Ireland: A crash course in immigrant integration By Abel Ugba University of East London, London
From Emigrations to in-migrations Nation of emigrants until the 1990s Immigrants/a minority ethnic group present before dramatic increases in in-migrations Greater/diversified in-flows from mid-1990s. Reasons are manifold: Ireland’s rising international profile The ‘Celtic Tiger’ Citizenship/immigration policies Social/political unrests in parts of the world
Categories of immigrants Workers (work permit/visa/authorisation) particular nationalities dominate particular professions Asylum seekers/Geneva Conv. Refugees Rapid increases from mid-1990s to early 2000s Students - burgeoning English Lang. Market Post January-2004: ‘Influx’ from the former communist bloc
Crash courses in immigration policies Adhoc measures meant to discourage long- term/large scale presence of immigrants Asylum seekers/refugees Migrant workers Students Migrants from ‘new’ EU countries
Crash courses in citizenship and integration policies Residence permits and immigrant parents of Irish children The Citizen Referendum and the ‘IBC’ fiasco ‘Amnesty’ and respite for hounded immigrants Racism, anti-racism and equality measures