Has immigration impacted relations in Europe since the Second World War?
Immigration has played a key role in shaping the way the world and indeed Europe is seen in this current generation. The fall of the Nazi Regime in 1945 marked the end of World War Two and left a disfigured Europe in its wake. This essay will target the reasons as to how immigration has instigated itself within the European community, the benefits and disadvantages it has brought with it and the state of international relations within Europe in the 21st Century. It is important to be familiar with the definition of immigration; it is the term ‘by where individuals and/or groups leave one country to seek work and better standards of living in another country or continent’ . In addition to this, the current economic climate, movement of migrants is encouraged, in order to aid economies and promote skilled labour. Sparsely populated, yet territorially large countries such as Sweden and Finland have policies in place to encourage immigration, not just for work purposes but also to help those who are fleeing war stricken, poverty ridden countries such as Syria to claim refuge in a safe haven.
Immediately after World War Two, the appeal for workers in Europe was desperate. With war torn countries such as Germany, France & Poland having been the main ‘battlefields’ in the war, emergency workers were drafted in from Eastern Europe and Turkey to kick start these nations back on their feet, with incentives
Migration policies are often designed with the sole objective of influencing international migration by either restricting or encouraging circular migration, immigration or emigration(Ripsman & Paul, 2010). Open border policies have contributed to the uncontrolled to the flow of illegal immigrants into countries and in turn generating challenges to the host countries. The fundamental basis for arguments has been whether open immigration policy or restricted immigration policy
Giving into the demands of upset citizens, different political parties began to campaign with planks in their platforms dedicated to legally destroying immigration. The Austrian Freedom Party, for instance, campaigned to increase the amount of laws that prevent immigration and to make it more difficult for non-Austrians to live and work amongst the Austrian people (Doc 6). By creating a platform to change a country’s laws, it is clear Europeans were so upset with immigration that they wanted to make fundamental changes in their governments’ policies. People were unhappy with how their society was transforming and they wanted to put official rules in place that would allow Europe to return to its former state. Enoch Powell, a member of the Conservative Party, brought this common desire to light by explaining that people did not want to live in a country filled with immigrants, so action needed to be taken in order to curb the high immigration levels (Doc 2). The fact that many Europeans wanted politicians to take a stand against immigration shows how upset people were with the rising numbers of immigration, which became roughly 500,000 immigrants per year. By involving the government, European citizens were able to project their anti-immigration sentiment into the rest of the continent. Involving politicians and political parties shows how adament some Europeans were about keeping foreigners out of
Migration is not a new phenomenon throughout the history of human, but the issue of migration has become more of a problem since the emerging of modern states. The distinction between immigrants and local citizens has become official with the emergence of nation-state authority and the ideas of sovereignty, citizenship and nationality. From the 19th century, the control of passport and visa has made the borders between immigrants and citizens even clearer and more identified. Today, as there are more restrictions on entering a country, states have to deal with regulating policies for immigration to control the influx of people
The U.S found itself confronted to new challenges that they didn’t think of before. This new challenges led to a shift of American attitudes towards immigration. This was due to the high influx of the immigrants coming from Europe and of the liberal paradox related to immigration (Tichenor 2002, 51). The United States found itself caught between two stools where immigration benefited the economy but the on the other side its obligation to set limits regarding social and publics welfare available to the new wave of immigrants.
While it is common to hear about ‘migrants and refugees’, it is important to recognise that the two terms refer to very different groups of people. While both groups have effectively moved from one country to another, the circumstances leading up to that move are markedly different for each group.
To begin it is helpful to understand that the word “migrant” is a rather contested concept, one that changes over time, and varies depending on the criteria used to assign it.(Raghuram & Erel, 2014, p.133)
In the reading, “The Immigrant Enclave: Theory and Empirical Examples,” Alejandro Portes and Robert D. Manning primarily discusses the process that immigrants go through as they go about adapting and integrating into their new society. As the reading states, often when immigrants migrate to new societies, it is either for economic reasons as a means of achieving a better life for themselves or that of seeking political asylum as political refugees. A real world example of an immigrant enclave today is that of the thousands of Syrian refugees who emigrated to the United States and other countries in an effort to flee the Syrian civil war. During the midst of the Syrian crisis, many Syrian refugees sought
Over the last decade, the number of immigrants has increased tremendously growing from 331,000 to a whopping 409,000. An increase of about 78,000 people ( Britannica). Despite media coverage on the issue many people are blind to the true nature of the situation . Therefore it is important to understand the extent to which immigration affects us all.
Thirteen million refugees and about 100 million immigrants have moved across borders within the last several decades (Potocky-Tripodi 2002). Global changes that have currently occured account for an unprecedented movement of individuals across the world in search of better opportunities and conditions.
Caldwell argues that “Western Europe became a multi-ethnic society in a fit of absence of mind.” European policymakers imported people from Africa and the middle east to fill short term labor shortages in post-war Europe, Germany especially. For the first time in modern history, immigrants have a substantial presence in Europe. Islam is the continent’s second largest religion. These immigrants continued to multiply even as the jobs disappeared: the number of foreign residents in Germany increased from 3m in 1971 to 7.5m in 2000 And by 2050, the foreign-origin populations in most European countries will be between 20 and 32%. even though the number of foreigners in the workforce did not budge. Today immigrants account for about 10% of the population of most west European countries, and up to 30% in some of Europe 's great cities. These same policymakers made the assumption that immigrants would quickly adopt the moral and cultural norms of their host societies. The heavy industries
The immigration policy in Canada have many different parts, like regulations, guidelines, and actions by government agents. It could be difficult to know what the main goal of these different parts are, since so much of it is set out of the public eye. In this paper, the focus will be on the purpose of immigration historically and in the contemporary period. I will also be talking about the relationship between ethnicity, race and assimilability to the nation-state and nationhood. Then I would look at the people in immigration that were defined as either an ethnic or as a 'race ', and why. Furthermore I would write about the relationship between nationalism and racism and how, by whom, and why it is expressed.
In the attempts to “manage the immigrant crisis” several strategic mistakes have been made, which have shaken the functioning of migration policy in the European community. Particular controversy was stirred up by a plan for the relocation of 120,000 refugees suggested in September 2015. Some months later (April/May 2016), the European Commission came up with the idea of fines for those countries which would not receive the relocated refugees. The fine for one unaccepted foreigner was supposed to be €250,000. The attempt to impose a quota of immigrants on member countries together with high fines contributed to further divisions inside the EU.
According to former President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, “immigration presents the possibility of bringing new skills, new talents, new blood…” (“France Seeks”), though others think differently. Immigration, the act of abandoning one’s homeland to establish a new life in another country, was not a concept that has suddenly erupted in present time. In fact, immigration is a process, not an event; it never had an actual start date, nor will it have an actual end date. Knowing the background of immigration across the world, the history of immigration in the United States, the immigration process, and the controversies and debates immigration carries are important aspects to consider to knowing when, why, and how immigration was, is, and will continue for centuries as a form of human migration.
In this respect, it is worthy of mention that such a situation with the migration is the result of the recent trend in the world economy which is characterized by processes which are generally called globalization. The process of globalization is overwhelming and involves practically all countries of the world with rare exceptions which
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, it is imperative to understand how societies interact and the issues they are facing. I have been interested in languages, cultures, and international affairs for many years which is why I have decided to major in Global Studies. To broaden my global perspective, I am currently participating on St. Lawrence University's Global Francophone Cultures program where I am studying abroad in Quebec, Canada; Rouen, France, and Dakar, Senegal. In addition to learning the French language, the main area of focus for this year's program is immigration. One of the courses I am taking is called, “The Age of Migration: Labor Mobility in the EU.” In this course we have read various articles on immigration, researched countries immigration policies, and are studying the economics of immigration. We