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Home sweet home?

The third generation of immigrants now lives in Europe, whose parents and grandparents often came as guest workers or seeking political asylum. What challenges does this cohabitation bring? A link list on failed integration, positive models and possible solutions.

Photo: AP/ Franka Bruns

Failed integration:

A third of the children born in Germany grow up in migrant families, nevertheless many immigrants are poorly integrated into the social fabric. In the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Necla Kelek, a German social scientist born in Istanbul, put this down not only to social and economic circumstances, but also to cultural and religious factors as well as patriarchal family structures. (03.02.2009)
» Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)

Mediapart.fr, the Internet portal of former chief editor of Le Monde Edwy Plenel, commented on the jeers and whistling at the Marseillaise during a friendly football match opposing Tunisia and France: "What's really being put in question here is the relationship of the youths with migration backgrounds to the country that took in their parents and grandparents."
(16.10.2008)
» Mediapart.fr (French)

Many immigration initiatives often result in the opposite of what they seek to achieve because they stress the differences among cultures, wrote the Swedish daily Göteborgs-Posten. (16.10.2008)
» Göteborgs Posten (Swedish)

After the murder of a 31-year-old Pakistani-Danish woman on a trip to Pakistan, the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende wrote that such honour killings are a sign of failed integration, adding that the authorities in the country must not fail to react when crimes are committed against Danish citizens. (01.07.2008)
» Berlingske Tidende (Danish)

The success of integration often depends on the immigrants' country of origin, argued Jan Plovsing, Director General of Statistics Denmark in the daily Jyllands-Posten. Only 35 – 37 percent of immigrants from Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq had jobs, Plovsing commented, compared with 62 – 67 percent of immigrants from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and China (19.12.2008)
» Jyllands-Posten (Danish)

Although the EU considers itself an "open society", its gravest failing is the exclusion and marginalisation of the Roma, commented US financial investor George Soros in the French daily Le Monde during the EU's Roma Conference. (19.09.2008)
» Le Monde (French)

The Romanian weekly paper Revista 22 looked at the integration of the Roma in Romania and Europe, commenting that Spain in particular has been more successful on this front than Central and Eastern Europe, where programmes have been organised by weak, incompetent and corrupt administrations. (30.07.2008)
» Revista 22 (Romanian)

The Greek daily I Kathimerini criticised the poor treatment of the Albanian minority – roughly 40 percent of all immigrants in Greece – by the Greek authorities, citing mass deportations, acts of violence and exploitation on the job. (05.08.2008)
» I Kathimerini (Greek)

The Hungarian weekly Heti Válasz analysed Western Europeans' fears of Eastern European immigrants, concluding that all attempts at multiculturalism have failed. (22.05.2008)
» Heti Válasz (Hungarian)


Proposed solutions:

Referring to academic studies stressing the advantages of bilingualism, the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asked whether bilingualism could help ease integration. (06.05.2008)
» Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)

Christianity helps integration, wrote the Danish daily Berlingske Tidende. A growing number of Muslim youths attend Christian schools, the paper commented, because there they learn Danish values and an appreciation of democracy. (28.01.2009)
» Berlingske Tidende (Danish)

The Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat pointed out that immigrants are far from a homogenous mass. They have many different experiences and attitudes, the paper wrote, and opportunities must be found for them to integrate into Finnish society. (31.12.2008)
» Turun Sanomat (Finnish)

The Austrian daily Die Presse commented on the new integration strategy of Günther Platter, then Austrian Minister of the Interior, and called on the ministry to commit more funds to easing the integration of immigrants. (26.06.2008)
» Die Presse (German)

The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten discussed planned changes in the school law – including the abolishment of school choice. The paper favours the idea that children from all social classes and origins should go to the same school. (05.05.2008)
» Jyllands-Posten (Danish)

The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter saw immigration as a possible solution to the problem of an aging Europe. (28.08.2008)
» Dagens Nyheter (Swedish)

In Finland the unemployment rate is three times higher among immigrants than among the rest of the population, the Finnish paper Etelä-Suomen-Sanomat wrote, calling for immigrants to make better use of the labour market. (01.02.2009)
» Etelä-Suomen-Sanomat (Finnish)

Many French commentators discussed the plan put forward by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodrígez Zapatero to give local voting rights to migrants from outside the EU. In the French daily Le Figaro the philosopher Robert Redeker spoke out against the initiative. (12.08.2008)
» Le Figaro (French)

Islamic education in German schools was one of the recommendations of the third German Islam Conference, an informal advisory committee on Muslim integration in Germany. The left-wing German daily die tageszeitung criticised the proposal. (14.03.2008)
» die tageszeitung (German)

Until now the Swedish school law has allowed schoolchildren to not attend certain subjects for reasons of religious conviction. In 2007, 27 percent of girls from immigrant backgrounds did not go to sports, swimming or sexual education classes. The Swedish daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet supported the law reform proposal by Education Minister Jan Björklund and Integration and Equality Minister Nyamko Sabuni, arguing that all students should have the same education. (07.03.2008)
» Sydsvenska Dagbladet (Swedish)


Positive examples

The British daily The Guardian registered delight that a growing number of German politicians have foreign-sounding names. (05.02.2009)
» The Guardian (English)

Talking with Isolde Charim in the left-wing German daily die tageszeitung, US sociologist Saskia Sassen argued that migrants play an important role in social development. As informal political players, migrants, refugees and women often play a key role in strengthening human rights and furthering the political agenda, Sassen said. (22.04.2008)
» die tageszeitung (German)

Before the election of the Dutch-Moroccan Ahmed Aboutaleb, formerly State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment, as mayor of Rotterdam, the Dutch daily Trouw wrote that having a mayor with two passports was a major step forward for integration. (17.10.2008)
» Trouw (Dutch)

Costel Busuioc was just one among two million Romanian immigrants in Spain until the 33-year-old won a talent competition and became known as the "Romanian Pavarotti". Diana Popescu wrote in the Romanian newspaper Gandul that the victory gave a terrific boost to Romania's image abroad. (14.03.2008)
» Gândul (Romanian)

In 2008 writers born in Guinea and Afghanistan won prestigious literary prizes in France. The French daily Le Monde called this a clear sign that France has finally accepted its multiculturalism. (12.11.2008)
» Le Monde (French)

Further articles on the subject » Integration, » Minorities, » Migration, » Europe
More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Minorities, » Migration, » Europe