Abstract
Integration of immigrants is at the forefront of policy concerns in many countries. Simultaneously, there is an increasing focus on the role of the receiving society for achieving a higher degree of integration of immigrants. In recent decades, the successful integration of immigrants into a host country's society, economy, and polity has become a major issue for policymakers. For social cohesion and inclusive growth and the ability of migrants to become self-reliant, productive citizens the integration of immigrants and of their children is vibrant. This chapter identifies various dimensions and indicators involved in integration of immigrants into a host society. There are always concerns about successful integration; however, this is not determined solely by the actions immigrants take and the resources they possess. The reception—supportive, neutral, or negative—they receive from the host community plays a critical role. In this direction, this chapter also highlights various challenges and gaps that are involved in immigrant integration.
TopVarious Dimensions Involved In Immigrant Integration
Immigrant integration is increasingly becoming a core concern of national governments globally. Often the approach to immigration, and consequently also to integration, seems to be actually deviating with, or even contrasting, national governments positions (Gebhardt, 2014). While commenting on problems of and solutions for the study of
immigrant integration Penninx (2019) acknowledges that there has been and still is a lot of political discourse on (failed) multiculturalism and on (failed) integration that uses these concepts in a very specific way.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Assimilation: The process by which immigrants become similar to natives–leading to the reduction (or possibly the disappearance) of ethnic difference between them.
Refugee: A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.
Migrant: Migrant is a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.
Stateless Person: A stateless person is someone who is not a citizen of any country.
Immigration: Immigration relates to the movement of peoples from one country into another, for residential rather than visiting purposes, which may be for a number of reasons, including economic, familial, social, or personal.
Integration: Integration is the process by which immigrants become accepted into society, both as individuals and as groups.
Citizenship: A formal status denoting rights (political rights, in particular) and a more general concept for understanding social membership. Some immigrants become naturalized citizens; immigration has also transformed the meaning of citizenship itself.
Social Cohesion: A set of ideas that problematizes differences between immigrants and natives and seeks (typically via government policies) to resolve such problems by fostering ‘shared values’ and ‘common identities’.
Inclusion: The idea that everyone should be able to use the same facilities, take part in the same activities, and enjoy the same experiences.