03/06/2014 Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The Migration Committee voiced its concern about the situation of legal immigrants and of their offspring, whose overall levels of integration it believes remain unsatisfactory. The report by Marietta Karamanli (France, SOC) adopted by the committee defines integration “as a process of inclusion of immigrants in the institutions and relationships of the host society” and underlines that immigrants account for 8.7% of Europe’s total population, with 12 million foreign citizens in Russia alone.
Ms Karamanli’s report examines five areas of integration: the labour market, education, political participation, discrimination and family reunification – and draws on three indicators: statistics comparing outcomes for migrants with data for the host community, the views of migrants and legislation and practice. In the light of the text adopted, the committee concluded that in many member States the existing state policies concerning these various areas of the integration of migrants are insufficient and should be strengthened with a view to more effectively promoting the integration of migrants.