islands migrations: dynamics and tensions modes of incorporation of immigrant communities in an...
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Islands migrations: Dynamics and tensionsModes of incorporation of immigrant
communities in an insular space
Paulo Mendes: AIPA - Immigrant Association in the Azores
aipa-azores.com
We propose in this presentation to characterize and compare the modes of incorporation of the three main communities living in the Azores (Brazilian, Cape Verdean and Ukrainian) in view of the labour market and the perception of their integration into society of the Azores;
1. Assuming that there is a diversity of backgrounds, professional and socio-professional competence we want to know the migrants who settled in the Azores and what social spheres did they have in their countries of origin?
2. Secondly, taking into perspective, that social actors are rational in the precise sense in trying to achieve its purposes by means deliberately selected, but also influenced by social context, we wanted to know and compare the influence of social networks in the process of decision making in implementing the migration plan for the Azores?
3. Based on the typology of modes of incorporation, we wanted to know how immigrants are incorporated into these three communities in the Azorean society based on four assumptions:
Immigration in the 1st sector; Immigration in the 2nd sector Immigrant enclaves Intermediate Minorities
4. Taking into account the hypothesis that the adaptation process is less dependent on the profile and values that immigrants bring over with them and more dependent on the integration policies and in the forms of reception, we still wanted to know how regional government policy is located in relation to immigrants communities, based on three assumptions:
exclusion; Passive acceptance; Active encouragement;
5. Given the importance of the labour market assumes in the incorporation styles of immigrant communities, we wanted to know, in the labour market, where does it fit regional realities:
Negative; Neutrality; Positive;
6. Rooted in the ethnic community, one of the dimensions that compete in the determination of modes of incorporation, it is our intention to realize a comparison between the three communities most representative and know where they fit, where we assume two hypotheses:
No community – weak or non-existent social networks; Existence of a community - strong social networks
I admit that is a risk to adopt modes of incorporation to the regional reality (recent migrations and of small dimensions).
However, since I don’t have time I will only focus some aspects
Typology of Modes of Incorporation Source: Adapted
from Alejandro Portes, International Migration, Origins, Types, Modesof Incorporation, 1999, Celta Editora, Lisbon
Variable Immigration of 1º sector
Immigration of 2º sector Immigrating enclaves
Intermediate minorities
Size of the immigrating population
Low HighHigh Low
Spatial concentration on the regional level
Disperse DisperseConcentrated Concentrated
Spatial concentration on the local (island) level
Disperse ConcentratedConcentrated Disperse
Composition of the original class
Homogeneous: specialized craftsman and highly skilled professional
Homogeneous: low skilled workers
Heterogeneous- businessmen, highly skilled professional and craftsmen
Homogeneous : tradesmen and some highly skilled professionals
Distribution of the Professional status nowadays
Medium high status/low variation
Medium low status/low variation
Medium status /high variation
Medium status/low variation
Mobility opportunitiesHighs: formal promoting media
WeakHighs: informal ethnic middle
Medium : informal ethnic middle
Institutional Diversification of the ethnic community
anyLow: weak social institutions
High: institutional fullness
Medium: Strong social and economical institutions
Participation in ethnic organizations
Low or any Low HighHigh
Resistance of the ethnic’s culture
Low Medium HighHigh
Knowledge of the language of the host country
High Low HighHigh
Knowledge of the institutions of the host country
High Low MediumHigh
Typical reaction of the host community
Acceptance DiscriminationHostility
Mix: acceptance from the elite/hostility from the mass
Factors for increasing Flows to Azores Macro perspectives The emergence of migration to the Azores can be
understood from two perspectives, macro and micro: Within the macro perspective, it should be noted that
the Azores are situated within the group of the Regions Center, which are characterized mainly by the shortage of manpower in some sectors of economic activity;
The larger and faster increase in the process of globalization, without barriers in communication and transport, the uneven quality of living between regions are factors which increase the movement of people from their origins (peripheral) to the more developed regions (center);
National context (increased flows in Portugal and territorial decentralization)
Factors for increasing Flows to Azores Micro perspectives The economic environment (the lowering of interest rates,
the transfer of structural funds, etc.) that led to boom in the construction sector in the archipelago;
Reconstruction process that occurred in some Central Islands, particularly on Faial, following the seismic activity that happen in June 1998 (The natural factor as a factor for Azorean emigration but also a determinant factor for the development of migration flows to
the Azores);; The development of the construction industry. In addition there have been situations where companies
recruited in countries of origin (like Cape Verde for example), also the coming of the Portuguese mainland companies enabled the geographic mobility of immigrants. This means we are faced with an internal mobility of foreign workers, in addition, of course, to the immigration itself.
What we know about azorean immigration? The islands have been the scenery of a more or less regular
immigration movement, following the same lines as the phenomenon on the Portuguese mainland, particularly in relation to the origin, the socio-labour etc;
2010 data point to the existence of 3,461 foreign nationals whose presence is visible in all the islands, the predominance is directly linked to the larger economic Islands (S. Miguel, Terceira and Faial). The foreign population today represents 1.4% of the total population living in the Azores and 2.8% of the workforce;
Like the Portuguese mainland, in Azores most immigrants are placed in sectors requiring low qualifications (e.g. construction, catering).
We note that the immigration flow is predominantly male, a fact which follows the national trend, with 63.9% of the total. On the other hand, there is still a significant presence of women, with 36.1%.
This aspect is highlighted by the recent trend towards greater increase in female participation on migration
What we know about azorean immigration? Evolution of foreign population in Azores (1997-2010)- Source-SEF
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
What we know about azorean immigration? If we consider the age, we observed a higher concentration or
active younger ages, especially in the group aged between 25 to 34 years, with 41% of the total, followed by the age group between 35 and 44, with 30.4%;
The data show, as expected, a greater representation of nationals from countries of Portuguese-speaking Language or Latin America.
It appears that immigrants residing in the municipality of Ponta Delgada are mostly from African countries (being Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Angola he most representative) with 53.2% of the total, followed by South America with 27.5% (especially Brazil), Europe with 12.4%, Ukrainians constituted the majority of the European group, the rest of the world with 4% and North America with 2, 9% of the total;
Typology of Modes of Incorporation Source: Adapted
from Alejandro Portes, International Migration, Origins, Types, Modesof Incorporation, 1999, Celta Editora, Lisbon
Variable BrazilianCape Verdean Ukrainians
Size of the immigrating population
Higt = 970 ( 22,9%)
Higt 698 ( 16,5%)Medium 362 (8,6%)
Spatial concentration on the regional level
Disperse Disperse (-)Disperse
Spatial concentration on the local (island) level
Disperse Disperse (-)
Disperse
Composition of the original class
Homogeneous: low skilled workers ( -)
Homogeneous: low skilled workers (+)
Heterogeneous- highly skilled workers
Distribution of the Professional status nowadays
low status low status low status
Mobility opportunities
Medium Low High
Participation in ethnic organizations
Medium High Low
Knowledge of the language of the host country
High High/Medium Low
Knowledge of the institutions of the host country
Medium Medium/low Low
Typical reaction of the host community
•In the Azores, we are in the 1º sector phase of immigration; however, the three biggest communities present a couple of differences.;
•The Cape Verdean community is the oldest and one of the most numerous one (the second), overtaken by the Brazilian community (not not taking into account the people with double nationality);
•There is no spatial concentration of immigrants – absence of ethnic neighborhood;Tendency to intra-ethnic sociable relationship;
•The Ukrainian community presents the highest skills, however, in its majority, it is inserted in sectors that do not require high qualifications. It also presents more opportunities of mobility.
Challenges We may be facing a loss of attractiveness of the Azores in the reception
of immigrants, given the importance that migration has to any host country, it will tend to have a negative effect on the Azorean economy and also to the demographic aspect;
As you know there is a self-regulation of migration flows and, in the near future we will see a continue slowdown like what happened at the national level;
It is very likely that family reunification can continue to be the main thrust of migration flows to the Azores in the coming years, since the creation of jobs in some sectors (e.g. construction) will not reach the same levels of recent years;
As you know there is a self-regulation of migration flows, and we will see in the near future a continuous slowdown. It is very likely that family reunification can continue to be the main thrust of migration flows to Portugal.
