Integration is a series of dynamic two‐way processes of interaction and participation which begins the moment someone arrives in a place, whether they are staying for a year or for life. It occurs in different domains, including the economic, social, cultural and civic, and in relation to identity, each of which is related and which need to be considered together, not in isolation. Different legal frameworks for migrants’ rights and entitlements, as well as different national, regional and local integration policies, can impact positively or negatively on these processes. We therefore discuss integration strategy as facilitating the processes of interaction between migrants and the individuals and institutions of the receiving society to promote the economic, cultural, social and civic participation of all residents, including migrants, and an inclusive sense of belonging at the national and local level.102
The concept of integration is a complex and contested one. In this section, we will attempt
to summarise some of the key issues here, and to provide a working definition for the
purposes of a migrant integration strategy for London.
Integration is not a single process but a series of processes, each has a certain independence
but which relate to each other in complex ways. These processes begin the moment a
migrant arrives, regardless of integration policies, which can promote or hinder it. In
general, the literature identifies a number of domains in which processes of integration
occur.103
The European Union has a strong definition of integration: ’integration should be
understood as a two‐way process based on mutual rights and corresponding obligations of
legally resident third country nationals and the host society which provides for full
participation of the immigrant’.104 The Common Agenda for Integration (2005) and the
successive editions of the Integration Handbook (from 2005)105 highlight the dynamic two‐ way nature of integration – that is, the idea that not only migrants need to change to fit into
European society, but also that they might contribute actively and enrich the receiving
society, and that settled residents of receiving countries might be changed by the process
too.
A strategy for migrant integration has been slow to develop in the UK. For minority ethnic
people, the dominant paradigm has instead been cohesion. For many categories of migrants
(most notably European citizen migrants, particularly numerous after the A8 accessions in
2004) there is still no strategy designed to include them in the economic, civic or cultural life
of the country or to address their specific social or educational needs. For one group of
migrants only, refugees, there has been a national integration strategy106. The most recent Moving on Together: Government’s Recommitment to Supporting Refugees (2009) focuses
on the economic domain (employment) and on what might be expected of refugees,
alongside a sense of the specific social needs of refugees.
There is a strong consensus from evidence from across Europe that it is at a local and
sophisticated and nuanced strategies can develop.107 Therefore, despite the uneven rolling
out of a national framework, at a regional level work was being done to develop regional
refugee integration strategies. London Enriched, the Mayor’s strategy for refugee
integration (December 2009) is one such, and this emphasises the dynamic, two‐way
dimensions of integration, and embraces all aspects of life, including civic and cultural as
well as social and economic.
In moving from a focus on refugee integration to migrant integration, it is vital that this
dimension is retained and enhanced (as will be discussed in the remainder of this section),
while broadening the purchase from the specific issues facing refugees to the many and
complex issues facing other groups of migrants, and migrants in general (an issue that will
be discussed in the following section).
Integration occurs across a series of domains.
Economic integration: This broad domain includes labour market integration and
integration in housing, healthcare and education. The literature on economic integration
focuses on the role of institutions and on how opportunities and barriers are structured. It is
worth emphasising that this domain should not be reduced to labour market integration,
which has a dynamic and complex relationship with other forms of economic integration.108
Cultural integration: This domain includes morals, values, behaviour and lifestyle. This
domain is less of a policy focus than some of the other domains, but is often highlighted in
popular, media and politicians’ discourses, as in discussions on learning English or the
lifestyles of different religious groups.
Social interaction: This domain includes the ways in which migrants and existing members
of the receiving society interact with each other socially.
Civic integration: This domain includes issues such as voting rights and civic habits, which
are clearly structured by the cultural domain. Both the NGOs and the Home Office, as well
as some politicians (including the Mayor of London) have in the last decade emphasised the
importance of active citizenship and the civic and associational activity of migrants, whether
they hold British nationality or not.
Identity integration: Although clearly related to both cultural and civic integration, and less
developed in the literature, this domain concerns the extent to which people feel they
belong and can identify with the place of residence, both the locality and the nation (not
withstanding retention of other identities related to their background). Evidence on this
domain is largely positive in the UK: 83 per cent of foreign‐born people say they strongly
feel they belong to Britain, not very different from the UK‐born population.109 This final
domain is particularly important in a city such as London, because there is considerable
evidence from Europe that migrants often come to identify locally before they come to
identify with the nation.110
To conclude this section, four key points are clear. First, integration should not be seen as an
the exclusion of others is not helpful, although some may be more important than others.
Third, underpinning participation in each domain is a migrant’s legal rights – whether
permitted to work, access public services and to vote in local and national elections – and
also a migrant’s responsibilities. Fourth, integration is not solely about migrants, but a two‐
way process: it is about the opportunities and barriers created by the receiving society too.
In the next section, we will look at the processes of integration across the domains in more
detail, showing the factors in successful integration but also the ways in which migrants are
sometimes unable to realize their full potential, and then draw out the policy implications of