A study from the European Commission called to invest on asylum seekers asking to speed up the process despite public opposition
by Emanuele Bonini
Bad news for the decision makers and the public opinion: a proper and full integration of a migrant into the labour market can require from 15 up to 20 years, according to a report published today. In times of anti-immigration sentiment, the latest annual review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) contains warnings that could be misused by those who predict the end of national traditional societies because of the foreigners. According to the report issued by the European Commission, «it takes more than 15 to 19 years in the host country for refugees to reach parity with the native-born in terms of employment rates». Having an asylum seeker completely integrated takes time, and the European Commission called the Member States to invest on migrants by promoting integration policies. It would be key for both social cohesion and security, but it is unclear whether national governments can invest more than a decade on those that the public opinion would like to see returned to their country.
Looking at what has been happening in Europe since the outbreak of the migration crisis, it is easy to guess that the difficulties related to the full integration of migrants will offer more than one argument to the far-right parties. Fences and walls are under construction everywhere in the EU, from Hungary to France. The EU-Turkey deal on migration was reached with the aim of stopping the flows of asylum seeker coming to Europe. So, investing on migrants takes time and, as a consequence, takes money. That's true especially at the beginning, when third-country nationals have to deal with the most difficult barrier: the language. «Those refugees whose language skills are low or non-existent on arrival improve their employment chances significantly by acquiring more solid host-country language skills», stressed the ESDE review. Early investment in the language skills of refugees «may actually be one of the most cost-effective instruments» to enable them to capitalise fully on their existing formal qualifications.
Of course integration is not only about language. Skills and education are also important. According to the European Commission report, «given that many refugees have low qualifications, but are young and keen to climb the qualification ladder, it is worth investing in improving their qualifications». Despite the constructive nature of the recommendation, this is something difficult to explain to voters. On one hand people generally consider migrants as unfair competitors in the labour market, on the other hand people generally don't like to see public money to be spent for foreigners as a priority matter. In the first case politicians are accused to allow social dumping, while in the second case politicians are accused of betrayal by helping foreign people rather than connational. Considering that at least 15 years are need for a complete working integration, it appears highly unlikely that politicians risks their posts for inclusive migration policies. As Hungary showed, fences bring votes, reception brings political defeat at the elections.
Reducing the time that it takes for refugees to integrate into the labour market «should remain a priority for policy makers», according to the European Commission, notably in the current context of large inflows of asylum seekers. But this would mean the creation of national systems for managing the people coming in Europe, exactly what the public opinion doesn't want. Nevertheless, the latest annual review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe insisted in underlining that in a a context of continuous inflows of refugees, most of whom are forecast to stay, this finding should be considered closely. Will the national governments do it? It is possible they will, but the practical answer is the only one that really counts. There, Europe is called to act. A twenty-years investment plan is needed.
 |
| (click on the picture to enlarge) |
Bad news for the decision makers and the public opinion: a proper and full integration of a migrant into the labour market can require from 15 up to 20 years, according to a report published today. In times of anti-immigration sentiment, the latest annual review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) contains warnings that could be misused by those who predict the end of national traditional societies because of the foreigners. According to the report issued by the European Commission, «it takes more than 15 to 19 years in the host country for refugees to reach parity with the native-born in terms of employment rates». Having an asylum seeker completely integrated takes time, and the European Commission called the Member States to invest on migrants by promoting integration policies. It would be key for both social cohesion and security, but it is unclear whether national governments can invest more than a decade on those that the public opinion would like to see returned to their country.
Looking at what has been happening in Europe since the outbreak of the migration crisis, it is easy to guess that the difficulties related to the full integration of migrants will offer more than one argument to the far-right parties. Fences and walls are under construction everywhere in the EU, from Hungary to France. The EU-Turkey deal on migration was reached with the aim of stopping the flows of asylum seeker coming to Europe. So, investing on migrants takes time and, as a consequence, takes money. That's true especially at the beginning, when third-country nationals have to deal with the most difficult barrier: the language. «Those refugees whose language skills are low or non-existent on arrival improve their employment chances significantly by acquiring more solid host-country language skills», stressed the ESDE review. Early investment in the language skills of refugees «may actually be one of the most cost-effective instruments» to enable them to capitalise fully on their existing formal qualifications.
Of course integration is not only about language. Skills and education are also important. According to the European Commission report, «given that many refugees have low qualifications, but are young and keen to climb the qualification ladder, it is worth investing in improving their qualifications». Despite the constructive nature of the recommendation, this is something difficult to explain to voters. On one hand people generally consider migrants as unfair competitors in the labour market, on the other hand people generally don't like to see public money to be spent for foreigners as a priority matter. In the first case politicians are accused to allow social dumping, while in the second case politicians are accused of betrayal by helping foreign people rather than connational. Considering that at least 15 years are need for a complete working integration, it appears highly unlikely that politicians risks their posts for inclusive migration policies. As Hungary showed, fences bring votes, reception brings political defeat at the elections.
Reducing the time that it takes for refugees to integrate into the labour market «should remain a priority for policy makers», according to the European Commission, notably in the current context of large inflows of asylum seekers. But this would mean the creation of national systems for managing the people coming in Europe, exactly what the public opinion doesn't want. Nevertheless, the latest annual review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe insisted in underlining that in a a context of continuous inflows of refugees, most of whom are forecast to stay, this finding should be considered closely. Will the national governments do it? It is possible they will, but the practical answer is the only one that really counts. There, Europe is called to act. A twenty-years investment plan is needed.
No comments:
Post a Comment