeting hosted by the French government in November 2008. It covers the same topics as the Declaration in greater depth, and outlines what the European Union has done/will do to promote integration policies at the European level.

European Ministerial Meeting on Integration – Final Declaration
Council of the European Union, November 2008
The third informal meeting of European ministers, held in Vichy in early November to discuss integration policies for migrants, resulted in a declaration outlining future priorities. The declaration focuses on broad issues such as the process and governance of integration, as well as highlighting specific issues, including the integration of women, the education of migrant children, and the role of employers and other actors in ensuring migrant access to employers.

Equality and Diversity in Jobs and Services: City Policies for Migrants in Europe
Sarah Spencer, Eurofound, and the Council of Europe, September 2008
This report looks at equality and diversity policies in relation to employment and service provision for migrants in city administrations. It is the second set of results from the Cities for Local Integration Policy (CLIP) Network, and highlights a number of initiatives being undertaken by cities in this context.

Managing the Impacts of Migration: A Cross-Government Approach
Department for Communities and Local Government, UK, June 2008
This report outlines the UK government strategy for the integration of migrants at national and local level, with particular attention on the impact of migration on public services and community cohesion. It catalogues initiatives and funding related to migrant integration, while suggesting further initiatives.

Community Cohesion and Migration
House of Commons Community and Government Relations Committee, UK, July 2008
This Parliamentary report outlines some of the impacts migration has had upon communities. It highlights poor community relations in areas with high levels of immigration and ‘public anxiety’ with respect to strained public services, while recognising the ‘significant contributions’ made by migrants. It recommended improved data collection and funding for communities.

Netherlands: discrimination in name of integration
Human Rights Watch, Netherlands, May 2008
This report highlights a variety of human rights concerns related to the introduction of an Overseas Integration Test in the Netherlands (in force since 2006) and recommends its abolition. 

Migration Nation
Office for the Minister of Integration, Ireland, May 2008
This statement is arguably the Irish government’s first comprehensive integration strategy. The document sets out key principles, such as working in partnership with non-governmental organizations, as well as more practical elements such as increased spending on language classes.

Making Migration Work: the role of employers in migrant integration
Elizabeth Collett and Karolina Sitek, European Policy Centre, May 2008
This Working Paper considers what role employers can – and do - play in integrating migrant workers in Europe.


MPI Work on Integration

The Migration Policy Institute has been a consistent presence on the immigration and integration policy fronts in Europe since 2002, working as the sole policy partner with the four European Union Presidencies that thus far have prioritized immigration reform – Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, and Portugal. The Institute also has a vibrant US immigrant integration program, through the 2007 launch of its National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, which has distinguished itself as a top-flight destination for serious research, policy proposals, and sharing of best practices across the integration field.

In its European work, MPI has launched the:

Transatlantic Council on Migration
This is a new nonpartisan initiative created by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) in Washington, together with founding members Antonio Vitorino, Ana Palacio, Trevor Phillips, Rita Süssmuth, and Xavier Becerra. Its primary goal is to frame vital policy issues in a comparative perspective and thus inform policymaking in North America and Europe.  The Council collaborates with the European Policy Centre and was launched in April 2008 at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy.

Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration
MPI has convened a task force to promote thoughtful immigration policies and assess and respond to the profound challenges of integrating immigrants and building stronger communities on both sides of the Atlantic. It addresses its recommendations to European Union institutions and Member State governments, the governments of the United States and Canada, and state and local governments and civil society everywhere.

Reports: