Lectures Migration and Integration
,Lectures notes Migration and Integration ....................................................................................... 1
L1: International migration .......................................................................................................... 3
L2: Migrants and policy ............................................................................................................... 8
L3: Socio-economic integration ..................................................................................................14
L4: The effectiveness of integration policy for economic and socio-cultural integration ......................19
L5: The socio-cultural integration of immigrants within its social context..........................................25
L6: Migrant transnationalism ......................................................................................................30
L7: Immigration and child mental health ......................................................................................34
,L1: International migration
Definitions
Definition international migration
UN: Movements across international boundaries which constitute a change of
residence. For purpose of international comparison permanent and long-term
immigrants should include both citizen and foreign nationals intending to stay for more
than one year
International Organizational of Migration defines immigration as a process by which non-
nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement
Various types of immigrants
• Labour migrants
→ Guest workers, high- versus low-skilled
• Family migration
→ Family reunion and formation
• Refugees
→ Asylum seekers, status holders, rejected asylum seekers
• International students
→ Not always easy to classify migrants into these categories
→ They are not static and don’t always reflect reality
→ Example: student comes to a country for school, and then stays because she
marries, and she finds a job here: so, they can overlap, and it can be difficult to classify
Refugees and asylum seekers
• Asylum seekers
= People who make a formal request for asylum in another country because they
fear their life is at risk in their country of origin
• Refugees
= Fleeing their home country to save their lives who have been accepted and
recognized as such in their host country
→ Accepted asylum seekers
→ 1951 UN Convention: refugee: a person outside his or her country and “owning to
well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or
political opinion”
Various dichotomies in labeling immigrants
• Voluntary versus forced migrants (due to threats to life, war, natural disasters)
• Self-supported versus smuggled
• Documented versus undocumented (or unauthorized)
• Orderly versus irregular (illegal)
→ Not always easy to classify migrants, for example to say if someone leaves voluntarily
or because he is forced
, Concerns labelling/use of types/dichotomies
• Different definitions/interpretations in different countries
• Labels do not fit complex (changing) realities (e.g. same person may be classified
as a refugee and family or labor migrant)
• Some labels/types have a negative connotation in some contexts (which may
hinder integration and disacknowledge individual characteristics)
From various countries of origin
• Nowadays immigrants from many countries of origin in many countries of
destination
• More diversity in terms of nationalities, ethnic groups, cultures, religious
dominations
→ There is a complex structure of the migrant population
• And differences in time of arrival: some immigrant groups have a relatively longer
history in countries of destination due to some special circumstances such as
decolonization, war, recruitment of guest workers and international treaties
Trends in migration
In the EU:
• The biggest group are people who come for family (family migrants)
• The fourth largest group are people who come for education (international
students)
• The third largest group are people who come for work (labor migrants)
o First residence permits annually issued for work reasons:
▪ Highly skilled
→ Reason: it is easier to get them into the country, regarding visa
regulations
▪ Other
▪ Researchers
▪ Seasonal workers
▪ EU Blue Card
• The second largest group is ‘other’
o Refugees/sub prot.
o Humanitarian
o Not specified
o Residence only
Actual trends in migration to the EU since 2000
- Family migration is the main type in numerical terms
- Asylum migration volume fluctuated considerably
o Reduced to less than one third between 2000 and 2009
o Increased to all time record in 2014 and 2015
- Strong increase in labour migration (mainly from EU, like Poles and Germans)
- Strong increase in international students (mainly from EU)
,Lectures notes Migration and Integration ....................................................................................... 1
L1: International migration .......................................................................................................... 3
L2: Migrants and policy ............................................................................................................... 8
L3: Socio-economic integration ..................................................................................................14
L4: The effectiveness of integration policy for economic and socio-cultural integration ......................19
L5: The socio-cultural integration of immigrants within its social context..........................................25
L6: Migrant transnationalism ......................................................................................................30
L7: Immigration and child mental health ......................................................................................34
,L1: International migration
Definitions
Definition international migration
UN: Movements across international boundaries which constitute a change of
residence. For purpose of international comparison permanent and long-term
immigrants should include both citizen and foreign nationals intending to stay for more
than one year
International Organizational of Migration defines immigration as a process by which non-
nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement
Various types of immigrants
• Labour migrants
→ Guest workers, high- versus low-skilled
• Family migration
→ Family reunion and formation
• Refugees
→ Asylum seekers, status holders, rejected asylum seekers
• International students
→ Not always easy to classify migrants into these categories
→ They are not static and don’t always reflect reality
→ Example: student comes to a country for school, and then stays because she
marries, and she finds a job here: so, they can overlap, and it can be difficult to classify
Refugees and asylum seekers
• Asylum seekers
= People who make a formal request for asylum in another country because they
fear their life is at risk in their country of origin
• Refugees
= Fleeing their home country to save their lives who have been accepted and
recognized as such in their host country
→ Accepted asylum seekers
→ 1951 UN Convention: refugee: a person outside his or her country and “owning to
well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or
political opinion”
Various dichotomies in labeling immigrants
• Voluntary versus forced migrants (due to threats to life, war, natural disasters)
• Self-supported versus smuggled
• Documented versus undocumented (or unauthorized)
• Orderly versus irregular (illegal)
→ Not always easy to classify migrants, for example to say if someone leaves voluntarily
or because he is forced
, Concerns labelling/use of types/dichotomies
• Different definitions/interpretations in different countries
• Labels do not fit complex (changing) realities (e.g. same person may be classified
as a refugee and family or labor migrant)
• Some labels/types have a negative connotation in some contexts (which may
hinder integration and disacknowledge individual characteristics)
From various countries of origin
• Nowadays immigrants from many countries of origin in many countries of
destination
• More diversity in terms of nationalities, ethnic groups, cultures, religious
dominations
→ There is a complex structure of the migrant population
• And differences in time of arrival: some immigrant groups have a relatively longer
history in countries of destination due to some special circumstances such as
decolonization, war, recruitment of guest workers and international treaties
Trends in migration
In the EU:
• The biggest group are people who come for family (family migrants)
• The fourth largest group are people who come for education (international
students)
• The third largest group are people who come for work (labor migrants)
o First residence permits annually issued for work reasons:
▪ Highly skilled
→ Reason: it is easier to get them into the country, regarding visa
regulations
▪ Other
▪ Researchers
▪ Seasonal workers
▪ EU Blue Card
• The second largest group is ‘other’
o Refugees/sub prot.
o Humanitarian
o Not specified
o Residence only
Actual trends in migration to the EU since 2000
- Family migration is the main type in numerical terms
- Asylum migration volume fluctuated considerably
o Reduced to less than one third between 2000 and 2009
o Increased to all time record in 2014 and 2015
- Strong increase in labour migration (mainly from EU, like Poles and Germans)
- Strong increase in international students (mainly from EU)
