The Effect of Anti‐Discrimination Policies on Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in 24 European Countries
| Author | Elyakim Kislev |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12428 |
The Effect of Anti-Discrimination Policies on
Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants
in 24 European Countries
Elyakim Kislev*
ABSTRACT
In light of the new wave of immigrants and asylum seekers from the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) to Europe, this article investigates some of the challenges of the previous
phases of immigration of MENA immigrants in order to propose how best to address the
needs of the new one. In particular, this article looks at the relationship between different
types of anti-discrimination policy and the levels of perceived discrimination among first- and
second-generation MENA immigrants to Europe. This research uses hierarchical models to
integrate data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and the Migrant Integration Policy
Index. Findings show that enforcement mechanisms are most efficient in reducing feelings of
discrimination among veteran and second-generation MENA immigrants, while broad and well
defined anti-discrimination policies are highly effective among newcomers.
INTRODUCTION
The recent arrival of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) immigrants to Europe as asylum
seekers, particularly following the Arab Spring and ensuing conflicts, is part of a long trajectory of
inbound flows to Europe following the Second World War. The European population now hovers
above 500 million, of which around 10 per cent are foreign-born and above 6 per cent (30 million)
are of non-EU descent (Aiyar et al., 2016; Castles et al., 2013). The magnitude of the current wave
of immigration is expected to increase the immigrant population by several million in the coming
years, particularly as asylum is granted to refugees and family reunifications are approved (Aiyar
et al., 2016).
In many cases, economic integration can be expected to improve over time. Indeed, by compar-
ing major groups of non-European immigrants (MENA, South Asians, and Sub-Saharan Africans)
across two generations, an analysis of the European Social Survey (ESS, 2015) demonstrates a sig-
nificant improvement in all economic indicators among second-generation immigrants. Labour force
participation rates, household income, and education levels are higher, unemployment rates are
lower, and gender gaps are narrower among second-generation immigrants than among first-genera-
tion immigrants.
However, despite measured progress in economic and educational achievements among second-
generation immigrants, there is almost no improvement in terms of discrimination reporting among
MENA immigrants to Europe. For example, in terms of unemployment, there is an improvement
from 22 per cent among the first generation to 16 per cent among the second generation (ages 20-
* Hebrew University, Jerusalem
doi: 10.1111/imig.12428
©2018 The Author
International Migration ©2018 IOM
International Migration Vol. 56 (3) 2018
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
50). Yet the percentage of individuals reporting perceived discrimination among first and second-
generation MENA immigrants only falls from 29 per cent to 26 per cent. To put these numbers in
context, 15 per cent of first-generation Eastern European immigrants to Western Europe report on
discrimination, while this statistic stands at only 6 per cent among the second generation. In terms
of unemployment, 15 per cent of first-generation Eastern European immigrants are unemployed,
while this statistic stands at only 8 per cent among the second generation. All differences are statis-
tically significant, besides the difference between first- and second-generation MENA immigrants
in terms of discrimination reporting, As such, it would seem that while MENA immigrants may, in
some cases, progress in closing human capital gaps and slowly integrate into the European labour
market, they fail to be accepted socially (see also Canet et al., 2008; Constant et al., 2009;
Bommes et al., 2014). This potential dissonance between economic integration and social inclusion
is not new, and has been documented also in the analysis of historical processes of immigration to
Europe (Sassen, 1999), in research on typology of immigration policies (Castles et al., 2013), and
in several local studies in different European countries (Safi, 2010; Alba, 2005; Bleich, 2003; Sil-
berman and Fournier, 2009; Entzinger and Biezeveld, 2003).
Given the high level of immigrant and asylum absorption from MENA, and the apparent lack of
improvement over time in feelings of discrimination, it seems that the arrival of MENA immigrants
and asylum seekers in the early 2010s constitutes the beginning of a new phase of immigration to
Europe that poses major challenges for European governments (Holmes, 2015): how should policy-
makers legislate in order to minimize the impact of perceived discrimination? This study accord-
ingly investigates MENA immigrants’social integration in the past, and compares policy measures
that can be taken by European governments now to ease social tensions and reduce feelings of dis-
crimination among the newcomers.
Therefore the following sections continue with a description of the social problems that are particu-
larly severe for MENA immigrants in comparison with other ethnic groups in Europe. Then the various
policy measures adopted to improve the social integration of immigrants and thedifferent arguments are
described in full. Finally, based on data from previous waves, the effectiveness of the different policies
for improving the socialintegration of MENA immigrants in Europeis examined in detail.
THE SOCIAL PROBLEM
Previous phases of immigration have caused tensions between immigrants and their European
native-born counterparts. Since the incentive to bring immigrants to Europe was mainly economic,
the social aspects of integration have been relatively neglected (Givens, 2007; Raymer, 2016). Sim-
ilar conclusions emerge from a study (Mayda, 2006) analysing individual attitudes in several Euro-
pean countries, the USA, Canada, and Japan. This study investigates the multiple factors involved
in the formation of opinion regarding immigrants. When aggregating the factors to economic
related concerns (e.g. employment), and non-economic related concerns (e.g. culture or crime), the
non-economic factors were found to explain a larger percentage of the variance in attitudes. These
results echo those of another study (Lucassen and Lubbers, 2012) which found that the success of
the far-right throughout Europe in recent years can be attributed mostly to cultural factors, although
it has been traditionally associated with the state of the economy (see also Polyakova, 2015; Busti-
kova, 2014; Liang, 2013; Stockemer, 2012).
Ethnic, Ethno-religious, and Muslim Penalties
MENA immigrants are one of the groups that suffers the most from social exclusion and ethnic
penalty in Europe, and unlike other groups of immigrants in Europe, continue to face social
Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants 89
©2018 The Author. International Migration ©2018 IOM
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