Minorities, Immigrants and Refugees: the Problems of Integration
| DOI | 10.1177/004711789101000305 |
| Date | 01 May 1991 |
| Published date | 01 May 1991 |
| Author | Maurice Zinkin |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
267
MINORITIES,
IMMIGRANTS
AND
REFUGEES:
THE
PROBLEMS
OF
INTEGRATION
Maurice
Zinkin
Nations
are
subjective
phenomena.
They
exist in
the
minds
and
hearts of
those
who
believe
themselves
to
constitute
a
nation.
One
can
belong
to
more
than
one
nation.
One
can
be
a
Protestant
and
an
Ulsterman
and
a
Briton
and
a
European,
or
a
Fleming
and
a
Belgian
and
a
European
all
at
the
same
time,
but
for
different
purposes.
The
only
condition
is
that
each
nation
must
be
seen
as
covering
some
of
the
political
ground,
and
entitled
to
part
of
one’s
political
loyalty.
Normally
the
nation
which
holds
defence
and
foreign
affairs
is
seen
as
paramount
since
this
is
the
nation
for
which
one
is
most
likely
to
have
to
risk
getting
killed.
Trouble
only
arises
when
there
is
disagreement,
or
conflict,
about
how
powers
should
be
split
between
nations,
as
in
Canada
at
the
present
time,
or
when
two
incompatible
nations
occupy
the
same
geographical
area,
as
in
Ulster.
The
United
Kingdom
and
India
provide
notable
examples
of
groups
belonging
to
more
than
one
nation
at
a
time,
and
of
the
tensions
and
interplay
which
result.
The
subjective
nature
of
the
nation
explains,
too,
the
tensions
which
arise
over
immigrants
and
refugees.
Immigrants
have
to
change
nations,
with
all
the
emotional
and
intellectual
difficulties
that
this
may
involve:
otherwise
they
become
a
minority
which
is
unacceptable
to
their
hosts.
Refugees
can
be
treated
as
guests
and,
in
that
case,
no
such
change
of loyalty
and
identification
may
be
demanded
of
them,
because
they
are
expected
one
day
to
go
back.
A
body
of
people
become
a
nation
when
they
believe
that
they
have
a
culture,
an
ethos,
a
way
of life,
probably
a
language,
which
sets
them
sufficiently
apart
from
other
similar
bodies
for
them
to
wish
to
conduct
at
least
part
of
their
political
lives
together
and
in
greater
or
lesser
degree
separately
from
others.
Where
there
is
more
than
one
such
body
in
a
single
state,
one
has
a
minority
problem,
more
or
less
severe
according
to
how
far
the
minority
feels
itself
also
to
be
part
of
the
larger
whole.
With
immigrants,
there
is
always
a
question
of
how
to
ensure
that
they
are
absorbed
into
the
common
body
and
do
not
become
a
minority.
Nations
as
the
primary
focus
of
loyalty
and
of
political
action
are
relatively
new.
One
is
sometimes
surprised
to
remember
how
much
of
the
globe
before
1914
was
composed
of multinational
empires.
Today
most
of
these
have
gone.
The
last
great
empire,
the Soviet
Union,
is
splitting
into
its
component
nations;
though
they
may
decide
to
retain
some
central
authority,
to
recognize
that
there
is
also
a
Soviet
nation.
Self
determination
for
every
group,
however
small,
is
now
the
norm,
and
many
of
the
world’s
problems
come
from
disputes
about
which
nation
some
groups
should
belong
to.
Is
there
a
totally
separate
Basque
nation
or
a
Basque
nation
within
a
Spanish
nation,
as
there
is
a
Catalan
nation
within
the
Spanish
nation?
Is
there
a
totally
separate
Sikh
nation
or
a
Sikh
nation
within
an
Indian
nation?
Is
Ulster
British
or
Irish
or
neither?
Is
Eritrea
a
separate
nation
from
Ethiopia?
To continue reading
Request your trial