Integration of Ukrainian immigrants into the Spanish societya case study of the Basque Country

Resumen

Thesis Summary Integration of Ukrainian Immigrants into the Spanish Society: A Case Study of the Basque Country The topic of the integration of immigrants into the receiving society is not a new in the history of mankind. The old proverb ¿When in Rome do as the Romans do¿ only confirms it. However, the last time the countries of the European Union pay a big attention to the problem of the co-existence of native people with immigrants. For instance, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called this problem as a ¿vital task for the future¿. Really, immigrants brought with themselves not only working hands, but also customs, traditions, religion and life style that, sometimes, do not correspond to the norms of the receiving society. And Spain is not exclusion. Having very recent experience of migration, Spain faces new challenges in all spheres of the societal life. The thesis ¿Integration of Ukrainian Immigrants into the Spanish Society: A Case Study of the Basque Country¿ is one of the attempts to research the theme of the co-existence of immigrants in the Spanish society, particularly in the Basque Country Region. And Ukrainians have been chosen as one of four largest immigrant communities of Eastern Europe; other significant groups are Romanians, Bulgarians and Poles. Therefore, the main research question of the thesis is: Do the Ukrainian immigrants manage to integrate it well into the Basque society that is to become a part of the particular Spanish socio-cultural entity? Through the literature review and analysis in a field of integration of immigrants¿ studies, it was decided to take the following definition of the concept of integration as ¿the process of becoming an accepted part of society¿ made by R.Penninx. Although there are a lot of different classifications of the integration process, the model of F. Heckmann has been chosen as it identifies the integration elements in a very deep way. Therefore, this model has been used for the construction of investigation methods. F.Heckmann distinguishes next four dimensions of integration process: Structural Dimension, Cognitive-Cultural Dimension, Social Dimension and Identificational Dimension. Within Structural Dimension, it is studied the process of the obtaining rights and an access to the membership, positions and statuses in the core institutions of the receiving society. Through the Cultural Dimension framework, the process of the cognitive, cultural, behavioural and attitudinal change in people is described. Social Dimension is connected with the membership of immigrants in different organizations, clubs, associations, and communities in the host country. And Identificational Dimension illustrates the sense of belonging and identification with a certain ethnic or national community. Empirical material has been gathered through the conducting of in-depth interviews with Ukrainian immigrants in Basque Provinces of Álava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya as this way is one of the best to build open conversation with immigrants and find out the full information concerning the all components of the integration process. Research material includes 41 in-depth interviews with Ukrainian immigrants: 54% of respondents are women and 46% of interviewees represent men. Talking about the results of the research concerning the Structural Dimension of the integration, it is important to pay attention to the legal status of immigrants: almost all respondents had the legal status in Spain. Majority of interviewees are very well educated people with professional training, and only 10% of Ukrainians do not have special vocational training. Unfortunately, it must be recognized that majority of immigrants do not work in the field that corresponds to their training and education. If among men it could be met that some of them found the work according to their skills (mechanician, driver, electrician, etc.), among women this phenomenon is absent. Almost all women work in the Cleaning sector. Majority of immigrants believes that it is impossible to find the job that corresponds to their skills and qualifications without recommendations of Spanish friends. Therefore, there is nobody who made the validation of their diploma or qualification in Spain. These results show structural difficulties that face Ukrainians in the incorporation into the Basque society. Variables of the Cognitive-Cultural Dimension demonstrate that all Ukrainians speak Spanish language and consider it very important for their life in the receiving society. Moreover, respondents show the deep knowledge on the social norms, rules and traditions of the Basque society. Taking into account cultural distance, Ukrainians pay a big attention to everything that makes society live: from news till informal unwritten rules of the Basque society. Only 5% of respondents told that would not accept a Spaniard/Basque into their family that, in reality, shows tolerance of Ukrainians towards native people. Moreover, a third part of the interviewees mentioned that they follow Spanish life style, while almost a half of Ukrainians consider that their life style is neither Ukrainian nor Spanish. These results encourage to make conclusion about the positive indicators of the integration process. Shifting the focus to the Social Dimension of the integration of Ukrainians in the Basque society, it could be noted that Ukrainians do not participate in any organization, club, or association. Majority of respondents told that they visit Ukrainian Church that is considered by them to be a local community. At the same time, it could be observed that Ukrainians keep close relations not only with compatriots, but also with Basque people. It could be strange, but only one of every five respondents keep good relations with migrants from the Socialist Bloc countries. At the same time, it must be mentioned that every four of five Ukrainian immigrants have in the network of their friends Basque people. And one of the reasons is not only interest to get some benefits from these relations, but amicability of the autochthonal population. This dimension also illustrates positive movements of Ukrainians on the road of the integration. The last dimension that concludes the picture concerning the integration of Ukrainian immigrants is Identificational dimension. So, only 40 % of immigrants told that felt themselves as a part of Ukrainian society, while almost a half of respondents mentioned that stay ¿in betweeness¿ that is between Ukrainian and Spanish society. There is also a small group of the respondents (less than 10%) who consider themselves as a part of the Spanish society. As a time factor is considered to be the main aspect in the integration process, it could be concluded that only with time those immigrants that stay between Spanish and Ukrainian societies will decide what country and what society to choose for their future. However, it is clearly observed that majority of Ukrainian immigrants in the Basque Country stays and goes by the way that has the name ¿integration¿.