Immigration report - Integrating but keeping identity

The publication of the report, Getting On: From Migration to Integration, deserves careful consideration. Commissioned by Immigrant Council of Ireland, it was drawn up by a range of academics at University College, Dublin.

The focus of the report is the need for full integration into Irish society of the migrants coming into this country. The report concentrated on four nationalities — Chinese, Lithuanian, Indian and Nigerian.

It was compiled through questionnaires and interviews with more than 100 migrants from those countries to evaluate their experiences and determine how well they think they have integrated.

From the outset, the study was careful to emphasise the aim is not to bring about assimilation but rather, full integration that allows the migrants to participate in all the major aspects of society without having to relinquish their own cultural identity.

Proper integration must be achieved in the economic, social, political and cultural spheres. Society should develop a multi-ethnic balance that is welcoming and respectful of the rights and entitlements of all.

The government has recognised the need for positive action by appointing a dedicated Minister of State to oversee integration, but different departments deals with issues of immigration and integration, and this has led to some problems.

A Nigerian asylum seeker may have had different experiences to a Chinese person who arrives with a work permit, or from a Lithuanian who arrives as a citizen of the member state of the EU. Proper integration is complicated by language difficulties and problems surrounding the unification of families.

“As an emigrant nation for centuries, it behooves Ireland to be particularly sensitive to the challenges facing migrants in new societies,” says the report. The authors make over two-dozen recommendations that the government should do more in a range of areas.

The recommendations are essentially common sense suggestions that could be summarised as ensuring that migrants are treated with the same respect as citizens. Those who are working are contributing to the economy and paying taxes, and they and their families should be treated accordingly.

The report notes that English language proficiency has been essential to proper integration. The state should therefore provide the means for non-English speaking migrants to acquire proper language skills.

Most of these people contribute to our economy by paying taxes and working, but they do not feel that they are integrated in the political sphere. They are unaware that they can vote in local elections or European elections in many cases.

We should not make the mistakes that other European countries made in the aftermath of the second world war, when immigrants were marginalised and ghettoised. History has shown that this is a recipe for disharmony and future conflict.