How can Europe integrate over a million people? That’s the question facing EU policymakers as they argue over “solidarity” and refugee-sharing. On paper, it shouldn’t be an impossible task for a continent with a population of more than 500 million and an economy worth over €16 trillion. In practice, however, it’s an issue which has divided Europe since the migrant crisis began.
In order to take a closer look at the local impact of the refugee crisis, we launched our ‘Cities & Refugees‘ project – aimed at fostering a Europe-wide dialogue between citizens, refugees and asylum seekers, NGOs, politicians, and European leaders. The emphasis will be on connecting local, everyday life at the city level to decisions made in Brussels and national capitals.
After our events in Malta and Budapest, our third event in the series took place on the 22nd of June 2017 in Brussels. Organised in partnership with Young European Leadership, experts and citizens joined together in a discussion on the challenges of integrating refugees in European societies and spoke about the root causes of migration, how migration can help to pay for an ageing society, and potential ways to reach complete integration.
Speakers of the event were Director of the Brussels Office of the International Labour Organisation, Claire Courteille-Mulder; Secretary General of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Catherine Woollard; Deputy Head of Unit of the Legal Migration and Integration Department at the European Commission, Antoine Salvary; and Junior Project Officer of the MIEUX project of the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in Brussels, Romain Gustot. The event was moderated by Luiza Nita.
You can watch a video of the full event here:
How can Europe best integrate refugees and migrants? What are some of the biggest challenges for integrating people into society? Can migration help pay for an ageing society? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!
The Debating Europe “Cities & Refugees” project is co-funded by the European Union’s “Europe for Citizens” program.
IMAGE CREDITS: CC / Flickr – Brainbitch
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So far it is certain that it cant. They dont want to integrate. Multiculturalism is dead. You can deny it, but its the truth
I don’t agree that multiculturalism is dead. The ones that do not integrate with European cultures are mostly those connected to Islam… Islam is the issue…
While that might be true for former Yugoslavia, that doesn’t make it true globally.
But even so, the solution might be the same.
Multiculturalism implies that the new country of the migrants also accepts the culture of the new immigrants. I don’t think it’s what Europeans have in mind when they talk about multiculturalism. They say multiculturalism, but what they actually mean is assimilation.
Bullshit. From working with them, actually many of them really want to learn languages and skills to adapt easier to other countries . that point is invalid
Bogdan Iliuță Istrate Yes because assimilation works and creates a homogenous society which is stable. Multiculturalism just creates natural segregation over time and ghettos.
Funny is how multiculturalism must be implemented only in the West, because there’s no multiculturalism in Middle East, Africa or Asia.
Germany has about 250.000 people who were determined to be illegitimate asylum seekers even with the best of intentions and yet they would not go home.
What should the EU do about such people? There are some in other countries, too.
Well either Europe could intervene in these nearby conflicts BEFORE they create a million refugees, or else they can deal with the consequences of having been too lazy to do so
Well it did intervene in Libya… Also, much of the currenr wave from West Africa is fleeing poverty not war. The EU cannot properly help develop a region in which fertility rates see runaway population growth.
Poverty is no grounds for asylum according to international law.
Well the majority of the migrants come from Middle East and Africa. We cannot integrate all of them.They are simply to many of them. EU states governments can’t pay up the bill ,it’s too expensive. At the end of war in Syria and Irak the refugees must be returned to their homelands. In the meantime we can foster them and provide safe refuge for real asylum seekers .For the african migrants we need to sign treaties with North African countries in order to give them a chance for real economic growth development and stop the illegal migrants trading businesses that flourish on the coast of Libia and Italy.
That is something Europe should have thought about when they were choosing NOT to intervene in local nearby conflicts
Max there is no time to think about past mistakes but about the actions of the present and future.
No way, they dont want that but take the countries for them under their f… religious law and kill us all
And….that’s why all EU countries choose to intervene in these nearby conflicts BEFORE they created a million refugees. Right?
Instead of asking such silly questions now, EU bureaucrats should have asked its citizens if they are ready to shoulder one more burden.
Is not silly, this page whose create to “wash brains”, to prepare populations step by step to OBEY. Remember “1984” by Orwell? Don’t you see that is posting only thing’s that are ABSOLUTLY USELESS for Europe? Meanwhile unemployment raise up, people from european union migrate from a country to another following better level of life, meanwhile “empty spaces” created by those persons will be fill with this “refugees”. Why? Who are those who FORCE to something like that? Kalergi plan explain that with detail.
They weren’t. They all CHOOSE to ignore the local nearby conflicts. Now… they get to enjoy the consequences of that choice
EU bureaucrats have nothing to do with EU govts deciding to let people in. Anyway, you miss the point – whether you were asked or not, millions and millions will continue to come in greater numbers because of war, desertification, famine, environmental degradation, climate change. You give a silly response to a serious question – which you’ll have to face not that long in the future.
WE DON’T WANT REFUGEES AND IMIGRANTS! The best way to help them is to deport to they’re origins!!!
Fascist detected!
Nando Sousa liberal troll detected
Yeah, the best way is to help them where they and their families live and where they’re at home.
What about Romanian imigrants,Daniel?At the end are still imigrants…
Ionescu Mirela perhaps you are confused and don’t see the fact that WE, romanians are europeans by the creation of the mother Earth. Beside that, WE are christians. Are some aspects that I’m pretty sure that you never considerate as arguments. Whatever ….
Ionescu Mirela and I believe that you forget to notice that we are not terrorist and also we are not gypsies. But well, this day’s “humanity” sell well for those that are some perfect anonymous, is “cool” to receive a dozen of “likes” for being stupid but emphatic whit the “refugees” and other “class” of people, we worship abnormality and blame what is normal and healthy …
You can’t deny that SOME romanians are doing a criminal activity in the countries where they immigrate . For those few romanians, would you agree to deport all romanians immigrants in their origin country? Because this is what you say, for a few terrorists (and by the way, terrorists were not from refugees, but people born in Europe) , we have to blame in mass all refugees and send them in war zones to be killed …
Sorin Stanescu you must be really dumb to write something like that, but I presume they put iodine in your salt :(
You’re right Daniel about Muslims. But you should go home also. Romanians are not Europeans, they’re middle easterners (Turkish, Gypsies) settled at the outskirts of Europe. Better they stay there on the other side of the Charpatians.
Angéline De Beierse, the gypsies (i.e. Indian nomadic tribe), Turks and Middle Easterners in Romania and Bulgaria are ethnic minorities. I repeat – ETHNIC MINORITIES (about 15% of the total population), just like the Muslims in France or Belgium, for example, the Turks in Germany or the Pakistani in the UK. Would you say that all French and Belgian people are actually Muslim Arabs, i.e. not Europeans, or the indigenous German culture is Turkish and the main religion in UK is Islam? You know nothing about South-Eastern Europe and the people living there! Read something instead, learn, or even visit the countries, but don’t spread your ignorance here because we are fed up with it! We are old European and Christian cultures and have nothing to do with Middle Easterners, gypsies or Turks! We have experienced what it is to be ruled by the Ottoman Empire for centuries and this is why we don’t want to repeat that by allowing to be ruled again by millions of Muslims from other countries instead! Apart from that, the Roma gypsies (Indian migrants) are a big problem, because just like Muslims, they do not want to integrate, but prefer to segregate and isolate themselves in ghettos and perpetrate violent acts of hatred on anyone different from them (Eastern or Western European – it doesn’t matter), whenever they feel like it. Educate yourself, before you express your opinion, because you are just insulting us with your lies!
For a start, can you remember that Romanian is different from Roma? It comes from “Roman”, while “Roma” is the name of a low-caste ethnic Indian tribe that migrated out of its homeland centuries ago and came to Europe. The Turkish minority are a remnant from the Ottoman Empire.
Refugees are not to be integrated. We just have to have them in refugee camps and when their war is over, send them back home.
Cheap hand! Capitalist LOVE it!!
We love it when we have immigrants that know how to work or want to work. With this we don’t have eider of that.
They are doctors and engeneirs!!
Don’t have to debate integrating refugees and migrants if there are no refugees and migrants (Y)
Refugees should go back to theyr home when situation calms
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8122/29015842191_96754bb833_b.jpg
By helping them in their own countries?????
Not at all… can’t work….they don’t want work or education….. free housing and money and take everything…this is the sad true….
Example Germany…..
But do we have to even let all of them in? Maybe some of them can’t even be integrated
Send them home and dont bother to force them to integrate?
The best way is to make certain Europen countries to sell weapons!!4
I think that in the long-run they will be best integrated in their home countries. Taking people away from their culture and beloved home countries is cruel. Also it’s bad for those countries, taking away young, most productive and bright individuals. Asylum seeker and refugee statuses should only be temporary and only in extreme cases permanent.
Forced assimilation is cruel and it almost never works in practice, once the crisis situations in their countries calms down a bit, they all should be repatriated to their home countries to create their futures there. Just like our ancestors through their hard work created our countries for their children and grandchildren.
In the EU there are thousends of villages now deserted for several reasons but not too long ago were the homes of our ancesters…Help the migrants to settle in them instead of wasting money in frontex, refugee camps, and good for nothing ong’s and you can integrate over 10 milions.in one year.
Those deserted villages probably have owners. Maybe they should be asked firstly. And the invasion of settlers never benefited the inhabitants.
One question: ARE YOU CRAZY????
They always show pictures of cute little girls for this kind of propaganda rubbish, they never show the real people. Young, violent men yelling for money and cable tv. Fuck off EU, hopefully you’ll get what’s coming to you soon.
If European natives could not even unite among themselves what is best for Europe, especially when work becomes scarce, much more for the additional immigrants which become a burden to the nation. They could not even take care of their unemployed, the old and elderly whose pensions could not even make a decent living. Many commit suicide as result of these problems. Why take extra burdens from immigrants? Charity begins at home.
Europe is made up and has always been made up by migrants
?
Just think back a few centuries….
Ingo Vonsundahl Two migrants in Barcelona today have caused death and devastation, can you imagine what 5 million of them will do ?
These kind of migrants don’t want to integrate. They want to have ‘infidels’ land.
islam cannot be integrated into any other society
The truth!
Is that why of the millions of Muslim European citizens a vast majority of them are working in our society doing all kinds of jobs, as teachers, university lecturers, doctors, surgeons, nurses, paramedics, judges, lawyers, police officers, intelligence agents, soldiers, singers, artists, sports personalities, physicists, poets writers, actors, street cleaners, shop managers, bank clerks and bank managers…. they have helped stop terrorism plots, reported radicalized individuals, and much more…….need I continue?
Βαrcelona speaks
The best way is to not send them were they are not wanted. Integration problem solved.
It can’t. At least not in the current numbers and not with the current policies.
Soon europe will become a muslim continent. You have given them all the rights to do so
Except Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe…
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Make them work
can they best integrate HERE?
Send them back! That’s how!
We don’t need Arabs/Middle Easterners/Muslims in Europe just as we don’t need Hispanics/Latinos in the US. Maybe not even Catholics..
What has happened to the White Protestant pride?!
Ok, here is my positive answer on how to integrate them:
1. Make them White
2. Make them Bible believing Christians
3. Get the Arabic/Muslim laziness out of their DNA.
We need to understand once and for all that non-Whites don’t belong in Europe! Whether you want to admit that, Dear White fellow, deep down this is who you are and how you feel.
They will not integrate.
They say the same for Romenians in Italy and France, and yet they integrate.
Riccardo Vigano, it is a matter of religion…culture, civilization.
Riccardo Viganò
Yeah, because Romanians in Italy and France is same thing as Pacistanis in Germany.
Gabi Ionita no it’s not you are so wrong and uninformed and need to learn that there is a difference between perception and reality.
The reality is that there are Muslims European citizens make up 6% of the European population that’s 43, 470,000. For the greater they are integrated, speaking the language and working in all professions.
Where there are problems, it’s the same problems issues in poor white non Muslim communities where governments have not invested in infrastructure, education and jobs leaving large numbers of youths disenfranchised, jobless school drop outs turning to crime.
Romanians and Gypsies should be all deported back to Romana. They are the reason the UK left the EU.
Romania should have left, not the UK!
Btw Europe has a big issue with the Catholic mind set. Now getting Balcanic/Ethiopian Christianity into the equation, it’d be disastrous!
Angéline De Beierse, Romanians are native Europeans and there no culture in Europe they can’t integrate into. Gypsies are natives of India who refuse to integrate into Romanian or any other European culture. This is the difference. Don’t create a mish-mash of both because such a harmonious cultural mixture (Roma + Romanian) doesn’t exist. The Roma always keep their distance from anyone else. They will probably feel at home only in India…
Was Europe invited when it went into Africa in a colonial spree which robed the same continent of trillions worth of resources without negotiation and in a manner that violated all human rights specifically after slave trade. Why is it an issue now when the same people are facing challenges and are not causing war and neither producing arms of war to be turned back. It’s their choice. Of they want to stay in Europe so be it otherwise EU has done a lot more evil with regards to chaos than these refugees . They simply don’t have the social capital to cause harm in Europe. Every person deserves a chance of living and that person as long as they are human they are in that regard an earth citizens. Imagine if it was you, would you not seek a better and more meaningful future for your family?
Then why don’t they go to good, rich, compassionate and peaceful Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar or United Arab Emirates? Why go to those evil, sinful European invaders and non-believers? Besides, did Hungary or Slovakia bomb anyone? Also Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria? Who did they invade and enslave?
Unfortunately, LOTS of African misconceptions!
Your reference to “Human Rights” (UDHR) is challenging, but opportunistic and in “retrospect”! The UDHR came into existence only in 1948, drafted by a Committee of great people around the globe- from the US, China, Lebanon, Australia, Chile, France, USSR, UK and Canada- without any African input. Benefiting all future generations since than, but too late & advanced to correct the past!
Since 1948 all nations on all continents could now be held accountable & measured by a similar criteria. Using “Mandela’s Crime against Humanity” so liberally by all these opportunistic but dishonest new leaders is only used to obtain entitlements.
Does Africa (AU) hold its disgraced leaders to account and stop the prolonged looting of its own resources which only deepens poverty?
Sorry KingMofhu, let me add more to such sensitive matter:
The political African sentiment about our common historical past differs from that we have in the West & Europe. The global “scattering” over time of people since antiquity of various Diasporas & its reasons is well documented and can be studied without much bias.
Of course, Europe was never invited to Africa during the last 500 years. Which advanced African tribe could/would have done so? Also, none of the masses of illegal economic migrants nowadays from Africa & elsewhere to Europe (EU) are invited. Those are the poor & desperate masses- but are contrary to European reasons in the past- fleeing and avoiding their own failed or failing states nowadays. Why not apportion blame realistically?
“Trillions worth of resources…”? Unknown to all, the indigenous & everyone else at that time- or who knew better? Rapid scientific advancements, industrialization & past century politics by the evolving “West & Europe” compounded & encouraged exploration, the past slave trade (not forgetting the African “willing” business partners), colonialism & other human misery. It could just have been the other way around- but it wasn’t. Why?
They could and should only be integrated in their home countries and the programs must be sponsored by “famous philantrophs” like George Soros who’s already proved that he wants the best for everybody…
Best way is to not accept them but send them home and try to help them there.
Look at the events in Barcelona, London, Paris, etc and you have your answer.
Don’t try. They simply don’t want to be integrated.
Send them back
With what means? Most european countries have no means to do so, no presence on the ground in the combat zone, and insufficient ships in the med.
What an arrogant question, who says they need to assimilate. More like Europe better assimilate to them. It’s their countries now
Education should be the key, and for those who are not willing to accept Eropean values, offer the choice to go back..
Don’t you mean ‘Europistan’?
Integrating refugees may not be much of a problem, integrating muslim refugees is on a different level
No way!! They are now demolishing Europian culture with the help of Eu leaders.
YOU CAN’T INTEGRATE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BE INTEGRATED
how is this at all relevant? refugees want to integrate.
You’re very naive. First of all, most of them are not even refugees. They are economic migrants from countries that are not at war. Second, even ‘moderate’ Islam is simply incompatible to modern European society. They use religion as a symbol of their identity and union against the ‘infidels’. If you don’t know this, you’re really dumb.
Start by asking them if they want to integrate, muslims declare openly that they don’t want to integrate nor assimilate western culture which they despise, they want to replace it.
they dont like europe :o
We don’t have to “integrate” them: -1. The less than 3% (data UNHCR) of real refugees in the flood entering Europe are here for a short time, as soon the war is over in their country they’ll no more be refugees, and have to go back. -2. The 97% of the flood are economic migrants illegaly entered in European countries, where a quarter of the active population is allready jobless and another quarter are poor workers. Those illegals have to be rejected as soon as possible, they already have violated the law here while not even granted in. Don’t forget a fair amount of them are thieves, rapers, killers, religious extremists and political activists fleing their own countries’ justice. We for sure don’t need them in and have no humanitarian emergency to take care of them. EU shall mind its own peoples’ rights and interests in priority, as in any democracy the people is the sovereign, or will be erased by those peoples it’s deceiving ,while causing interethnic, religious and poverty-classes riots in Europe .
By kicking them back.
With what means? Most european countries have no means to do so, no presence on the ground in the combat zone, and insufficient ships in the med.
There are a lot of people coming from countries where France has a significant military presence. So military presence is not the solution. As for the Med, the coast gurd should return them back to the country of origin, not taxi them to EU.
Europe has been through a lot and has learned to intergrate. Europe can intergrate, are these refugees and migrants willing to integrate? They want to coexist but not become part of the European culture. The exceptions are few. Unfortunately. How can Europe change this?
No integration thanks, these people are on another mission and it’s not to integrate,, it’s to infiltrate and cause mass destruction!!!
Only those who want to integrate should be given asylum in Europe, but illegal travel should be stopped, as it is deeply inhumane. There should be a clear message that to enter EU one needs a visa, unless there is a war in a country neighbouring the EU. All passengers arriving in EU without valid documents or with fake passports should not be accepted.
Why is there no co-operation with the Libyan coast guard to help them return victims of smugglers back to Libya? Why are there no EU-funded settlements for migrants in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq? Why not work together with those countries, also with others on a UN level, to jointly look after refugees in their own homeland? Why tempt people to give all their money to drown in the sea, chasing a false dream? Why is there no pressure whatsoever on rich countries neighbouring conflicts, such as Saudi Arabia, to open their borders for refugees? At the moment Western Europe’s behaviour is encouraging desperate people to believe in an illusion and suffer to death in order to come, so they will keep coming (and dying), if no one stops them. Is cruelty disguised as compassion better than compassion exercised with firm and resolute measures? It is about time for EU to adopt the policies of Hungary and protect its external borders, while at the same time helping refugees live in their own countries.
STOP the bloody WAR !!!!!
For some reason, nobody is interested in committing to this idea.
Max Berre sadly true….. because they are part of the problem 😡😰
There is a growing consensus on the value of providing immigrants with integration support at the earliest possible moment in the migration process. Integration services provided prior to departure, such as language instruction, training, recognition of foreign credentials, and job skill-matching, can all have positive impacts on the labor market outcomes of immigrants once they reach their destination—and on their capacity to actively contribute to the development of their country of origin.
While European policymakers as well as their counterparts in migrant-sending countries have contributed significant political capital and resources to predeparture integration measures over the past decade, these initiatives generally have yet to fully realize their potential as a tool able to durably improve migrants’ labor market integration. This is largely due to the lack of cooperation between origin and destination countries in the design and implementation of such measures.
I don’t think they should. Europa should invest money in their country of origin to rebuild them like the Americans did with Germany after WWII.
No wey!
They do not want to integrate. A totally different culture is from the European one. The aim is to receive social benefits.
By keeping the fuckers out
with what means? Most european countries have no means to do so, no presence on the ground in the combat zone, and insufficient ships in the med.
To be honest I don’t care about Europe. They invited the “refugees”in (Merkel) Europe is a 2 tier state be a relief when Britain gets out and can close its borders.
I think in some countries, immigrants are welcomed when they integrate in the community and behave well – they do the work that no locals want to do. It’s only when there are thousands and thousands of them that the locals start feeling uneasy and fear the loss of their national identity and safety.
https://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/watch-zebbug-migrant-who-is-a-devotee-of-st-philip/
Ironically (not), when rich migrants enter a country legally to invest and start a business, they are welcomed. We live in a continent of twisted values.