This slide shows the relationship between migration, language, diversity and identity.

1. Course: Migration and development nexus
Group-1: Assignment
Language, diversity and identity issues
Members
Migration and development
Kalkidan
Bekele
Abdulaziz
Abrar
Mebrahtu
Beyene
Hamze
Abubeker
Seid Webi

2. Language, diversity and identity
issues on migration
24 March, 2022

3. Introduction
 At the end of this presentation the class is expected to
understand about the following issues
 The role of language in international migration.
 The impact of migration in identity of migrants.
 The relationship between international migration
and diversity.
 Challenges of immigrants regarding the issues

4. Language
 Both fluency in the language of the destination country and the
ability to learn it quickly play a key role in the transfer of
existing human capital to foreign countries and
 Generally boost immigrant’s success in destination countries’
labor markets. (Kossoudji 1988)
 Bleakley and Chin (2004) linguistic competence is a key
variable to explain immigrant’s disparities in terms of
educational attainment, earnings and social outcomes.
 The role of language in shaping international migration:

5.  According to the study of (Adsera and Pytlikova 2012) Migration
flows to a country with the same first official language as opposed
to one with the most distant language are around 20% higher in
models that include a large set of socio-economic and genetic
distance controls as well as time and country models.
Cont.

7. Language as a pull and push factor
 Immigrants are more likely to move to destinations where those
languages are spoken in order to lower the costs associated with
skill transferability.
 People sharing common language would more likely to migrate
from one another.
E.g. We can see the Eritreans, Somali, South Sudanese people
migration patterns to Ethiopia.
 Potential migrants prefer a destination with a “widely spoken”
language, such as English, as its local language Belot and
Ederveen (2012)

9. Example 2:
 As IOM 2020, Ethiopia hosted
approximately 149,000 registered
Eritrean refugees.
 Many were in the northern Tigray
region, bordering Eritrea, in four
camps, with approximately…
 20,000 in Hintsats and
Shimelba
 31,000 in Mai Aini and Adi
Harush camps in southern
Tigray.

10. Cont.
 Stricter linguistic requirements for naturalization deter migration
flows whereas larger communities with similar linguistic
background at destination encourage more migrants to move.
 On the other hand, the polarization because of speaking a
particular language at the origin country can also presented as a
potential push factor people to migrate.
What if a certain ethnic group discouraged to speak its native language in Ethiopia
or ells where? Don't you think it can be as a push factor to leave the country?
 Thus, learning and practicing “widely spoken” languages in
destination countries may serve as a pull factor especially for
temporary migrants.

11.  Effects of language in migration
 Labour market: foreign language proficiency may be valued in the
labor market of the source country. Thus language as essential tool.
E.g. European Commission (2002) on language proficiency as an essential skill for
finding a job in home countries.
 Development: the fluency and easy to learn of the language at the
destination also a role to the development and easy life of the
immigrants.
 It has a robust effect on employment and earnings because of the
comparative advantage to communicate. Thus, migrants may remain
unemployed until they capable of the language, the vise versa would
be true.

12. Cont.
 Decision making: language proximity and the ability to speak
the native language at the destination (foreign language) seen
as important factor in the potential migrants decision making.
Potential migrants may aware of where they should go and selective of their
future settlement.
 Integration and assimilation: better language proficiency in
international migrants means easier assimilation and
integration in the host country and greater return to…
 human capital, socialization and acculturation
 job opportunity and job much,
 access to education, facility and healthcare among others

13.  language barrier and challenges of migrants
 There are a number of challenges migrants could face as a
result of language barriers. For instance, they might feel..
 Isolated ( difficulties in making friends)
 Hopeless ( functionality could declined)
 Seen as anti social
 Often leads to depression and other related
psycho-social problems.

15. Diversity
 The massive extension of global international migration for a
greater number of destination and origin countries has an
implications for diversity.
 In fact, migrants increase the diversity of society (Collier, 2013).
Ethnic heterogeneity in modern society is largely driven by the
mounting wave of immigration.

16.  Diversity is about to address a large number of issues: Age, race,
ethnicity, cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, and
religion, educational background, managerial experience, and
even personality traits.

17. Cont.
 Recent work undertaken in the OECD nations indicates that in
2000 there were enumerated 106.8 million foreign-born persons.
 Of these over a (23.9 million) came from other OECD nations
in North America, Europe and Oceania.
 This compares to 16.8 million from Asia, 15.6 million from Latin
America, 12.1 million from elsewhere in Europe, 7.1 million
from Africa and 5.2 million from the Caribbean.

19. Cont.
 In addition, as US Census Bureau 2002 estimates the size of the
diaspora of some national populations of MDCs and LDCs and it
can be seen that they are substantial in size.

20.  The United Nations (2002), estimates that around 56 percent of
population growth in more developed nations between 1990
and 2000 was due to net migration gains from less
developed areas.
 In the European Union nations as a whole, net migration
has contributed more to population growth than natural
increase since the late 1980s (OECD 2003).
Diversity through migration as a new phenomena

21.  Multicultural diversity formed by the new migration is a new
phenomenon.
 In the contemporary migration scene where also show as
there is extensive and increasing involvement of women.
 E.g. A large number of female labor migrants work in the domestic service in
Asian nations or the Middle East.
 The significance of the unprecedented rapid growth of a
second generation in 1% from a different cultural ethnic
background also increasingly important in discussing policies
to cope with increased diversity.

23.  Immigrants Expand Culture by Introducing New Ideas and
Customs. … In reality, immigrants change culture for the better
by introducing new ideas, expertise, customs, cooking, and
art. Far from erasing the existing culture, they expand it.
 In fact, not only culture but issues like innovation, labor
market, government policy, and so on can be highly
influenced.
How does immigration affect cultural diversity?

24. Identity
 However, a little attention has been devoted to the influence of
migration on identity formation and transformation.
 The fact of being who or what a
person is (Oxford)
 Identity better described as
something that individuals “do”
rather than something that they
“have” (Jenkins 2008).

25.  A number of studies have shown that the patterns of identification
among migrants vary greatly, ranging from identification with one’s
country of origin, religion or mother tongue to receiving country,
neither or both (Roccas and Brewer 2002).
 Migration sometimes requires the complete (re)construction of
identity. Indeed, leaving their country of origin, migrants lose
their social status, family, and social networks.

26.  In the receiving country, they find themselves without a history
and without an image.
 Faced with an unknown universe of meanings, migrants feel lost,
alone, and with-out reference points.
 As much as they strive to become integrated, migrants remain
strangers.
The harsh reality of exclusion is differ from the fantasy of the receiving
country as a place to better one’s life that originally drives migrants to
leave their country of origin.
Cont.

27. The effect of migration on identity
 Stress: Individuals who migrate experience multiple stresses that
can impact their mental well-being, including
 Loss of cultural norms,
 Religious customs, and social support systems,
 Adjustment to a new culture and
 Changes in identity and concept of self.
 Cultural bereavement (loss of one's social structure and culture)
can cause a grief reaction (Eisenbruch, 1991).
 Identity crisis: Migration involves the loss of the familiar language
(especially conversation and dialect), attitudes, values, social
structures and support networks.

28.  Migrants in Europe are still the most marginalized Others (Aldbi
Sibai Sirin 2012). The supposed anti-modernity of Islam is
considered to be incompatible with a democratic, secular, and
progressive Europe.
 Stereotypical images of Muslim women and patriarchal societies
are repeatedly used in the media as passive victims of their religion
who are oppressed.
 The hegemonic public discourse essentially regards Muslim
women as inferior, uneducated, backward, and victims of their
culture.

29. Example 1:
 Hijab is considered as a
sign of their
unwillingness to integrate
into European society.
 Some one who with a
long beard seen as a
terrorist.

30. African migrants want to retain their cultural values abroad
(The Africa Renewal 2019)
 There were about 2.1 million African immigrants living in the US in 2015, like many
immigrant groups, Africans are keen to preserve their cultural identity and ensure
their children do not replace their traditional values with foreign ideas.

31.  The process of identity construction of migrants can be analyzed
as the products of the social locations of the subjects as well as
the products of the institutional framework, such as
 migration policies,
 citizenship regimes,
 hegemonic cultural norms, values and
 categories of both the receiving countries and the countries of
origin.
Cont.