Integration of migrants, as the newcomers towards the place they chose or were forced by circumstances to move, seems to be a neutral goal all actors can agree on. Who would challenge that integration into the job market is one of the most significant goals for migrants regardless of their status? Integration into the job market makes migrants feel they are functional members of society. It also gives people more freedom to move, have a family, and stability both economically and emotionally. Moreover, contrary to what the anti-immigrant caricature portrays, I strongly believe most people are responsible individuals who are willing to put effort into finding a job according to their professional skills and would prefer to provide for themselves instead of remaining permanently unemployed. The reality is that welfare shaming rhetoric tries to divide people between the ones who are “less deserving” and “more deserving” of help. For instance, Dr. Masoud identified that, as a justification for the different response to the arrival of Ukraine refugees after the ongoing invasion of the country by Russia, which she called a “non-refugee crisis” compared to the influx of refugees in the past decade which was framed by politicians and the media as a crisis, a narrative was presented to differentiate refugees and asylum seekers between these two groups. On the one hand were the “real refugees” and on the other, a group accused of taking advantage of the system. The stereotype of migrants and asylum seekers wanting to take advantage of the system is not only racist but at the same time does not offer a solution other than making the lives of people more difficult by cutting financial resources for social services and benefits. Unfortunately, the integration programs that have been implemented in Finland put their only focus on the job market, and often ignore the role of racism or underestimate it as a factor preventing integration. Furthermore, these programs do not escape market-driven discussions. For instance, in her research, Dr. Masoud found a trend towards reducing the duration of integration programs to minimize their cost at the expense of components of these programs that could be seen as “less economically relevant” but that are important to the individuals such as language courses. According to Dr. Masoud’s findings, the current system overemphasizes access to the job market as the main indicator of being successfully integrated or not. This is a neoliberal view of integration that puts the main burden of integration on migrants. Migrants are therefore seen as lacking skills because of their ‘otherness’. Migrants requiring integration are labeled as “lacking skills” and thus “incomplete individuals”, needing to be fixed through integration programs that often ignore the professional potential participants already have. This process is called by Dr. Masoud “The vicious cycle of de-skilling, re-skilling and skilling.” Since the main goal of integration is that participants get a job no matter which type, an “all size fits all” plan is often offered irrespective of the professional background of the participant where they end up enrolling in training programs to get a precarious job. Another problematic outcome of focusing exclusively on employability is that on many occasions, participants lose their access to language and educational training once they get a job, ignoring that such training is fundamental for the integration journey. In her research, Dr. Masoud found that although racism is often not denied by service providers, they usually minimize its impact on integration. In these situations, the burden of integration is put on the individual’s capacity to get personal skills, and the obstacles to integration posed by racism are considered as isolated cases. Accordingly, newcomers are asked to “toughen up” and take responsibility for integrating themselves, despite societal obstacles and prejudices that make access to the job market an uneven playing field. For instance, in Dr. Masoud’s interviews, she noticed that while officers minimized the impact of racism, participants of integration activities such as trainings said they had experienced racism as they tried to integrate. These situations went from “harmless” episodes such as assuming a person’s language skills or status of refugee based on their appearance to more serious episodes, such as being outright denied the possibility of getting a job on the basis that the applicant was not “culturally fit for the job.”
Instead, it is time to re-think how we see ‘otherness’ and integration. Do we see it as a liability? As people who need to be fixed to be part of their new home? Or as people who already bring a net positive to the places they come from their professional background, diverse experiences, and cultures and who can build from their acquired abilities? Written by: Álvaro Augusto Sanabria-Rangel
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23/8/2024 05:39:51
How does integration into the job market benefit both migrants and the broader society, and why is it often misunderstood or challenged by anti-immigrant perspectives?
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