The aim of the workshop was to discuss innovative policies of migrant integration, to evaluate cooperation schemes among stakeholders, and identify best practices in the field of integration in Italy. This workshop was the second in a series of five workshops aiming at collecting material and exchanging information regarding integration policies in the member-states of Southern Europe: Greece, Italy, Spainand Portugal.  The Workshop was organized in the framework of a project entitled: “Developing a cooperation network to link representatives of Mediterranean Member States facing similar challenges as Greece in respect to the integration of third country nationals” (iMnet), financed through the European Integration Fund (EU funds (75%) and national funds (25%). Annual Programme 2011, Priority 4: “Exchange experience, good practice and information on integration between the member states”, Action 4.1/11: “Building Cooperation Networks in the field of migration and integration”.

The workshop’s thematic articulation aimed at covering basic aspects of immigrants’ integration, especially in relation to the economic, socio-political and cultural dimensions. The morning sessions incorporated three themes related to policy and practice of migrants’ integration inItaly, in respect to the labour market, socio-political participation and representation, and the role of Media. The afternoon session was devoted to representatives of immigrant communities.

In conclusion, the workshop highlighted the peculiarities of the Italian case concerning the differentiation between the national policy framework on migration and integration and the policies adopted at the local/regional level. The former seems to be characterized by a rich but rather inconsistent and fragmented institutional framework, while the second presents variations among different regional and local authorities. Moreover, the experience of the social integration processes of immigrants inItaly, as well as the implementation of relevant policies should be seen in the light of the general differences between the Italian North and South, both in relation to the culture of public administration, and with respect to the labor market and the wider social structures and relationships. Finally, the spectrum of the economic crisis and its consequences is something that should also be considered.

In relation to innovative policies, it is worth noting the recent effort for the creation of a public system to monitor the labor market in order to balance labour demand and supply, which provides for identifying immigrants’ skills and knowledge of the Italian language. In the field of good practices, the transnational experience of the organization Soleterre was presented, in projects which provide information services and social support to domestic workers of migrant origin at the local level, both in the country of origin and in Italy. Worth mentioning are also the intercultural activities of the Public Library of Rome. Interesting is of course the work of the multicultural media platform. Finally, it is useful to see that the Immigrant Integration Councils have been established since 2005 at the Italian municipalities, while in Greece they were only recently introduced

You can download its programme and find more information here.

“Implementing the integration of immigrants in Greece: innovative policies, inter-institutional collaboration and good practices”

The workshop was held on Monday, March 4th at the George Karabatzos amphitheater, Harokopio University (70, Eleftheriou Venizelou str, Kallithea)

Click here for the workshop agenda (available in Greek)

Download the flyer of the event here

ELIAMEP,

“All Citizens Now: Intra-EU Mobility and the European Crisis”

to present the findings of a study co-funded by the European Union (European Commission, DG Justice, Fundamental Rights & Citizenship Programme, MOVEACT research project).

The debate took place on Tuesday 15 January 2013, at 18:00 at the Institut Français d’Athènes, Room “Gisèle Vivier” (31, Sina str.).

Click here for the agenda of the event. The working language was Greek.

The aim of this project is the formation, activation and support of a network of cooperation between public institutions (involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of immigration policies), research/scientific institutions and civil society actors in the member states of the Mediterranean: Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, which make up the “Southern European immigration model.” You can find more information here.

The main objectives of the Project are:

1. To record innovative migration policies in the Member States of the Mediterranean.

2. To evaluate forms of cooperation between the actors involved in the domain of integration of third country nationals.

3. To generate best practices for the effective management of the migration phenomenon.

The following actions have been designed in order to achieve these objectives:

1. Organisation of five (5) thematic workshops in Greece,Italy,Spain and Portugal.
2. Setting up an interactive electronic communication platform (in Greek and English) through which members will network, seek information and coordinate activities.
3. Creating a bibliographic database on immigration policy and issues of migration and integration of migrants in the countries concerned.
4. Drafting a final report accounting for the concerns, conclusions and recommendations arising from the workshops in each country and the work performed by the network.

Duration: 11 December 2012 – 30 June 2013

Research Partners: Harokopio University (coordinator), ELIAMEP, EKKE.

ELIAMEP Research team:  Eda Gemi, Dr. Panos Hatziprokopiou, and Kleopatra Yousef.

The Project is financed by the European Integration Fund, Annual Programme 2011, Priority: 4: “Exchange of experience, good practice and information on integration between the member states,” Action 4.1/11: “Building Cooperation Networks in the field of migration and integration”.

Contested Chinatown: Chinese migrants’ incorporation and the urban space in London and Milan”

Abstract

This article discusses Chinese migrants’ incorporation in European cities and the relevance of the urban space. In particular, it focuses on the Chinatowns of London and Milan, beginning from two recent cases where their space has been contested. Alongside the different histories and contemporary patterns of Chinese migration and settlement and the varying policies and politics of immigration and integration in Britain and Italy, we bring the urban factor in our analysis. More specifically, we look at the political economy of the urban space and the role of Chinatown in the dynamics of urban restructuring in the two cities. We conclude by summarizing the key dimensions of comparison and by highlighting additional elements that are important in order to understand the multiple processes conditioning Chinese migrants’ incorporation in Europe, the peculiarities of Chinatown as a specific urban locale and the politics of contestation and protest involving immigrants in urban contexts. In that sense, the article examines different layers of explanation and builds a comparative analytical framework that goes beyond the limits of migration studies.

This project asks two main research questions:

1.     How do migration control policies affect the plans and actions of prospective (and actual) irregular migrants?

2.     Why some policies are more successful than others?

In seeking to answer these questions, we assume that migrants (and their households) are independent social agents. In formulating and executing their plans, migrants interact with state actors and policies (at destination and/or transit countries) and with non-state, local or transnational actors (NGOs, international organisations, smuggling networks, employers). In order to answer the above two research questions we need to learn more about four empirical issues:

(a) how migrants make and change their plans despite legal restrictions at destination countries,

(b) which are the actors (national, local, transnational, state or non-state) that affect their decisions and actions,

(c) how do these actors affect the decision making of potential migrants, their plans and actions.

(d) why specific actors are more effective than state policies in shaping migrants plans and decisions.

In investigating the above four questions and in answering the two more general policy related concerns stated above, the project achieves a better understanding of the actors and factors that are involved in the governance of international irregular migration.

The empirical research undertaken in this project concentrates on three migration systems within which irregular migration is an important component of overall migration towards Greece:

• Migration System 1. Balkans to EU migration system:Albania to Greece;
• Migration System 2. Eastern Europe to EU migration system:Georgia and Ukraine to Greece;
• Migration System 3. Southeast Asia to EU migration system:Pakistan and Afghanistan to Greece.

The project is funded by the Greek General Secretariat for Research & technology through the Action “ARISTEIA”.

Duration: 26 September 2012 – 25 September 2013

Research Team: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou (co-ordinator), Dr Panos Hatziprokopiou (assistant co-ordinator), Ms Eda Gemi, Ms Michaela Maroufof, Ms Marina Nikolova, Ms Kleopatra Yousef, and two post-doctoral researchers.

For more information visit the project’s website.

Anna Triandafyllidou’s proposals on how to manage irregular migration in realistic terms have been included in a Policy Memo published by Atlantic Community.org