-
Who we are
WHO WE AREThe International Organization for Migration (IOM) is part of the United Nations System as the leading inter-governmental organization promoting since 1951 humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all, with 175 member states and a presence in 171 countries.
-
Our Work
Our WorkAs the leading inter-governmental organization promoting since 1951 humane and orderly migration, IOM plays a key role to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through different areas of intervention that connect both humanitarian assistance and sustainable development.
What We Do
What We Do
Partnerships
Partnerships
Highlights
Highlights
- Where we work
-
Take Action
Take Action
Work with us
Work with us
Get involved
Get involved
- Data and Research
- 2030 Agenda
European Conference on Active Participation of Ethnic Minority Youth in Society
Speaking Points: Integration from a
Global Perspective
-
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.
- Today, all countries are either points of origin, transit or
- 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.
- Integration does not necessarily imply permanent
- 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.
- Integration is one of the most important and complex
-
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.
- There are several models used by governments, ranging from the
- 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.
- The need for revisiting existing integration tools and devising
- There is no single blueprint for managing integration. Every
-
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.
- In the past, one-time, unidirectional movement resulting in
- 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.
- Traditional approaches focused solely on integration in terms
- 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.
- In the past, countries of destination traditionally focused on
- 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.
- First of all, the nature of the human mobility in terms of
-
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.
- The migration experience does not begin or end at the moment of
- 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.
- Many IOM integration programmes (including EQUAL project in
- 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.
- IOM implements targeted integration programmes, which take into
- Integration strategies address different dimensions of
-
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.
- Vulnerability: Young migrants can be deeply affected by
- 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.
- IOM programmes tailored to the specific needs of different
- Young migrants, including second and third- generation
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.