Managing immigration and integration of new minorities in Central Europe: The case of the Czech Republic.

Background and Purpose of the Project

Migration flows and the settlement of newcomers have shaped the history of Europe from time immemorial. These phenomena are not unknown to the modern history of Central European countries. The post 1989 era, in which these countries have gradually become target countries for immigration, has, however, brought about a situation that is qualitatively different from previous experiences. The new situation is determined by complex economic and political circumstances, not fully developed until very recently:
- pressures of globalised migration movements have created a de facto multiculturalism, different from the cultural diversity of the old,  territorially based minorities,
- the emergence of the common EU asylum and migration policies since late 1990s and the perspective of the accession  to the EU brought about an unprecedented challenge of harmonising the national immigration policies with the European standards,
- political and economic developments at the international level (e.g. transnational terrorism) and at the national level (e.g. increasing unemployment) have strengthened the public sensitivity for security aspects of migration and the threats that immigration may pose to the social coherence of society,
- policy options are inherently limited by the adherence to the standards of human rights and to the ideal of ”equality”, that is the notion that the ultimate goal of society is to form a  polity of equals.

These developments pose an immense challenge to the societies and governments concerned. The purpose of the proposed project is to explore existing and possible responses to these challenges and to conceptualise them in the context of the current political discourses at the international and European level. The material will be provided by the case of the Czech Republic.

Current Situation in the Czech Republic

The post 1989 history of immigration and political responses to it in the Czech society may be divided into three periods.

(1) In the first ”liberal” period (1989-mid 90s), the basic legal and administrative structures were set up to deal with forced migration (1990 Act on Refugees) and to legalise the presumably short-term economic migration (1992 Aliens Act). In this period, the ”new minorities” (such as Vietnamese, Ukrainians, Russians, Chinese) established themselves in the country.

(2) The restrictive turn in the second half of 1990s was prompted from three directions. Firstly, the need to harmonise the internal migration policies with the emerging EU rules in view of the Czech Republic accession to the Union, secondly, the increased awareness of social problems linked with immigration such as its impacts on labour market and welfare system, and thirdly, the acceptance of the fact that a part of the economic migrants have turned into permanent immigrants. The highlight of this period was the adoption of the new comprehensive migration and asylum legislation in 2000. The controversies that this new legislation (too generous to asylum seekers, too unfriendly to economic immigrants) caused, contributed, together with other factors, to efforts at the governmental level to adopt more complex and adequate immigration rules and integration measures.

(3) The ”period of affirmation” - since 2000 onwards - exhibits the following characteristics:
- the immigration policies moved from the political periphery to the mainstream agenda; this shift was clearly illustrated by the 2002 parliamentary elections campaign in which the rhetoric of ”national interests” was coupled by the right wing parties and communists with the anti-immigration discourse,
- the society (including the ”enlightened bureaucracy”) recognised  that, regardless of any future migration policies, the establishment of ”new minorities” is a fait accompli and that, therefore, there is a need for integration schemes pertaining to all segments of the immigrant population,
- an effort was undertaken to establish a proper governmental expert forum to deal with integration (the Commission of the Minister of Interior for the Integration of Foreigners and Community Relations – established in 1999),
- the government acknowledged that since the migration cannot be stopped (even if the society wished so) it should be ”actively managed”,
- most recently, the supporters of the idea of an ”active immigration policy” from the Ministry of Labour, arguing mainly by the low birth rate and the aging of the population, put forward a ”pilot project” on the ”Active labour immigration policy”, following broadly   the principles of the Canadian immigration scheme (June 2002).

Objectives

One of the main obstacles of the discussion and formulation of immigration and integration policy options, both at the state and civil society level, is a lack of accessible knowledge and understanding of
- theoretical concepts regarding immigration, integration and multiculturalism,
- strategies and measures of multicultural integration practised in other countries.

The objective of the project is to address this difficulty and offer the Czech policy makers and other social and political actors a threefold framework by
- summarizing the main experiences with immigration and integration issues and policies at the international, EU and national levels,
- mapping out the current developments,
- outlining the main alternatives of future strategies and measures in the area of immigration and integration of new minorities in the Czech Republic (and Central Europe).

Such a framework will not only facilitate the actual policy making processes, but also support the informed public discussion on the highly sensitive immigration issue, which has been so far monopolised by the far right parties. Thus, the project would also contribute to the development of the open society.

Plan for Fulfillment and Methodology

The selection of the key issues to be addressed should respond both to the identified theoretical problems as well as to the perceived needs and priorities of the policy makers and the public.
Accordingly, the project will entail three steps:
a) an overview of the theoretical issues involved in the current academic discussions on multiculturalism, integration and nation-state in the age of globalisation,
b) an analysis of the current immigration and integration Czech national policies, measures and discussions,
c) an outline of the possible national immigration and integration strategies for the Czech Republic.

More specifically, the project will focus on the following topics:
- what is the relationship between the policies concerning the ”old” national minorities and those concerning the new minorities and, a related question, whether the policies should aim at the ”equalising” of the status of the old and new minorities,
- how do the various policies of acceptance and inclusion of immigrants relate to the various concepts of the state (e.g. liberal state, republic, federation of communities) and of nationhood (e.g. immigrant, civic, ethnic) and which alternative corresponds best to the historically constructed identity of the Czech society
- to what extent can the policies of immigrant countries (such as Canada, USA, Australia) and of western European countries (such as France, Great Britain, Germany) provide the Czech Republic with models to be followed.

The research will review and analyse the following resources
- major printed and on-line resources concerning the national immigration and integration policies in the Czech Republic (legislation and governmental strategy documents, annual migration reports, reports non-governmental actors, internal documents of the Commission for the integration of Foreigners),
- the most relevant EU documents and policy papers, in so far as they have either influenced the internal policies or offer concepts for the future (e.g. the proposed directives on the family reunion, on the conditions of entry and residence of third country nationals)
- theoretical and academic literature on the topic.

Output of the Project/Policy Recommendations

As adumbrated above, the output of the research will not offer ”the best policy option”. Such an attempt would be naïve as it would oversee that concrete policy options must always respond to the social and political demand. Instead, the output of the project shall offer to the Czech policy-makers a conceptual framework exposing
- broader historical, political and ideological contexts of the policy options and alternatives,
- consequences and risks involved in particular policy options,
- mutual links and interdependencies among particular policy measures.

Although the analytical part of the project will focus on the Czech Republic, the findings will also be relevant to other countries in the region in so far as the key circumstances are similar (e.g. globalised immigration pressures, the prospect of the EU accession, similar traditions of nationhood, the co-existence of new and old minorities).

Dissemination of Results

The results of the project will be disseminated through several channels.
First, the policy paper will be posted on a relevant internet portal and/or published in an internet based journal (e.g. Journal of Central European Political Studies), second, a printed version will be send to selected policy-makers (e.g. Commission for the Integration of Foreigners), academics and specialised libraries. Third, an article will be published in a relevant Czech academic journal (e.g. Czech Politological Review).

Selected Bibliography

Barša, P.: Politicka teorie multikulturalismu (Political Theory of Multiculturalism), Brno, 1999.
Brochmann, G. & Hammar. T.: Mechanism of Immigration Control, Oxford,  New York. 1999.
Joppke, Ch.: Immigration and the Nation-State, Oxford, 1999.
Kymlicka, Will, Opalski, Magda (eds.): Can Liberal Pluralism be Exported? Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe, Oxford, 2001.
Modood, T. & Werbner, P (ed.): The Politics of Multiculturalism in the new Europe, London, New York, 1997.
 
 

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