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“Migration, Integration, Europeanization” – Final conference 27 June
“We don’t want what we need and we don’t need what we want”. Migration and integration in the Baltic Sea region is a complex issue. This complexity was highlighted during the expert seminar “Migration, Integration, Europeanization – old and new challenges for policies and actors. The case of Baltic States”, which took place in Warsaw on June 27.
The seminar was the final conference in the project Migration as a part of a policy for increased competitiveness, funded by the Swedish Institute and comprising a cooperation between think tanks and research institutes working with migration and integration in the Baltic Sea region. The conference was arranged in collaboration with demosEUROPA, The Institute of Social Policy at University of Warsaw, and Norden Centrum in Warsaw. Earlier expert seminars have taken place in Tallinn and Vilnius on the themes of integration and labour migration.
“Global Utmaning, I think you got it right in your name, because migration is one of our future challenges”, stated Paweł Świeboda, President of demosEUROPA in his introductory remark, while stressing that “migration remains a huge challenge in the EU context”.
Lisa Pelling, programme manager for migration and integration at Global Challenge, stressed in her welcome speech that it is “pertinent to close the series of conferences in Warsaw – focusing on the European context”.
The conference consisted of three panel discussions with various actors, such as researchers, civil society organizations and Polish stakeholders, including Izabela Katarzyna Mrzygłocka, President of the Permanent Labour Market Subcommittee of the Polish Sejm, Prof. Jacek Męcina, Secretary of State, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and Anna Sochańska, Deputy Director, European Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.
“I appreciate the mix of academic experts with the final panel with representatives of those who concretely work with these issues, i.e. the trade unions, employer’s organizations and NGOs”, said Lisa Pelling after the conference and stressed that “maybe the most rewarding part of this cooperation has been the network that we have established in the area of migration and integration. I hope and believe that this can be a platform for further cooperation”.
More expert voices from the conference:
While stating that the situation for migrant workers has improved in Poland, Izabela Katarzyna Mrzygłocka, stressed in a written letter, which was read during the conference, that further improvements could be done. The question is, according to her “how to reach consensus between the rights for foreign workers, and how to make sure that they can enter the Polish labour market?”.
“I am happy that migration is the issue of today”, said Prof. Jacek Męcina. “Migration should not exclusively focus on economic objects, but also on long term social and sustainable development”, continued the Secretary of State.
Prof. Włodzimierz Anioł, Institute of Social Policy, University of Warsaw, laid out five trends and three key challenges in regards to migration and integration in the European context, where the shift from an emigration country to more of an immigration country pose a huge challenge for Poland, for instance.
Dr. Kristina Kallas, Institute of Baltic Studies, explained that in Estonia, there is “almost no immigration allowed” while simultaneously high numbers of Estonians emigrate. Instead of immigration, re-migration of Estonian citizens and promotion of larger families is promoted. “In my view this is just to move around on the same spot”, said Dr. Kallas. “Immigration needs to be talked about today in Estonia”.
High emigration rates are also characterizing the situation in Lithuania. Vija Platačiūtė, PhD student at Vytautas Magnus University, told us that “in Lithuania we don’t talk about immigration policy, migration policy means emigration policy”.
Latvia was in 2010 placed last on the MIPEX index for integration policies in the European Union. The MIPEX results has triggered progress, but “we need local actors who put the pressure on the government to make sure that the Europeanization of the policies happens”, argued Dace Akule, Centre for public policy PROVIDUS in Latvia.
“We don’t want Fortress Europe, and we do not want that the European countries become fortresses towards each other”, stated Anna Sochańska, Deputy Director, European Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, and stressed that the Schengen cooperation need a high level of trust.
“There is a dichotomy between heart and mind in the countries of the European Union”. Dr Justyna Nakonieczna, Institute for International Relations, University of Warsaw asked “how come that we want to be able to emigrate, but that we are not interested in immigration?”
“Without migrant workers there will be no construction”, said Ville Klemens, Building and Wood Workers’ International’s, (BWI) Sweden, highlighting the importance of immigration for the European labour markets.
Zbigniew Żurek, Business Centre Club, Poland, said “I like very much the idea of a Blue card”, referring to the EU directive which facilitates for high qualified migrants to acquire a work permit in an EU country.
Dr Kinga Wysieńska, Institute for Public Affairs, Collegium Civitas, Poland, described the project “European testing night”, where they tested if African and white people were treated differently in clubs and bars in Warsaw. The project has lead to anti-discrimination measures being implemented by the City of Warsaw.
The presentations can be found here:
