Cultural Effects of Migration

The European Immigration Debate

Countries like the United States, Argentina, and Brazil have always included a large immigrant population. Citizenship in those countries is based not on ethnic grounds but on a different sort of national identity in which commitment to certain values and ideas is paramount. But for European countries, the nation is often defined in a cultural way—by a common language, heritage, and ethnicity. This raises important questions for countries that do not have long traditions of immigration. How long does an immigrant have to live in Germany to become a German? Can a person be French without speaking French? Should immigrants be forced to take citizenship classes that teach them "how to be Dutch"?

Indeed, cultural issues are a significant factor in the response of Europeans to global migration. In recent years, the European public has questioned immigration's effect on culture and national identity. Fear and distrust of immigrants has fueled the creation and success of anti-immigrant political parties in several European countries. Many of these parties have linked social ills, such as unemployment and crime, to immigration.

In Britain, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, and Sweden, opposition to immigration has become a central issue in many elections. France's Jean-Marie Le Pen has been Europe's most outspoken anti-immigration politician, declaring that immigration will lead to the "submersion of our country, our people, our civilization." In the 2002 presidential elections, running on an anti-immigration platform, Le-Pen garnered sufficient votes to challenge President Chirac in the second and final round.

In 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy, son of a Hungarian immigrant, was elected new President by his French voters. In the words of Sarkozy: “Immigration will be among (our) priorities. […] In all the world's great democracies, immigration presents the possibility of bringing in new skills, new talents, new blood.”

Despite these words of acceptance, Sarkozy has been the main driving force behind the EU’s more restrictive stance towards immigration in the past two years. In October of 2008, Sarkozy’s political “pact” on immigration and asylum was adopted by the European Union, which seeks to not only make migratory entry into Europe more limited and selective, emphasizing the acceptance of more high-skilled workers, but also to repeal mass amnesties and unconditional asylum for illegal immigrants, through mechanisms as strict as enforcing departures, in an attempt to discourage incentives for illegal immigration.¹⁶   

Joerg Haider's Freedom Party, a recent member of Austria's coalition government, has said it would bring a halt to immigration, regardless of the country of origin. Italy has also lurched towards an anti-immigration stance with the 2001 electoral victory of Silvio Berlusconi, where his ruling coalition has gone as far as to stand solidly behind “one of the toughest anti-immigrant crackdowns in Europe, mobilizing troops to control crime attributed to foreigners”, according to Newsweek.¹⁷ The government's coalition partners and cabinet ministers include members of the Northern League, a virulent anti-immigration party.

In Greece, a recent attack on a courthouse housing 600 immigrants by far-right protesters was allowed to occur unimpeded by police, who just stood there and watched. This is a reflection of the Greek government’s policy of discouraging immigration and asylum-seeking through both discontinuing temporary work permits and social security benefits to those seeking work opportunities, as well as granting less than one percent of applicants immediate refugee status (thus relieving the Greek government of its responsibility to protect these asylum-seekers).¹⁸

Pim Fortuyn, a popular Dutch politician who was assassinated in 2002, had been amongst the most outspoken. "The Netherlands is not an immigration country," he said. "The annual stream of tens of thousands of newcomers, who largely end up as illegal aliens, must stop. Full is full. We're living on a small piece of land here." Fortuyn was particularly concerned that immigrants—mainly from the Muslim world—were eroding Dutch national identity and threatening the traditional liberal Dutch tolerance for homosexuality and commitment to equality for women. (Indeed, Fortuyn was not a "conservative" politician in the standard sense of the word; openly homosexual, he was actually a radical libertarian, who believed in no government regulation over individual citizen's private lives.)

In response to these types of concerns, the Dutch government has embarked on a program called "inburgering" (literally "citizen-making"), in which potential immigrants cannot become citizens until they have passed courses in Dutch culture and societal norms. With increasing numbers of asylum seekers Britain is imposing stricter immigration and naturalization policies. Home Secretary David Blunkett's proposed Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill will increase conditions for citizenship, restricting the ability of migrants to apply for asylum and reside in the country.


For additional information on the European Immigration Debate, go here:

- The New Europe

- European Union Adopts New Stance on Immigration

- Financial Crisis and Xenophobia

* Picture Source: www.picapp.com