Migrants and Integration
Hoorcolleges
2023
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 1
, Hoorcollege 1: International migration
International migration “..those movements across international boundaries which
constitute a change of residence..”
- For purpose of international comparison permanent and long-term immigrants
should include both citizen and foreign nationals intending to stay for more than one
year.
- International Organisation of Migration de nes immigration as a process by
which non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement.
Various types of immigrants
Main types under the umbrella term migrants, it can change, rst you’re a education
migrant and later you fall in love and you’re a family migrant
- Labour market, Refugees, Migration networks, Medical, Political, Economic,
Education, Family
Refugees and Asylum seekers
- Asylum seekers are people who make a formal request for asylum in another
country because they fear their life is at risk in their country of origin
- Refugees; eeing their home country to save their lives and who have been
accepted and recognized as such in their host country (e.g. “former asylum seekers”)
- a person outside his or her country and ‘owing to well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion’.
Various dichotomies in labelling immigrants
- Voluntary versus forced ( due to threats to life, war, natural disasters)
- Self-supported versus smuggled
- Documented versus undocumented (or unauthorized)
- Orderly versus irregular (or illegal)
Concerns labelling/use of types/dichotomies
- Different de nitions in different countries
- Labels do not t complex (changing) realities (e.g., same person may be classi ed
as a refugee and family or labour migrant)
- Some labels/types have a negative connotation in some contexts (which may
hinder integration and disacknowledge individual characteristics)
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 2
,Trends of migration
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 3
, In the Netherlands, what are the biggest groups of migrants? —> Family migrants
Actual trends in migration to the NL since 2000
- Family migration is the main type in numerical terms
- Asylum migration volume uctuated considerably
- Strong increase in Labour migration (mainly form EU, Poles, Germans)
- Strong increase in international students (mainly from EU)
Migration data
Different ways of collecting data:
- Population registers (OECD, EUROSTAT)
- Administrative sources (visas, residence permits)
- Border controls (entry and departure)
- Household surveys (census, smaller scale surveys)
Migration data limitations and concerns
- Sometimes dif cult to compare stocks (how many migrants already in the
country) or ow (how many migrants entered the country) across countries: different
de nitions, way of data collection
○ Stock are the people who already live in the Netherlands who have a
migration background
○ Flow are the number of migrants crossing a boundary, within a speci c time
period
- Undocumented/irregular immigrants are not included in of cial data sources (in
some cases based on estimations)
- Mainly “western” countries (OECD) collect migration data in a systematic way
(allowing cross-national comparisons)
- Only a few (comparative) survey studies focus on explanatory factors. These
studies often measure intention to migrate and not actual migration (these 2 are not
necessarily correlated: why not?)
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 4
Hoorcolleges
2023
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 1
, Hoorcollege 1: International migration
International migration “..those movements across international boundaries which
constitute a change of residence..”
- For purpose of international comparison permanent and long-term immigrants
should include both citizen and foreign nationals intending to stay for more than one
year.
- International Organisation of Migration de nes immigration as a process by
which non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement.
Various types of immigrants
Main types under the umbrella term migrants, it can change, rst you’re a education
migrant and later you fall in love and you’re a family migrant
- Labour market, Refugees, Migration networks, Medical, Political, Economic,
Education, Family
Refugees and Asylum seekers
- Asylum seekers are people who make a formal request for asylum in another
country because they fear their life is at risk in their country of origin
- Refugees; eeing their home country to save their lives and who have been
accepted and recognized as such in their host country (e.g. “former asylum seekers”)
- a person outside his or her country and ‘owing to well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion’.
Various dichotomies in labelling immigrants
- Voluntary versus forced ( due to threats to life, war, natural disasters)
- Self-supported versus smuggled
- Documented versus undocumented (or unauthorized)
- Orderly versus irregular (or illegal)
Concerns labelling/use of types/dichotomies
- Different de nitions in different countries
- Labels do not t complex (changing) realities (e.g., same person may be classi ed
as a refugee and family or labour migrant)
- Some labels/types have a negative connotation in some contexts (which may
hinder integration and disacknowledge individual characteristics)
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 2
,Trends of migration
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 3
, In the Netherlands, what are the biggest groups of migrants? —> Family migrants
Actual trends in migration to the NL since 2000
- Family migration is the main type in numerical terms
- Asylum migration volume uctuated considerably
- Strong increase in Labour migration (mainly form EU, Poles, Germans)
- Strong increase in international students (mainly from EU)
Migration data
Different ways of collecting data:
- Population registers (OECD, EUROSTAT)
- Administrative sources (visas, residence permits)
- Border controls (entry and departure)
- Household surveys (census, smaller scale surveys)
Migration data limitations and concerns
- Sometimes dif cult to compare stocks (how many migrants already in the
country) or ow (how many migrants entered the country) across countries: different
de nitions, way of data collection
○ Stock are the people who already live in the Netherlands who have a
migration background
○ Flow are the number of migrants crossing a boundary, within a speci c time
period
- Undocumented/irregular immigrants are not included in of cial data sources (in
some cases based on estimations)
- Mainly “western” countries (OECD) collect migration data in a systematic way
(allowing cross-national comparisons)
- Only a few (comparative) survey studies focus on explanatory factors. These
studies often measure intention to migrate and not actual migration (these 2 are not
necessarily correlated: why not?)
MIGRANTS AND INTEGRATION 4
