Migration and Integration in the Asia-Pacific Region”
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www.ssoar.info The end of national models? Integration courses and citizenship trajectories in Europe Jacobs, Dirk; Rea, Andrea Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Jacobs, D., & Rea, A. (2007). The end of national models? Integration courses and citizenship trajectories in Europe. International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS), 9(2), 264-283. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168- ssoar-65212 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Basic Digital Peer Publishing-Lizenz This document is made available under a Basic Digital Peer zur Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den DiPP-Lizenzen Publishing Licence. For more Information see: finden Sie hier: http://www.dipp.nrw.de/lizenzen/dppl/service/dppl/ http://www.dipp.nrw.de/lizenzen/dppl/service/dppl/ International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS) Vol. 9, No. 2, 2007 “Migration and Integration in the Asia-Pacific Region” International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS) Vol. 9, No. 2, 2007 Migration and Integration in the Asia-Pacific Region DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATION: Paul de Guchteneire EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Matthias Koenig GUEST EDITORS: Amarjit Kaur and Ian Metcalfe AMARJIT KAUR AND IAN METCALFE, “Thematic Introduction: Migration Challenges 131 in the Asia Pacific Region in the Twenty-First Century AMARJIT KAUR, “Migration Matters in the Asia-Pacific Region: Immigration 135 Frameworks, Knowledge Workers and National Policies” TESSA MORRIS-SUZUKI, “Cross-Border Migration and East Asian Regional Integration” 158 MICHAEL LEIGH, “The Contested Basis of Nationhood: Key Issues when 174 Analysing Labour Flows in Southeast Asia” CHRISTINE INGLIS, “Transnationalism in an Uncertain Environment: Relationship 185 between Migration, Policy and Theory” BINOD KHADRIA, “Harnessing Untapped Development Potential in the Asia-Pacific 205 Island Region through the Mobility of Skilled Indian Workers” ASWATINI RAHARTO, “Indonesian Labour Migration: Issues and Challenges” 219 LENORE LYONS AND MICHELE FORD, “Where Internal and International Migration 236 Intersect: Mobility and the Formation of Multi-Ethnic Communities in the Riau Islands Transit Zone” OPEN FORUM DIRK JACOBS AND ANDREA REA, “The End of National Models? Integration Courses 264 and Citizenship Trajectories in Europe” MARKO VALENTA, “Daily Life and Social Integration of Immigrants in City and 284 Small Town – Evidence from Norway” Thematic Introduction: Migration Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region in the Twenty-First Century AMARJIT KAUR AND IAN METCALFE* University of New England, Armidale rans-Asian labour migration, a defining feature of Asian globalisation prior to T 1940, comprised mainly Chinese and Indian emigration to Southeast Asia and was quantitatively and qualitatively as significant as European transatlantic migration. Although migrant workers were regarded as sojourners, they established diasporic communities across the region, particularly in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. After the Second World War and problems of decolonisation, unskilled labour migration came to a halt. Since the 1980s, Asia and Australia have re-emerged as major players in global migration in terms of its scale, diversity and significance. The emergence of new regional migration patterns, the rapid growth in the demand for professionals and skilled migrants in specific occupational categories, and the creation of subregional labour markets are all manifestations of the scale and diversity of current migratory movements in the region. In the first decade of the third millennium, moreover, migration is receiving more attention in public discourse than ever before. As immigration has become an ever- present feature of the political landscape in the United States and Europe, polls in Australia have also showed that it was among the public’s top concerns. Further, while asylum issues and the Australian Government’s “Pacific Solution” have captured public attention, legal and illegal immigration concerns have also mushroomed in the main labour destination countries of Malaysia and Thailand. These concerns are not without basis. For example, Australia had the largest proportion of overseas-born population in 2001 compared with other major immigration countries. In Singapore, migrant workers comprise about 30 per cent of the country’s workforce. Both Malaysia and Thailand have large migrant workforces and there are concerns that illegal migrants outnumber legal migrant workers. The waves of migrant workers, whether those arriving under high-skilled points schemes or low-skilled workers destined for agriculture, manufacturing, construction and the service sectors, have led to the economic migration scheme being restructured, and better border control systems instituted. Australia stands at one end of the spectrum, restructuring its economic migration programme to admit employable skilled migrants, and emphasising integration and a citizenship test. International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS), Vol.9, No. 2, 2007: 131-134 ISSN 1817-4574, www.unesco.org/shs/ijms/vol9/issue2/intro © UNESCO 132 Amarjit Kaur and Ian Metcalfe Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country that offers settlement to its high- skilled foreign workers. At the other end of the spectrum are Malaysia and Thailand, who welcome high-skilled and low-skilled workers, but do not give settlement to them. They too face increasing asylum numbers. The roots of these migration streams lie in these countries’ economic development strategies and their geographical proximity to poorer, more densely populated countries. Despite their evolving guest-worker schemes, they regularly conduct regularisation programmes and offer amnesties to illegal migrants. It is estimated that illegal or undocumented migrant workers outnumber documented migrant workers. Interestingly, both countries are sources as well as destinations of migrant workers. The greater mobility in the last three decades, its increasing transnational character, and the fact that connections between place of origin and place of destination are now more easily maintained, necessitate a greater understanding of the fluidity of movement. Moreover, these changes also require a greater ability on the part of the state to provide migrants with better integration opportunities, in order to cope with the challenges of a more transient migrant population. To examine these and related issues, a Workshop on Migration Challenges in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st Century was convened at the University of New England, Armidale (Australia) in November 2006. The workshop also focused on governance and border-management strategies of major states in the region in the face of intensified transnational economic and social processes, and the expanding global governance regime. The papers selected for this issue cover these major themes. Amarjit Kaur provides a background to the growth of international labour migration in the Asia-Pacific region in recent decades and the connections between residency and labour requirements. Current enforcement strategies are a response to new and evolving forms of movement, issues of border control and the presence of undocumented migrants. The paper also raises some important emerging issues including new regional migration patterns, the fast growth in the demand for professional, skilled and low-skilled migrants in specific occupational categories, and the creation of subregional labour markets in three countries in the Asia-Pacific region – Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. In her paper, Tessa Morris-Suzuki proposes that there are two fundamental contradictions at the heart of the contemporary global system. Over the next few decades, national governments and international institutions may find ways to address these contradictions, but doing so will require fundamental changes in the way that the global order works. Alternatively, governments and international bodies may fail to find ways of addressing these contradictions, in which case the global order will be transformed in the sense of becoming increasingly fractured and chaotic. The two fundamental contradictions centre upon use of natural resources and migration. With regard to migration, she argues that the problem is not in itself the movement of people, but the increasingly evident incapacity of Migration Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region 133 nation-states to respond with vision and imagination to the challenges posed by growing mobility, which is an escapable part of the global order. Michael Leigh argues that while many of the broader discussions of globalisation and rationalisation convey an air of inevitability, most neither advocate nor address the vexed issues raised by the free flow of people. There are various interrelated elements that help to explain the unwillingness to even broach this issue, the key one being the very basis of nationhood, governance, and how representative institutions have been structured within the geographical boundaries of the nation- state. The paper also explores the relationships between globalisation/regional integration, nationhood, and the different sources of sovereignty and legitimacy, focusing on the role of labour flows, and how these constrain the process of regional integration. Christine Inglis reviews how quantitative and qualitative changes in the nature of international migration and population movements over the last two decades have brought discussions of these