Regímenes de políticas para gestionar la integración y la cohesión social

Varios países han probado diferentes enfoques para gestionar la integración de los migrantes y sus perspectivas se han conceptualizado de diferentes maneras. En la práctica, es posible que los países modifiquen sus políticas y enfoques a lo largo del tiempo, en respuesta a su contexto sociopolítico vigente.

Entre las dinámicas que han influido en el pensamiento reciente en torno a la integración, cabe destacar tres (Appave y David, 2017), a saber:

  • Aumento sustancial de la diversidad. Si bien es un mito afirmar que las sociedades eran homogéneas antes de que tuviera lugar la migración, parecería más plausible suponer que los migrantes asumirán la identidad nacional local en aquellas situaciones en que la proporción de migrantes sea baja. Durante las últimas décadas, el número de personas que migran ha aumentado y lo hacen por razones más complejas que trascienden el mero ámbito del empleo. En los países de la OCDE, el mayor número de inmigrantes procede a su vez de un abanico más amplio de países de origen (OCDE, 2020b). Esta circunstancia genera múltiples y muy variados puntos de partida para abordar la integración que requieren que las políticas tomen en consideración una diversidad más compleja y contemplen la adopción de nuevos enfoques.
  • Influencia del marco de derechos humanos. Las políticas de integración de los países también muestran una mayor sensibilidad hacia los derechos humanos, sobre todo tras adherirse al Pacto de Derechos Civiles y Políticos y al Pacto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales desde mediados de la década de 1960. La demostración de un mayor respeto por las diferencias culturales y religiosas está estrechamente vinculado con la prohibición de la discriminación por dichos motivos.
  • Mayor conectividad. Los avances tecnológicos en los ámbitos del transporte y las comunicaciones han ofrecido posibilidades sin precedentes para que las personas estén conectadas en todo el mundo. Este hecho obliga a replantearse la experiencia de asentamiento e inmersión de los migrantes en las sociedades receptoras, ya que pueden mantener los lazos culturales con sus otros hogares. Por lo tanto, es menos probable o razonable pretender que los migrantes asuman como propia la cultura de la sociedad receptora. Lo más frecuente es que los migrantes desarrollen identidades plurales que mantengan sólidos vínculos con todos sus hogares.

Entre los factores que han influido en los discursos y las políticas relativos a los migrantes se encuentra el resurgimiento del nacionalismo y el populismo en varios países (véase, por ejemplo, Kaufmann, 2017). La pandemia ocasionada por la COVID-19 ha exigido un replanteamiento de las políticas de integración de los migrantes. Como ya se ha comentado en la sección sobre Integración de los migrantes en tiempos de pandemia: enseñanzas de la COVID-19, las cuestiones relativas a la salud pública han tenido que combinarse con las percepciones de la sociedad en general a fin de buscar un equilibrio, pues estas últimas a menudo se han visto condicionadas por el temor a que los migrantes transmitieran el virus.

Different approaches to integration

Many conceptualizations of policy regimes to manage the integration of migrants emphasize the social and cultural aspects of integration. They recognize a continuum of approaches to how migrants are expected to relate to the values of the receiving society. On one end of this continuum are approaches that openly encourage migrants to maintain, express and even celebrate their cultural legacies. Some of these approaches may also emphasize cultural interchange and the celebration of diversity. On the other end of the continuum are approaches that expect migrants to downplay and even relinquish their cultural repertoire as part of a process of fully adopting the values, norms and customs of the new society. See Bauloz, Vathi and Acosta (2019) or Appave and David (2017) for an overview of such discussions.

Other policy analyses focus on the extent to which policies are rights based, prevent inequalities by providing equitable opportunities, or offer possibilities for inclusion and participation in society, including in decision-making processes (Rutter, 2013).

To inform policymaking, it is helpful to consider how all these aspects interplay and the extent to which policies will promote integration or result in some form of exclusion, segregation or even marginalization. The table below suggests this line of thinking by considering two dimensions: cultural identity maintenance and social mixing.

Approaches may support the retention and expression of cultural identities, but in a way that separates cultural minorities from the mainstream society; for instance, by creating institutions specifically for migrants, such as schools. Other efforts that limit migrants’ participation in society can end up segregating migrants by facilitating their incorporation into certain areas of society (mainly the labour market) but denying access to others (such as social services or political participation). This may be based on the assumption that migrants’ stay in the country will be temporary. In practice, however, where conditions of entry and stay severely limit rights, possibilities for access to education, services or the labour market, and participation in social and civic life, migrants can be vulnerable to marginalization and even to situations of exploitation and abuse.

There are three main elements that underpin the process of integration:

  • inclusion in different areas of society, services and institutions, including through participation in social and civic life;
  • social cohesion, based on trust, solidarity and a sense of belonging that embraces the diversity migrants bring to the society; and
  • rights to prevent discrimination and enable both inclusion and social cohesion (for more, see International law and principles in this chapter).

Policies that promote integration and social cohesion will have to consider the most context-appropriate ways to foster these elements.

Targeted and mainstreamed policies

The cross-cutting nature of the integration process raises the question of whether policies related to service provision should target specific migrant populations, or whether they should mainstream integration support in national policies that serve the whole population.

 Mainstreaming frames diversity as an issue that concerns the whole of society. On this model, diversity should be prioritized in policies across various sectors, not only in policies relating to migration. Mainstreamed policies focus on encouraging contact and interactions among migrants and between migrants and non-migrants, and on encouraging migrant participation in the activities, events, institutions and decision-making process of society (Scholten, Collett and Petrovic, 2017).

On the other hand, targeting policies to migrant groups is driven by the sense that their specific needs would remain unaddressed by mainstream policies, thereby leaving migrants in a situation of disadvantage or vulnerability.

These approaches are not mutually exclusive. In fact, combining mainstreaming with sensitivity towards specific groups can work best (OECD, 2020; Patuzzi, 2020). Targeted interventions can generate long-term savings if the knowledge they accumulate – about a population’s needs and how to meet them – is systematically channelled into mainstream services (Patuzzi, 2020). A combination of tailor-made and mainstream approaches that accompany migrants from pre-departure through the full inclusion of themselves and their native-born children is seen as the best way to make integration policies “future ready” (OECD, 2020). Such a combined approach can be understood as efforts to diversity-proof mainstream policies.

Image / Video
Figure 4. Approaches to policies on integration
Fuente

Based on discussions in OECD (2020) and Patuzzi (2020).

Note: These arguments are not exhaustive.

Policy Approaches
Making services more responsive to diverse needs
  • Build the intercultural capacity of staff who provide services.
  • Bring in cultural mediators (for example, to hospitals), as appropriate.
  • Balance standard services with specialized targeted support (for example, on legal matters, employment and health needs), especially to vulnerable groups.
  • Recognize and work with civil society organizations, which often provides this support.
  • Involve migrants in the planning and implementation of targeted services (for example, as cultural mediators).
  • Explore different funding models, as well as performance indicators and metrics, to enable the incorporation of targeted policies within mainstream services.
Fuente

Based on Patuzzi, 2020; OECD, 2020; IOM and United Kingdom Home Office, 2020.

To Go Further
Gobernanza de la integración en distintos niveles

La coordinación en distintos niveles hace referencia a la interacción y colaboración conjunta entre las distintas instancias gubernamentales. Las responsabilidades en materia de inmigración e integración a nivel nacional y subnacional varían significativamente de unos gobiernos a otros, una circunstancia que pone de manifiesto las diferencias en lo que respecta a las funciones, así como a las relaciones entre los niveles de gobierno. Los marcos normativos generales relativos a la inmigración y la integración suelen ser responsabilidad exclusiva del gobierno central. Por su parte, las autoridades subnacionales —como las regiones, los estados y las ciudades— son asimismo responsables de las políticas de integración en ámbitos como el empleo, la educación, la vivienda, la salud y los servicios sociales.

Los instrumentos y mecanismos para el diálogo y la cooperación entre los distintos niveles de gobierno pueden establecerse tanto de manera formal como informal. Además, pueden incluir órganos consultivos intersectoriales y grupos de trabajo, foros, redes, programas y estrategias que se encarguen de definir los indicadores y los ámbitos de intervención. Estos instrumentos y mecanismos son más eficaces cuando no solo hacen partícipes a los agentes de las distintas esferas gubernamentales, sino también a los interlocutores no estatales, como los del sector privado y la sociedad civil. En cualquier caso, es preciso definir la función de cada una de las partes interesadas y desarrollar instrumentos que permitan abordar las diferencias en lo que respecta a las perspectivas y los enfoques.

Cabe cerciorarse de que todos los interlocutores pertinentes del Gobierno participen en la identificación y la resolución de los problemas relacionados con la migración y la integración que puedan surgir, así como en el proceso de intercambio de información sobre ellos, para lo cual existen múltiples estrategias diferentes. En general, las estrategias de los marcos de gobernanza multinivel del plano nacional pueden describirse como centralistas o descentralizadas:

  • Los marcos centralistas (sentido descendente) establecen una clara jerarquía y división de las competencias entre las distintas instancias de gobierno.
  • Los marcos descentralizados (sentido ascendente) se basan en el principio de subsidiariedad, es decir, aquello que se pueda hacer a nivel local debe hacerse a nivel local. En la práctica, las autoridades locales formulan y aplican las políticas garantizando su coherencia con las políticas y directrices nacionales. Ello puede requerir el establecimiento de normas que garanticen la adopción de un enfoque coherente en todo el territorio nacional.
Example
Centralist and decentralized approaches to multilevel coordination

Centralist approaches in Portugal

Since 2007, Portugal has strengthened its national integration framework by establishing a coordination mechanism that has overseen policy development, implementation and evaluation. The High Commission for Migration sits in the Office of the Prime Minister and coordinates with all relevant government departments and agencies. Following a consultation with stakeholders across different levels of government that also involved non-government stakeholders, it determined that integration support would be provided through a network of local centres that function as a “one stop shop” for all migration matters. Each “centro local de apoio ao imigrante” (CLAI) brings various institutions and services under one roof to facilitate migrants’ access to information on rights, requirements, responsibilities, possibilities.

Institutions represented at each CLAI can include: Authority for Working Conditions; Central Registry Office; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Health; Foreigners and Borders Service; Social Security. There are also support offices focused on areas like housing, qualification, employment and entrepreneurship, family reunification, legal matters, among others. Intercultural mediators, often times migrants themselves, are present to support migrants accessing the information they seek in their language (offering 14 languages in person).

Decentralized approaches in Switzerland

Since the 1990s, migrant integration policies in Switzerland have emerged from the bottom up. Cities with larger migrant populations were the main mobilizers of an integration policy coordination framework at the national level, with less involvement of the cantonal (regional) level. They pioneered integration concepts, which came to be agreed and defined in national legislation in 2000, and that are now implemented by cantons. There is now also a tripartite commission that brings together the federal, cantonal and municipal authorities. This commission reports on the development of Swiss integration policies, organizes regular national integration conferences and conducts integration dialogues with civil society across the country.

Fuente

Portugal, High Commission for Migration, CLAIM Network, n.d.; Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) , 2017.

To Go Further

The importance of the local level

Local authorities have a special role to play in managing the integration of migrants because cities, suburbs and villages are where migrants live and where the integration and social cohesion processes unfold. Local authorities are responsible for addressing the immediate needs of migrants, including through providing access to basic services and access to rights in the fields of education, health-care services, social protection, training and employment services, housing and transport.

They are important stakeholders in the development and implementation of migrant integration policies. They often partner with non-governmental actors to deliver services and support, and can therefore help implement the whole-of-society approach that is recommended in international commitments such as the Agenda 2030 or the Global Compact for Migration. They also have valuable information on migrants’ profiles and needs; on the conditions that are necessary for their integration; and on the challenges and opportunities related to that process. The Global Compact for Migration explicitly acknowledges and mainstreams local authorities’ involvement in migration management throughout its objectives.

Yet local authorities are not always considered in national policymaking processes on migration. Sometimes they struggle to provide the support that migrants and local populations need. The demographic context may be very different between the local and national levels, and may be accompanied by distinct labour market situations or public attitudes towards migration. Without resources to adequately accommodate newcomers, infrastructures at the local level may not suffice, social tensions can arise, and migrant integration can be undermined.

Funding for subnational authorities is therefore an important consideration in multilevel coordination. Sometimes governments provide local authorities with lump sums based on the number of migrants they receive. However, migrants have different needs that will require different interventions and costs (OECD, 2020 a). Cities usually rely on revenue sources such as (1) intergovernmental transfers, both conditional and unconditional; (2) local revenue generation through local taxes and service charges; (3) borrowing from capital markets; and (4) public–private or public–civic partnerships. All four sources require careful institutional design, financial capacity and political openness (UN DESA, 2020).

It is important to consider how to build capacities at the local level. Sharing experiences and practices has become a useful resource for cities to find inspiration on how to address the opportunities and challenges migration brings. Different initiatives at both national and international levels have been organized to maximize this. Such initiatives provide, for instance,  a database of good practices, communities of practice, and trainings and instruments to advise and help local authorities to face challenges regarding integration, such as interreligious dialogue or human rights protection. Evaluations, pilot projects and research can all be strategies to further support cities, to identify effective approaches and to upscale them (OECD, 2020a).

Example
International initiatives supporting tackling migrant integration challenges at the local level

Intercultural cities programme

The Council of Europe has developed a programme to support cities in managing diversity by taking an interculturalist approach. The programme is a capacity-building initiative that also offers a platform for local authorities to connect through communities of practice (the Intercultural Cities Networks that organize the global International Network by geographic areas). Cities joining the programme will fill in a questionnaire that the Council of Europe analyses to provide recommendations as well as tools to facilitate policymaking, including a database of good practices, city profiles, handbooks, step-by-step guides and policy briefs. The Council of Europe also supports study visits as well as dialogue with both non-governmental actors and government authorities at other subnational and national levels to best support tailor-made policies on migrant integration.

Although the initiative was developed by the Council of Europe, there are non-European local authorities from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Morocco and the United States of America among the 135 cities.

 

Regional Development and Protection Programme

The Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP) is a European Union action that seeks to improve the protection of refugees and migrants and to provide alternatives to the risks of irregular migration by facilitating dignified living conditions and opportunities. The programme also works with receiving societies and supports their welfare and resilience. As the name indicates, it has a two-pronged approach, focusing on protection as well as development.

The programme timeline covers 2019 to 2022, during which time two phases run in parallel. Programme activities focus on integration in the North African countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. For instance, activities strive to improve the self-sufficiency of target groups; improve access to, and quality of, services for target groups and receiving communities; and increase social cohesion. Activities to achieve this build on good practices regarding service delivery methods that respond to the protection, socioeconomic and labour market inclusion needs of displaced groups. Although governments, local authorities and the private sector were involved in previous phases, the third phase focuses on civil society organizations.

Fuente

Council of Europe (CoE), 2019; IOM, n.d.; European Commission, n.d.

Policy Approaches
Improve multilevel governance of migration
  • Develop coordination mechanisms between public authorities at all levels to identify and address emerging migration and integration issues.
  • Design accountability mechanisms that enable transparency and complement capacity-development and coordination efforts, such as evaluations.
  • Upscale and mainstream the most successful local integration initiatives.
  • Consider and plan funding options to ensure local authorities are properly resourced.
Fuente

OECD, 2020a.

To Go Further
Adecuación entre el apoyo para la integración antes de la partida y después de la llegada

El proceso de integración forma parte del proceso migratorio más amplio y, por tanto, está interrelacionado con las razones que motivan a las personas a desplazarse y asentarse, y con las condiciones de los migrantes antes de la partida y después de la llegada.

El apoyo previo a la partida es relativamente habitual. Países como Australia o el Canadá llevan ofreciendo actividades de orientación desde 1998 (OCDE, 2020b). Asimismo, hace años que se aplican medidas cuyo objetivo es ayudar a los migrantes a preparar su traslado y, una vez se encuentran en el país de destino, facilitar su llegada y su integración inicial. Sin embargo, no suelen estar relacionadas entre sí. No obstante, las medidas de apoyo que se adoptan de forma coordinada durante las fases previas a la salida y consecutivas a la llegada generan una continuidad del apoyo a los migrantes y favorecen un proceso de integración sostenible.

Example
Pre-departure and post-arrival support to facilitate the socioeconomic integration for resettled refugees in the European Union: the “LINK IT” programme

LINK IT is an innovative project that supports the integration of Syrian refugees resettled from Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey to Germany, Portugal, Romania or the United Kingdom. It is funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), and implemented by IOM.

The project focuses on strengthening the link between pre-departure and post-arrival integration support. LINK IT activities include the development and piloting of a pre-departure skills profiling tool, tailored post-arrival support and products and information sessions for receiving communities.

Fuente

IOM, n.d.

Pre-departure support

Pre-departure orientation programmes help prepare migrants to engage with the receiving communities and the country’s services and institutions. They equip migrants with knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for their integration, and they address expectations about life at destination. They are provided to migrants who meet certain eligibility criteria. For instance, countries of origin may require that people who are moving within the context of a bilateral labour migration agreement first complete pre-departure orientation.

Pre-departure actions could include:

  • Identifying the specific needs of migrants, paying attention to gender considerations, the rights of the child, and vulnerabilities of persons. Through needs assessments, these activities can prepare the appropriate referrals in the country of destination for migrants with special health and education needs.
  • Providing basic information about the country of destination and its institutions. This could include information on legal migration processes and requirements; general information on the country (including history and climate) and daily life information (access to the health and education system, banking systems, local transportation systems, the justice system); and information on migrants’ rights and responsibilities. It could also information on social values, rights and duties, and cultural questions, including gender considerations.
  • Offering labour information. This could include relevant data on access to the labour market, on job searches, on procedures for recognition of qualifications and competences, on safety in the workplace, on contractual arrangements, and on the rights and duties of workers and employers.
  • Developing skills tools. This could include language training, technical courses or workshops on living and working in multicultural environments, whether in person or through online learning.

Pre-departure support measures are always adapted to the countries that migrants are from and the countries that they are going to. Collaboration between countries of origin and destination is crucial to reinforce the best results of these pre-departure measures and to ensure consistent messaging across all activities. These measures could be funded by countries of destination in collaboration with countries of origin or through international actors such as NGOs.

Pre-departure orientation programmes by countries of origin and destination

Pre-arrival services for migrants moving to Canada

The Government of Canada works with organizations all over that world that provide pre-arrival services and support for migrants moving to Canada. For instance, some services are based in China, the Philippines or India. Some organizations provide services and information online, thereby serving migrants from any country. These organizations provide newcomers with relevant, accurate, consistent and timely information that they need to make informed decisions about their relocation. This can include:

  • General information about living in Canada;
  • Orientation to education, health care, housing and transportation in Canada;
  • Needs assessment;
  • Referrals to community services;
  • Specialized programming for youth between the ages of 12 and 19, such as connections to youth mentors.

Some of the services provided are targeted to specific groups and their needs (such as refugees or francophone migrants). Additionally, Canadian provinces and territories often have further pre-arrival support services, as well as support services in Canada, including information about their communities and guides to help migrants adjust to local life.

Online pre-departure orientation seminar for Filipino emigrants to the United States of America

The Philippine Government, through the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, runs an online pre-departure orientation seminar for outbound Filipinos and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) heading towards the United States of America. The seminar is mandatory and free of charge. It aims to prepare migrants to better adjust to a new culture and language, and to give information about permanent settlement overseas. It covers topics such as the documents needed for travel, obtaining identification documents in the United States, coping with culture shock, finding a house, acquiring health insurance, building support networks, finding a job, managing finances and maintaining ties with the Philippines.

Fuente

 IOM Canadian Orientation Abroad, n.d.; Government of Canada, 2021;Commission on Filipinos Overseas, n.d..

Post-arrival support

“Welcome initiatives” are a collection of actions, services and information packages that aim to give newcomers the best chance to arrive and settle successfully. These initiatives can address the general and specific information and support needs of newcomers. Examples of initiatives include:

  • Creating a communication strategy to inform migrants of their rights and responsibilities (read more in Communicating on migration);
  • Providing translation and interpretation services;
  • Offering sociocultural orientation that provides information on, for instance, migrants’ rights and responsibilities, access to services and institutions;
  • Proactive planning and work with service providers, such as using information gathered pre-departure on health or education needs to connect migrants with relevant support services;
  • Preparing receiving communities through sensitization, training, and capacity-building. The goal of the training is to help communities plan for the arrival and integration of newcomers, as well as sensitizing them to the importance of this planning, so that things go smoothly and benefit everyone (see the good practice box below);
  • Identify the specific needs of migrant populations, such as psychological counselling, educational reinforcement and health measures, and connecting them with support services.
Example
Welcoming initiatives

New Zealand Welcoming Communities

Welcoming Communities is an initiative of Immigration New Zealand working in partnership with the Office of Ethnic Communities, the Department of Internal Affairs, the Human Rights Commission, local authorities and citizens. Local councils work with their communities to build connections between locals and newcomers so that everyone feels included and feels that they belong.

Immigration New Zealand supports the initiative by sharing knowledge, by creating standards that benchmark good practices, by helping communities to be ready to reach those standards (for example, through the design of a tailored “welcome plan”), by accrediting them when they do, by funding activities and by showcasing success.

According to this initiative’s 2019 evaluation (MartinJenkins, 2019), communities that make newcomers feel welcome are likely to enjoy better social outcomes, greater social cohesion and stronger economic growth. Similar initiatives are organized in Australia, Canada, Europe and United States of America as part of a wider international network.

Fuente

Government of New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

This reception and orientation support can be provided by different actors, including national and local authorities, NGOs, or others. After the initial moment, early integration support tends to be provided more centrally through public services. Such initiatives can include:

  • Offering language learning opportunities;
  • Facilitating labour market integration through programmes such as skills training, work placement and mentoring. Using pre-departure information on migrants’ skills (for example, a skills profiling tool) is particularly helpful;
  • Promoting interaction between newcomers and local populations, for instance through volunteering opportunities or cultural activities;
  • Facilitating contacts with diaspora and migrants’ associations in the country;

Supporting family and child integration through sports and mentoring programmes.

Example
European Union skills profiling tool for third-country nationals

This tool was developed in 2017 as part of the European Skills Agenda and is part of the Europass platform that was launched in 2020. It is a web tool, to be used on a voluntary basis, free of charge. Migrants complete an online questionnaire about whether they can perform tasks.  These tasks are typical tasks of certain jobs. The questionnaire is available in multiple languages. The migrant’s responses produce a profile based on their skills. Services that are helping migrants can use this information to offer guidance, identify upskilling needs or support job searching and job matching.

Fuente

European Commission, n.d.

To Go Further

 

Support for integration extends far beyond this early period; inclusion and social cohesion need to continue to be promoted. For long-term measures across different areas, see Sectoral approaches to integration. For measures that focus on receiving societies’ attitudes towards migration more broadly, and that are also relevant for long-standing migrants, see Addressing discrimination and promoting connectedness.

Image / Video
Figure 5. Support through the migration integration continuum: From pre-departure to early integration
Policy Approaches
Supporting early integration of migrants
  • Prepare and deliver pre-departure activities to migrants. This will require coordination between the countries of origin and destination.
    • Ensure that training curricula at pre-departure and post-arrival are consistent and accurate, in order to maintain the credibility and timeliness of messaging, and to manage realistic expectations of migrants before arrival;
    • Incorporate diversity and inclusion into pre-departure and post-arrival orientation, with a focus on migrants with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ migrants;
    • Ensure training materials are age and gender appropriate;
    • Make activities accessible to potential migrants. For instance, provide information in different languages; as well, provide child-minding, financial and transportation support to facilitate the participation of people who live farther away;
    • Commission impact studies on pre-employment orientation (PEO), pre-departure orientation (PDO), and post-arrival orientation (PAO) approaches, in order to gather accurate data about the effectiveness of these services.
  • Collaborate with actors at different levels and sectors of government, as well as with communities and non-governmental actors, to provide post-arrival support measures, taking both targeted and mainstreamed approaches.
  • Pay attention to different demographics (such as age and gender) when developing a strategy for migrant integration.
To Go Further
Fuente

 

 

Aprovechar el potencial de las soluciones digitales

Determinados países han estado analizando las posibilidades que ofrecen las herramientas digitales para brindar apoyo a los migrantes. Estas herramientas pueden emplearse para facilitar información antes de la partida, así como para otros fines distintos tras la llegada. Las aplicaciones, los sitios web y los cursos en línea permiten a los migrantes examinar la información a su propio ritmo, en su propio idioma y de una manera eficaz desde el punto de vista de los costos. Las múltiples posibilidades que ofrecen las plataformas digitales en lo que respecta a la conectividad y la interactividad generan oportunidades que permiten dirigir el apoyo a los migrantes y vincularlos entre sí (véase una descripción de la iniciativa relativa al Historial médico personal electrónico, que constituye un ejemplo de apoyo específico, en el capítulo Salud y migración). Estas estrategias son de gran utilidad especialmente cuando el distanciamiento físico representa un problema, como sucedió durante la pandemia ocasionada por la COVID-19.

A pesar de que parece que estos enfoques pueden resultar útiles, es necesario investigar en mayor detalle a fin de comprobar el grado de eficacia que pueden alcanzar estas herramientas digitales. Por ejemplo, ya se sabe que, si bien el aprendizaje digital aumenta las posibilidades de aprender idiomas, no es capaz de sustituir a la capacitación presencial (OCDE, 2020c).

Example
Digital solutions supporting migrants pre-departure and post-arrival

Information about Sweden

Information about Sweden is a website that offers information to newcomers coming to Sweden. It aims to function as a one stop shop for all information needs of migrants and refugees. It provides information on housing, education, employment, integration, community, health, residence permit and civic society. It also includes a language introduction to the most useful terms for the newly arrived who have to navigate new systems.

The portal has been developed in cooperation with reference groups, and makes information available in several languages: Swedish, English, Somali, Arabic, Dari, Persian, Russian, French, Spanish, and Tigrinya.

 

Migapp

Developed by IOM, the MigApp was designed to help migrants make informed decisions during their journey and to support them after arrival. It provides reliable and secure information to support migrants in moving in safer and regular ways, in better navigating services and norms in the new country, and in maintaining connections to family and friends. Information is sourced from civil society, national institutions and local authorities.

It includes, per country, information on:

  • Travel risks (for example, conflicts or natural disasters);
  • Entry requirements (for example, a visa or vaccination);
  • Services and support programmes (for example, assisted voluntary return and reintegration programmes, medical assessment programmes, global counter-trafficking hotlines).

It also offers features to:

  • Save travel documents in a secure way (access through the MigApp account on any device, even if the phone is lost);
  • Share one’s location with contacts;
  • Help migrants communicate with doctors by providing translations of typical doctor–patient interactions;
  • Compare low-cost transfers, to assist in sending remittances in cost-efficient ways.
  • Share individual stories.

Bilbao’s resource guide

The online resource guide is a live document, up-to-date and in keeping with the needs of the citizens. It is open to everyone who needs general information on services in the city and is provided in seven languages. The guide is an initiative of the Bilbao City Council that emphasizes the guide as a tool to improve people’s quality of life and to continue developing Bilbao as a city where all have a place.

Fuente

MOOCs4inclusion, n.d.; Informationsverige.ge, n.d.; IOM, n.d.; Kompani, 2018; Bilbao Council's Website, n.d.

To Go Further
Mensajes clave
  • La integración es un proceso pluridimensional cuyo alcance trasciende la incorporación de los migrantes al mercado laboral o a los servicios públicos, e implica el desarrollo de vínculos sociales que permitan a los migrantes pasar a formar parte de sus nuevas comunidades. Requiere intervenciones de política en ámbitos que están interrelacionados (psicológico, lingüístico, cultural, cívico, económico, social, jurídico y político).
  • Las políticas deben promover la inclusión de los migrantes en todos los ámbitos de la sociedad, los servicios y las instituciones con el fin de fomentar la integración de manera eficaz. Asimismo, es fundamental promover la confianza y la solidaridad para favorecer la cohesión social. Ambos esfuerzos requieren el respeto de los derechos y del principio de no discriminación.
  • Cabe aplicar una combinación de enfoques específicos y generales con miras a prestar apoyo para el asentamiento de los migrantes y promover la diversidad, al mismo tiempo que se atienden las necesidades de grupos específicos.
  • El hecho de vincular y coordinar las medidas de apoyo en las fases previa y consecutiva a la llegada favorecerá una integración sostenible de la población migrante.
  • El aprovechamiento del potencial de las soluciones digitales facilitará la integración.
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