non-EU Citizens Research Articles

A Macro-Level Analysis of Adult-Age Language Learning

This article investigates the macro-level drivers of adult-age language learning. We construct a new dataset that covers German language learning in 77 countries (including Germany) for 1992-2006. Fixed-effects regressions show that language learning in the EU is strongly associated with immigration. Instead, immigration by non-EU citizens in associated with language learning in Germany. Additionally, trade flows are strongly associated with language learning in non-EU high-income economies.

ER access by non-EU citizens between 2000 and 2014 in a large teaching hospital of Rome, Italy

ER access by non-EU citizens between 2000 and 2014 in a large teaching hospital of Rome, Italy

A cross-sectional national survey assessing self-reported drug intake behavior, contact with the primary sector and drug treatment among service users of Danish drug consumption rooms.

BackgroundDrug consumption rooms (DCRs) have been implemented worldwide as a harm-reducing strategy. In 2012, Denmark passed legislation allowing establishment of DCRs. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics and gain knowledge of the way service users use the DCRs including bridge building to specialized health care. Associations between nationality, opioid substitution treatment (OST), drug intake method, and response to staff advice on harm-reducing education was investigated, as well as service user’s reasons for using the DCRs, and their perceptions of safety and trust in the DCRs.MethodsA survey questionnaire sampled 154 participants of DCRs. Convenience sampling was used. Key variables covered demographics, drug intake mode, educational advice received in the DCR, and opinions about and role of the DCRs for the service users.ResultsOnly 10 % of the participants were under the age of 30, 30 % between 30 and 39 years, 36 % between 40 and 49 years, and 24 % age 50 or more. A total of 60 % of the participants had encountered drugs before they were 19 years old. Female participants were 25 %, and 73 % were Danish citizens, 8 % were non-Danish EU citizens, and 18 % were non-EU citizens. As drug intake method, 63 % injected drugs in a vein, 7 % sniffed, and 37 % smoked. Of drugs used in the DCR, 49 % used cocaine, 41 % heroin, 16 % a mix of heroin and cocaine, and 16 % used methadone. Participants who smoked drugs made significantly less use of drug rehabilitation than participants who sniffed or injected drugs. There was a similar rate of advice on OST across nationality. Participants accepted staff education on hygienic measures and safe injection practices and found it useful. Participants felt safe and trusted staff and bridge building to specialized health care took place in the DCR.ConclusionsStaff of Danish DCRs educate service users on health related issues and harm-reducing interventions. A subgroup who smoke and a subgroup of nationality other than Danish are underserved and have less likely been in OST. More research on these groups is needed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12954-016-0115-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Cross-Cultural Dementia Screening (CCD): A new neuropsychological screening instrument for dementia in elderly immigrants

ABSTRACTObjective: Currently, approximately 3.9% of the European population are non-EU citizens, and a large part of these people are from “non-Western” societies, such as Turkey and Morocco. For various reasons, the incidence of dementia in this group is expected to increase. However, cognitive testing is challenging due to language barriers and low education and/or illiteracy. The newly developed Cross-Cultural Dementia Screening (CCD) can be administered without an interpreter. It contains three subtests that assess memory, mental speed, and executive function. We hypothesized the CCD to be a culture-fair test that could discriminate between demented patients and cognitively healthy controls. Method: To test this hypothesis, 54 patients who had probable dementia were recruited via memory clinics. Controls (N = 1625) were recruited via their general practitioners. All patients and controls were aged 55 years and older and of six different self-defined ethnicities (Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan-Arabic, Moroccan-Berber, Surinamese-Creole, and Surinamese-Hindustani). Exclusion criteria included current or previous conditions that affect cognitive functioning. Results: There were performance differences between the ethnic groups, but these disappeared after correcting for age and education differences between the groups, which supports our central hypothesis that the CCD is a culture-fair test. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) and logistic regression analyses showed that the CCD has high predictive validity for dementia (sensitivity: 85%; specificity: 89%). Discussion: The CCD is a sensitive and culture-fair neuropsychological instrument for dementia screening in low-educated immigrant populations.

Unregistered residents and registered crime: an estimate for asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Norway

The purpose of our study has been to better estimate the number and types of crimes committed by asylum seekers and irregular migrants. While data on immigration status for non-residents are lacking in Norwegian crime statistics, we use indirect identifiers (lack of a national ID number, citizenship, residency) to arrive at an estimate for persons with a pending asylum claim and the related group of irregular migrants (i.e. non-EU citizens). A very small amount of the total crimes registered with a known offender are committed by this group. However, these groups are most likely overrepresented as offenders compared to the registered resident population, also when taking age and gender into consideration. Our method is recommended in a field otherwise dominated by political arguments and as an alternative to registering asylum status in crime registers.

Work-related Conditionality and the Access to Social Benefits of National Citizens, EU and Non-EU Citizens

AbstractThis article contributes to an understanding of how conditionality applies across social security and immigration policies in restricting the access to social benefits of national citizens, EU and non-EU citizens. Specifically, the article builds on Clasen and Clegg's (2007) framework of conditionality in the context of welfare state reform by extending that conceptual framework to include migration. The framework is applied to examine how different levels of conditionality have been implemented in UK policy reforms to restrict access to rights of residence and to social benefits. It is argued that a conditionality approach moves beyond a binary of citizens and migrants in social policy analysis, contributing to an understanding of the dynamics and interactions of work-related conditions in restricting access to social benefits, with implications for inequalities that cut across national, EU and non-EU citizens in terms of the relationship of particular groups to the market.

Helga Zichner, Cum să transferi modele “europene” în Moldova? Reflectînd asupra motivelor de a stabili Programul Uniunii Europene Erasmus Mundus și de a participa în cadrul acestuia / How Can One Transfer “European” Models to Moldova? Some Reflections on the Reasons for Establishing the Erasmus Mundus European Union Program and for Participating in It

In the framework of its Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the EU opens up certain facets of its education policy for members of the educational systems of the direct neighbour countries. Bearing in mind the important role of education for processes of nation building and the related formation of citizens, I analyse the meanings of this expansion because the reordering of the relations with the new neighbours after the last enlargement of the EU is one of the main aims of the ENP. In the paper I would like to address this issue from two perspectives: Firstly, I want to take a look at the rhetoric employed in EU documents on internal and external education policy. Drawing on the concept of citizenship and its double role for differentiating between insiders and outsiders of a community and relating individuals to a political community, the question arises as to what kind of integration the EU intends for formal non-EU citizens by offering them certain opportunities of participation.

Using technology to draw borders: fundamental rights for the Smart Borders initiative

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the primary fundamental rights concerns related to biometrics and their use in automated border controls (ABCs), as well as how these issues converge in the European Commission’s Smart Borders proposal. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on extensive background research and qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in 2013 for the European Union (EU) FP-7 project “FastPass – A harmonized, modular reference system for all European automatic border crossing points”. Findings – The Smart Borders proposal not only compounds the individual concerns related to the use of biometrics in border controls and automatisation thereof, but also has serious issues of its own, premier among which is the imposition of a two-tier border control system. Social implications – The paper is a catalyst for open debate on the fundamental questions of how we got to this point and where do we want to go. It questions the process by which the increased use of IT in border controls has become the norm and policy trend in Europe, and discusses where the limits could be drawn from a fundamental rights perspective. In particular, it warns against the institutionalisation of a two-tier border control system among third-country nationals. Originality/value – Little attention is given to the fundamental rights concerns raised for EU and non-EU citizens as related to biometrics and their use in ABCs, and how these issues are reproduced in the Smart Borders proposal. The paper fills this gap by taking a bottom-up approach: examining the implications of individual elements of the proposal to see their impact on the broader policy.

The Conflict and Challenge of Integrating the “Others” in Europe

1. Introduction Europe has had experience and a long history of migration, both immigration and emigration. Migration to contemporary Europe is a part of phenomenon of international migration inherent in the process of globalization. During the last couple of decades migration, and particularly immigration (and the immigrant population) has become an increasingly significant issue in European societies. The process of migration and presence of immigrants is shaping much of the nature and content of social, economic and political dynamics in contemporary Europe. In rapidly altering milieu, from facing issues related to integration of immigrants and minorities to religious fundamentalism, uncertainties and economic slowdown Europe is confronting challenges like never before in past fifty years. Among these, the integration of the 'others', the immigrants, is a major challenge. The process of integration and differentiation of immigrant communities is happening simultaneously in social, cultural, economic and political sphere. A number of policies have been adopted to address the issue. This paper is divided into four sections. The first section attempts to define who the 'others' in Europe are and why there is a cultural conflict. The second section deals with policy options for promoting social integration and their relative strengths. The third section deals with issues and challenges in social integration of 'others', and the last section analyses inter-culture as an effective way to promote social integration and dwell into why Europe needs to integrate the 'others'. Migration and the presence of immigrants is one of the hotly debated issues across Europe. The patterns of migration, the size and composition of migrant populations, to and from Europe have changed greatly over time, reflecting both current and historical patterns of migration flows (i) According to Jean-Pierre Garson and Anais Loizillon, (2003) throughout the second half of the 20th century, European countries have experienced four main migration periods. These are (ii) a) Employment-related migration and the reconstruction of Europe, b) Economic crisis and new migration adjustments: increasing flows of family reunification and the permanent nature of migration, c) diversification of host and sending countries and the increase in the flows of asylum seekers, refugees and ethnic minorities, d) The return of employment-related migration with a preference for skilled workers and temporary migration. Along with this the disintegration of the Soviet Union led to rapid economic and political transition of former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Amidst this transition/ turmoil a large number of people migrated to west Europe in search for better prospects, stability and security. Although these patterns are indicative of specific trends and flows of people but what is more significant is that this process has altered the socio-cultural and demographic composition of Europe to large extent. These movements led to emergence of a distinct demographic mosaic combining pieces of diverse socio, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious and regional peculiarities. Cultural diversity has become a feature of almost all the European countries. If we look at the statistics explaining the demographic composition then in 2012, there were 34.3 million foreign citizens (iii) in the EU, representing 6.8 % of the total population. More than one third (17.2 million) of these people were citizens of another EU Member State. In most Member States, the majority of resident foreigners are third-country (iv) nationals. As per the statistics of the year 2012, in almost all the other Member States the majority of foreigners are non-EU citizens with only Luxembourg, Cyprus, Ireland and Belgium being an exception. The data shows that more than 75% of these foreigners in the EU resided in Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and France. (v) As per the statistics in 2011 the United Kingdom (vi) reported the largest number of immigrants and along with Germany, Spain and Italy, these four Member States only together accounted for 60. …

Challengers in the migrant field: pro-migrant Irish NGO responses to the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill

This article examines the dynamics through which the migrant field in Ireland is governed, and, through analysing NGO contention over the Immigration, Residence and Protection (IRP) Bill, explores the role they play in the field. The article argues that NGOs both influence and are institutionally channelled by state discourse surrounding migrants. The IRP Bill was designed to regulate non-EU citizens in Ireland, and codified the discretionary powers of the Irish state over migrants. While NGOs offered an influential critique of this process, in doing so they reproduced the dominant representation of migrants in Ireland as problems to be separated out and managed by elite experts. In explaining why this was so, I draw on Bourdieu's argument that those within a field of practice articulate their identities and goals through the dominant language of that field.

Migrační politika jako předpoklad společného trhu práce v evropské unii

Beside the free movement of capital, goods and services, the right to free movement is an essential part of the single European market. A genuine European labour market implies the free movement of all workers, including those who are not EU citizens. The paper explores the background and the current state of the EU common migration policy towards non-EU citizens. The paper deals with two dimensions of migration policies - admission and mobility within the EU area. The aim of the paper is to answer the question whether a common labour market can be considered accomplished while the conditions of entry and mobility for third-country nationals substantially lack convergence. The analysis of the legislation and statistical data shows that third-country nationals are not part of the European labour market as such

No nordic model: Understanding differences in the labour migration policy preferences of mainstream Finnish and Swedish political parties

This article examines labour migration policy formation of Finnish and Swedish mainstream parties concerning rules governing non-EU citizen entry, and the debate over transitional arrangements related to the 2004 EU enlargement. In both cases, Sweden stands out as the liberal case. In 2008, Sweden left its previous strict non-EU labour migration policies and implemented Europe’s most relaxed regime. Moreover, the country was one of only three EU members not applying any 2004 transitional arrangements. The Finnish experience is markedly different. Strict non-EU citizen immigration policies remain and transitional enlargement arrangements were implemented. Despite this policy variation, the migration policy dividing line among mainstream parties is remarkably similar. Finnish and Swedish Centre-Left parties tend to oppose less restrictive policies, while Centre-Right parties and Greens advocate less restrictive measures. To explore the sources of policy differences, we underline the need to account for ideology in relation to strategy, institutions and national context.

The EU's Footprint in Swiss Policy Change: A Quantitative Assessment of Primary and Secondary Legislation (1999‐2012)

In this brief contribution to the debate on Europeanization, we further expand previous work on the proportion of Swiss domestic legislation that is influenced by the EU (Gava and Varone 2012). In so doing, we focus on questions of considerable normative implications: To what extent are policy changes traceable in legal reforms “infiltrated” by the EU? Is the EU's footprint higher in primary legislation (enacted by Parliament) or in secondary legislation (enacted essentially by the Executive)? Do these linkages result from bilateral agreements (i.e. direct Europeanization) or indirect Europeanization processes? How do policy sectors differ in this regard?

The Normative Basis for the Law Regulating Global Governance Institutions

The aim of this Chapter is to ground accountability obligations of global governance bodies toward individuals affected by their policies. Why should, for example, the EU be accountable to non-EU citizens or residents and consider their interests? Why should GlobalG.A.P. and other private actors give take into account the adverse effects of their standards on farmers in faraway countries? I explore three possible principles as possible candidates for such obligations: the rule of law, human rights and trusteeship. Recourse to the principle of the rule of law raises several questions, including a preliminary question of standing: who has standing to demand that a global body comply with the rule of law? The second ground, the obligation to respect and ensure human rights, suffers from similar problems of space and scope: why do global governance bodies owe foreigners human rights-based duties? The chapter argues that the response to those questions, as well as the basis of a third, independent source of obligations, is the concept of trusteeship. States and the institutions states set up or delegate authority to are trustees of humanity, having been authorized by human society to respect and promote the interests of all individuals. The trusteeship concept, which informed the bottom-up evolution of domestic administrative law of many countries, can now serve as the normative bedrock for the emergence of global administrative law.

Critical pedagogy within the migration/security nexus: but who gets through the door?

This submission will reflect on how border control and visa regimes structure access to higher education by differentiating between potential students and funding recipients based on citizenship, and will suggest some implications for critical pedagogy in global politics. I write from the perspective of a former part-time instructor in an interdisciplinary East European studies department in the UK (a post I held in 2011–2012). In the UK system, the fee differential for students who are EU or non-EU citizens produces a stark inequality in access that cuts through East European regions depending on which states have become members of the European Economic Area; this anomaly makes the wider inequality particularly visible.

How to grow English Lawn in Moldova? Reflecting on the Reasons to Establish and those to Participate in the Erasmus Mundus Programme of the European Union

In the framework of its Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the EU opens up certain facets of its education policy for members of the educational systems of the direct neighbour countries. Bearing the important role of education for processes of nation building and the related formation of citizens in mind, I analyse the meanings of this extension because the reordering of the relations with the new neighbours after the last enlargement of the EU is one of the main aims of the ENP. In the paper I would like to address this issue from two perspectives: Firstly, I want to take a look at the rhetoric employed in EU documents on internal and external education policy. Drawing on the concept of citizenship and its double role for differentiating between insiders and outsiders of a community and realting individuals to a politcal community, the question arises what kind of integration the EU intends for formal non-EU citizens by offering them certain opportunities of participation. The thesis is that the attitude towards participants from non-member states remains without a clear “finalite”, reflecting thus one of the overall problems of the ENP. Secondly, I want to look at the level of individual participants in the programme Erasmus Mundus and the meanings their stays abroad have for them. I will show in how far their experiences abroad impact on their daily practices as citizens of their countries.

European migrants in Ireland: Pathways to integration

Within the EU, efforts in relation to integration are generally directed towards migrants from outside the EU. However, there is evidence that intra-EU migrants face similar obstacles to integration to those of non-EU citizens. Since Ireland has a large EU migrant population, this paper critically explores EU migrants’ integration in Ireland. Drawing on awider longitudinal study, the paper focuses on the lived experiences of 39 migrants from EU Member States living in Ireland. Focusing on domains of integration, we explore the different pathways by which EU migrants move to Ireland and become part of Irish society. Cultural and social pathways – including language, study, adventure and social relationships – are important as the original motivation for migration. Contrary to popular perception, economic factors such as employment were mostly seen as enabling social and cultural interests. However, economic but also social pathways came to the fore during the recession, when securing one’s livelihood and networks took on a new importance. We show that migrants developed various tactics to intensify their contact with Irish society and to develop feelings of being ‘at home’, despite a deteriorating economic situation. Despite these individual efforts, EU migrants continue to face obstacles to integration in Ireland: obstacles that need to be acknowledged at addressed within Ireland and across the EU more broadly.

Economic Crisis and International Migration. What the EU Data Reveal?

What was the impact of the recent economic crisis on the international migration flows for the European Union? Such crisis may have strengthened the difficulties for non-EU citizens to enter the territory of the EU while the propensity for return migration could have increased. Concerning EU citizens, the impact could be a decreased intra-European mobility and, possibly an increase of extra-European emigration flows. In this contribution we check if data accessible in international and national databases for the year 2007 up to 2009 allow confirming these assumptions. Such analysis has to be carried out very carefully as international migration data are not harmonised despite of efforts done and, they are far to be reliable. Moreover new rules of data collection enforced by the EU since 2008 may have an impact of the newly provided data. Consequently changes in trends observed in 2008 and 2009 in the context of the economic crisis must be dealt with caution as the possible impact of simultaneous changes in data collection may hamper real trends and available data could not be always useful to enlighten the effect of the economic crisis on international migration flows.

An unusual case of punctiform chest pain

Punctiform thoracic pain modified by respiration and digital compression is normally atypical pain due to angina and generally requires no further diagnostic investigation. In this article, we present the case of a young patient of 44, a non-EU citizen, with no available cardiological history and who came to the emergency department complaining of pain in the thorax, with atypical characteristics. No other medical details were available on account of …

Prison Suicides and Self-harming Behaviours in Italy, 1990-2002

Data on suicides, attempted suicides and other self-harming behaviours that occurred in Italian prisons from 1990 to 2002 was studied on official records, as documented by the Ministry of Justice. Over the study interval, completed suicide rates in Italian prisons were constantly about ten times higher than among the general population, but over time they did not increase significantly despite nearly a doubling in the absolute number of inmates. The rate of completed suicides in overcrowded prisons was about ten times higher than in non-overcrowded ones. Attempted suicides were about ten times higher than completed suicides, with females being significantly more likely to attempt to take their own lives and males being more likely to complete suicide. Self-injuring acts without the intent to die involve about one in every ten individuals, with foreigners (non-EU citizens mostly) being twice as likely to self-harm than residents. A better identification of the people suffering from mental disorders and a reduction in prison overcrowding are two key issues that need to be implemented to reduce the impact of suicide and self-harming behaviours among convicts.