Speaking Points: Integration from a
Global Perspective

1. Introduction
   
   
   

   • Integration is one of the most important and complex
     migration-related challenges faced by many governments and
     societies worldwide. The interaction between migrants and host
     societies is indeed positive and mutually beneficial, and needs to
     be considered an essential part of a comprehensive migration
     policy.
     
     
     
     • Today, all countries are either points of origin, transit or
       destination, and often all three at once. Contrary to the general
       assumption most migratory flows occur within regions, and many
       well-established flows occur between developing countries
       themselves. Integration is therefore a really global
       challenge.
     • Globalization with the associated growth of human mobility and
       migration flows increased the significance of integration. It also
       lead to a change in migration patterns necessitating the rethinking
       of some of the current approaches to and the introduction of
       innovative integration policies that would reflect modern
       realities.
     • In addition, recent security issues have brought a sharpened
       focus on societal and political security and cohesion in conditions
       of diversity, raising questions about lessons learned and what
       integration should be. 
       
       
       
   • In my presentation, I will refer to integration as the process
     by which migrants become accepted into society, both as individuals
     and as groups. It generally refers to a two-way process of
     adaptation by newcomers and host communities in multiple
     arenas.
     
     
     
     • Integration does not necessarily imply permanent
       settlement.
       
     • It does, however, imply consideration of the rights and
       obligations of migrants and host societies, of access to different
       kinds of services and the labour market, and of identification and
       respect for a core set of values that bind migrants and host
       communities in a common purpose.
       
       
       
   • Successful integration can help ensure that migrants fulfil
     their societal responsibilities and are empowered to enjoy their
     rights. Integration is critical to social cohesion and stability,
     to maximizing migrants’ economic and social contributions,
     and to improving the quality of life of migrants and host community
     members alike. All members of the community, including migrants,
     not only avoid the negative repercussions arising from
     migrants’ isolation and marginalization, but positively
     benefit from strengthened communities.
     
     
     
     
     

   
   
   
   

2. Integration: “models” or
   “experiences”?
   
   
   

   • There is no single blueprint for managing integration. Every
     country needs to find its own approach in view of its specific
     circumstances, as well as how the host country and community views
     questions of national identity and cultural diversity, and much
     more.
     
     
     
     • There are several models used by governments, ranging from the
       so-called integrationist to the multi-cultural model, with
       increasing polarization between these models emerging in recent
       years.
       
       
       
   • However, the alteration of some of migration’s
     fundamental features has lead to the development of new notions of
     belonging and identity. These objective changes need to be factored
     into the existing approaches to integration and taken into account
     when developing new policies.
     
     
     
     • The need for revisiting existing integration tools and devising
       new ones was one of the prominent points made during the recent IOM
       International Dialogue on Migraiton intersessional workshop devoted
       to integration. The need for change and innovation was underlined
       by both traditional and recent countries of destination.
       
       
       

   
   
   
   

3. What are precisely the modern changes
   affecting integration approaches?
   
   
   

   • First of all, the nature of the human mobility in terms of
     volumes, duration, direction and pattern has changed.
     
     
     
     • In the past, one-time, unidirectional movement resulting in
       permanent settlement in relatively few countries of destination
       dominated migratory trends. The routes of migration formed
       predictable patterns and followed historical, linguistic and
       cultural ties. In general, migration was constrained by the
       difficulty and expense of travel, which helped keep migration
       volume within a relatively moderate spectrum.
     • Today, however, people are increasingly migrating for various
       lengths of time throughout a series of destinations. These
       circular, or multi-dimensional, migration patterns enable migrants
       to form multiple ties with several countries. Moreover, ease of
       travel and communication enable migrants to travel further, and
       more frequently.
       
       
       
   • To respond to these changes, integration efforts need to be
     flexible and responsive to the needs of each different situation,
     and in particular to address the specific place and role of
     temporary migrants in the host society.
     
     
     
     • Traditional approaches focused solely on integration in terms
       of long term or permanent migration risk marginalizing an
       increasingly large segment of the population in many countries,
       such as temporary workers, contractual workers and migrants in an
       irregular status, with negative social and economic
       implications.
     • Today, successful integration strategies need to be much more
       nuanced and flexible than previously thought. Among the
       alternatives open to the countries focusing on temporary migrants
       are a spectrum of options that bestow some privileges on migrants,
       such as local voting rights, access to social services and labour
       market, land ownership, without making them full citizens.
       
       
       
   • Changing migration trends have also led to the creation of more
     differences between migrants and society, and more mobility between
     cultures that differ from each other. It has resulted in the
     alteration in the interrelationship among migrants, host and home
     societies, affecting the very fundamentals of integration by
     challenging traditional notions of belonging, identity and their
     interrelationships with citizenship.
     
     
     
     • In the past, countries of destination traditionally focused on
       the integration of migrants with a view to putting them on the path
       to nationality. For this reason, some countries considered (and
       continue to consider) integration only in these terms.
     • Today, a typical migrant may well be born in one country,
       obtain an education in another, live part of his professional life
       in another, and retire in yet another. At each stage, migrants
       establish roots, participate in community life, and leave a lasting
       imprint on the communities and persons with whom they have come in
       contact, and are themselves changed by the experience. This form of
       migration creates the possibility of having multiple nationalities
       and different notions of belonging (transnationalism).
     • This changed sense of affiliation has direct implications for
       governmental policy in such areas as multiple nationality and
       voting rights for non-resident nationals, mostly at local level.
       Some governments of countries of origin are moving in the direction
       of facilitating multiple affiliations for the benefits these bring
       to investment and job creation in the country of origin (using
       remittances as a potential leverage with appropriate incentives)
       and link to migration and development.
       
       
       
   • The implications of transnationalism go to the heart of
     integration approach, creating a new paradigm for adaptation and
     cohesion. Earlier, the expectation was that a migrant had to adjust
     to the host society in a more or less one-sided process. Today,
     although that is still the expectation in many societies, there is
     growing realization that societies do and must also change, making
     integration much more of a two-way process in which both host
     societies and migrants are changed, often in quite profound
     ways.
     
     
     

   
   
   
   

4. Implementing effective integration
   strategies on the ground
   
   
   

   • Integration strategies address different dimensions of
     integration, including economic, social, cultural, political and
     legal, and different stages of migration experience. The emphasis
     on each element varies according to the objectives and integration
     vision of each country, to how the host country and community views
     questions of national identity and cultural diversity, and much
     more.
     
     
     
     • The migration experience does not begin or end at the moment of
       crossing the border. Where migration is planned, efforts to
       integrate migrants into host societies can begin in countries of
       origin with pre-departure orientation and continue in countries of
       destination through the provision of consular assistance and social
       services, inclusion of migrants in the labour market, granting of
       nationality or other permanent status, information campaigns to
       sensitize host communities to migrants and their potential
       contributions, and encouraging greater participation of second- and
       third-generation migrants in the host community.
       
       
       
   • IOM has extensive experience assisting states in devising and
     implementing a variety of integration programmes. Traditional
     immigration countries, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand or
     the United States, but also many European countries such as
     Finland, Norway, the Netherlands or Switzerland, to name just a
     few, are using IOM services for resettlement and integration
     programmes, including language training, cultural orientation,
     travel documentation and transport assistance, health assessment,
     pre-departure treatment or counselling and post-arrival referrals
     to facilitate integration. Responding to many governments’
     increasing tendency to factor integration into their overall
     migration management policies, the scope of these activities has
     expanded in recent years to address the wider spectrum of
     integration needs of both migrants and receiving societies.
     
     
     
   • As integration is a two-way process, effective integration
     strategies need to target not only migrants but also receiving
     communities in order to sensitize public opinion with a view to
     combating xenophobia and racism. Negative image of migrants is one
     of the key issues to address. Dispelling myths associated with
     migration and providing reliable information to the public with
     regard to migration and the benefits that migrants bring to host
     societies can contribute to their social acceptance and successful
     integration.
     
     
     
     • Many IOM integration programmes (including EQUAL project in
       Italy, Path to Progress in Greece and a Latvia integration
       programme) incorporate such elements.
       
       
       
   • We know from experience that whatever the integration model and
     strategy, the focus of integration should be on migrants’
     experience in and interaction with the host society. Integration
     policies should be tailored to the needs of the migrant and to the
     expectations of the receiving community: “one size fits
     all” programmes do not address the specific needs of the
     migrant and do little to actualize integration. Integration
     programmes can be adapted to an individual’s specific
     characteristics, such as linguistic needs, cultural background, and
     socio-economic status. Tailored integration processes should also
     account for the specific region to which the migrant is travelling
     and orient him to the specifics of that area.
     
     
     
     • IOM implements targeted integration programmes, which take into
       account both the particular features of the receiving
       country/community as well as the characteristics of a particular
       migrant group, which may be defined according to a multiplicity of
       factors, including the cause or category of movement (persecution
       or conflict in the case of refugees, lack of economic opportunity,
       family reunification), level of skills, reasons for migrating,
       place of origin, place of destination, length of stay, and
       gender.
       
       
       

   
   
   
   

5. Integrating ethnic minority youth
   
   
   

   • Young migrants, including second and third- generation
     migrants, merit special attention. Ethnic minority youth is one of
     the particularly vulnerable groups: young migrants face a double
     challenge just by being young and belonging to an ethnic minority.
     At the same time, this group has perhaps the greatest resources and
     potential both in social, cultural and economic terms to benefit
     home and host societies. Thus, both the costs of failing to
     successfully integrate young people and the benefits of their
     successful integration are great.
     
     
     
     • Vulnerability: Young migrants can be deeply affected by
       manifestations of discrimination and xenophobia, experience
       identity crisis and are likely to face high unemployment rates and
       be subject to social exclusion. All these factors can undermine
       social cohesion and stability and lead to radicalization of ethnic
       minority youth, as was observed in some EU countries.
     • Potential: On the other hand, ethnic minority youth also have
       many resources and potential (multicultural competences, language
       skills, transnational consciousness and networks), which can
       greatly benefit the society in both social and economic terms. In
       view of the demographic trends in the developed world, successful
       integration of ethnic minority youth into the labour market is
       critical to sustainable economic development.
       
       
       
   • It is necessary to take steps to ensure both the protection of
     the human rights of migrants in general, with a particular focus on
     youth, addressing all forms of discrimination, and the provision of
     opportunities for the realization of their potential. Ensuring that
     there is real equality of opportunity in such areas as education
     and labour market is of key importance.
     
     
     
     • IOM programmes tailored to the specific needs of different
       migrant groups include modules for young people. In particular, IOM
       is implementing a programme in Estonia, which provides integration
       support to non-Estonian unemployed youth through offering
       vocational and adaptation training. By helping young non-Estonian
       citizens develop professional and social skills, as well as
       employment opportunities, the programme has a high rate of success
       in facilitating young people’s entry into the local labour
       market and enhancing their integration into the Estonian
       society.

   
   
   
   

Conclusion

Partnerships and cooperation, within governments and among all
relevant stakeholders, including migrants and young people
themselves, is a key to successful and effective integration.

• Successful implementation of integration strategies in general
  and those targeting youth in particular require not only a
  “whole of government approach” but a “whole of
  society” approach as the civil society, private sector and
  other actors can offer valuable expertise and ideas to facilitate
  integration.
• The institutions where nationals and non-nationals mainly
  interact, such as schools, markets and banks, are often in the best
  position to assess and address the particular needs of the
  community and the migrants. Non-state actors therefore complement
  the efforts of governments owing to their grass roots presence to
  engage and assist migrants in their daily life.
• Experiences of individual migrants are a valuable source of
  information to aid understanding of the integration challenges and
  for developing effective strategies to address them. Migrants can
  help identify needs and barriers that policies or programmes might
  address, and highlight effective ways to engage particular
  categories of migrants. Therefore partnerships with migrants
  themselves, through, for instance, diaspora associations, or in
  case of devising youth integration programmes, youth associations,
  can be highly beneficial.