Liberty Experience: Creating Opportunities For Migrants To Integrate More Easily Into Their New Communities

Moving from one place to another in search of “greener pastures” is a good thing generally. However, the problems that come with moving to an entirely new country and starting a new life there are understated. A migrant is a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons. Migrant workers and migrants generally always have it hard in their host countries. The odds are, by default, against them, as they have to work twice as hard as indigenous citizens to earn their place.

Over the recent years, there has been a surge in the number of migrants received into European countries, however, it is not only a question of how many individuals migrate, but also of how successfully they integrate into the societies of their host countries.

 The foremost challenge a migrant encounter is culture shock, which is often caused by initial physical experience on arrival at destination. The culture of host communities often differs from that of the migrant, hence the difficulties in adapting to the host community’s language, religion, values, and lifestyle choices. On the other hand, refugees are fleeing dangerous situations and have little control over where they settle; as a result, they have no preset expectations or preparations while crossing international boundaries.

They suffer from mental instability, thus their assumptions, expectations, and results of their stay in host communities are all new to them. However, some migrants suffer from psychological trauma as a result of conflicts in their home countries. In addition to all of these, refugees are a very vulnerable class of the population exposed to harassment, violence, crime, racism, bigotry, restricted access to healthcare or the justice system amongst others.

The refugee population are people who are scared, terrified, and in new territory. They are often victims of exploitation at the hands of enforcement officials and citizens of the host country. This is a sad situation, because, rather than seeing migrants/refugees as hostiles or enemies, citizens and the government of the host countries should see the influx of migrants as opportunities.

Migrants present opportunities for the host country to fill in job vacancies and skill gaps, improve the economic situation, fill in pension gaps with the contribution of new young workers, enrich the country with cultural diversity and the list goes on. This is why it is very important to not only accept migrants into the country but also properly integrate them into the country as it serves to benefit all parties involved.

Migrant and refugee integration necessitates coordinated efforts at all levels of government and from NGOs, such efforts can generate genuine results. Well integrated migrants contribute to their host countries in a variety of ways, including economically.

INTEGRATING MIGRANTS INTO THE HOST COMMUNITIES

Below are some suggestions on how to better integrate migrants into their host countries;

– First and foremost, it is important to teach these migrants/refugees the language and cultures of the host countries. This is a big first step to integration.

– Create incentives and standards to mainstream a migrant focus at the local level in a variety of sectors, while establishing national plans, indicators, and legislation on integration-related issues that are tailored to territorial characteristics and maintain comparability across local realities.

– Equip civil servants (including low-level enforcement officers, teachers, and health-care providers) to ensure migrants’ adequate access to services, for example, by providing intercultural awareness, anti-discrimination, and human rights protection training, as well as ensuring migrants’ ability to express themselves in a language they understand, if necessary, through the use of interpreters.

– Establish mechanisms with migrants/refugees/returnees, NGOs, businesses, foundations, third-sector enterprises, and other local administrations to exchange information and coordinate actions.

– Ensure equal treatment in the recruitment of public officials to increase diversity. The diversity of staff helps to facilitate direct interaction with migrants, the development of successful integration models, and the transformation of public workers’ and local society’s mentalities.

– Improve data collection, including migrants’ perspectives, and coordinate databases across agencies that track migrants’ outcomes and needs to generate and apply knowledge about what works in terms of local efforts for integration.

– Increase financing for integration. Make multi-year and adaptable financing accessible at the local and state level for integration objectives. Municipalities should seek flexible national and international — as well as the private sector — finance in addition to local tax-raising capacity, particularly during periods of significant migrant and refugee intake.

– To transform the attitude of host communities, battle xenophobia, and marginalization, and support inclusion, invest in communication, spaces, and events centered on inclusion. Create opportunities and common public spaces for the host community to interact with newcomers and long-term migrant communities.

LIBERTY EXPERIENCE: FOSTERING MIGRANT INTEGRATION

Governments should make an effort to track the outcomes of their integration efforts. To both monitor the effectiveness of existing programs and adjust or build new ones, we need to track integration efforts as well as to give evidence on the benefits of integration and the costs of not integrating migrants adequately. Measuring integration achievement can also assist host communities to develop positive attitudes about migrants.

At Liberty experience, we believe that migrants everywhere should find it easy to settle and contribute positively to the social, cultural, and economic development of their new environments. Therefore, we simplify integration for migrants by providing learning opportunities and engaging the power of music to foster a climate of understanding and genuine acceptance in the host society.

Music is the universal language and is the most widely consumed type of art on the planet. It elicits strong emotional responses and promotes social relationships. Music also helps to a feeling of inner happiness and mental health. As a result, we believe that music has the ability to establish meaningful connections and give chances for community engagement and integration. Our events contribute to the creation of welcoming and inclusive societies by laying the essential foundations.

For example, our latest event, Heart Beat Sessions (HBS). HBS is a video series of intimate musical (home) concerts and performance art performed by talented migrants and local artists. Through HBS, we are able to continue to create powerful social connections and to simplify integration for Migrants despite the COVID pandemic restrictions.

Also, at our workshops, immigrants have the opportunity to talk about their displacement from their home country and their subsequent resettlement in Germany. This is the most personal of our workshops and its main aim is to create more awareness and understanding of the fates of migrants, to give them a voice, and to make them more visible in society.

To know more about how you can join us in making a difference in the lives of our beneficiaries, click here.