Immigrant, Refugee or a Foreigner? Catch the right terms!

When talking about migrants, minorities and other vulnerable groups, the use of right terminology is very important. But people who are not so familiar with these terms get easily confused between migrant and immigrant, refugee and asylum-seeker, national and foreigner... To help you out with this struggle, let me explain you some of the most important terms:

  

Migrant / Immigrant / Emigrant

Migrant is a person who was born in a foreign country, as a foreigner (regarding the current host-country) and who has crossed a border to live in another country. Often used term immigrant emphasizes the host-country's point of view, where as emigrant can be used by the country of origin. To take the whole process of emigration and immigration into consideration, and not to forget that migration has consequences for both countries (plus for the transit countries!), it is preferably use the globalizing term migrant.

For example, if Abdou migrates from Senegal to France, he is an emigrant in Senegal and an immigrant in France, but globally we can call him a migrant.

Refugee / Asylum-seeker

Often people get confused with terms migrant and refugee and seem to think that being a refugee is somehow better than being a migrant. In fact, everyone who moves from a country to another is a migrant, where as those who try to seek asylum are also asylum-seekers and only those who get granted asylum (according to UN's Convention Relating to Refugee Status) are refugees. However, all of them are migrants and not being able to obtain the refugee-status does not mean that those migrants would not have serious reasons having left their countries. Currently many NGO's have chosen to use the term refugee when actually talking about migrants/asylum-seekers because of the term migrant's pejorative echo in many people's minds.

For example, if Mehmet moves from Afghanistan to Sweden he is a migrant. If he seeks an asylum in Sweden, he becomes an asylum seeker. If the asylum grant gets approved he becomes a refugee. However, he remains still a migrant as well.

National / Foreigner

The pair of words that also creates confusion is national and foreigner and they can be mixed up with the term immigrant too. National is someone having the nationality/citizenship (passport, right to vote etc.) of a country. Foreigner is someone not having these rights, even if he lives in the country. As opposed to immigrant, this is a status that might change; when a person immigrates to a country, he usually is a foreigner in that country, but in some years he might become a national. However, he remains always an immigrant – that status does not depend on nationality.

For example, if Alexander from Macedonia moves to Italy, he is an immigrant in Italy and most likely a foreigner. If after five years of living in Italy he manages to acquire Italian nationality, he becomes a national. However, he is still an immigrant.

Also, a good thing to note is that nationality legally speaking does not have anything to do with one's ethnic origin.

For example, most Albanians in Macedonia are Macedonians by nationality and Albanians only by their ethnic origin.   

Jannika

Games of the World

Ready to play!

On Tuesday we organized an International Games Night in Multikulti. The event was organized rather on a short notice but despite tha more than 10 participants joined us. We had brought with us Jenga, Backgammon, Chess, Triomino and some card-games, but we were very happy that some children brought their favorite games also! In the end we were even learning some traditional dances all over the world - quite a successful night, we would say. :)

Triomino required some concentration.. but when the boys got, they couldn't stop playing! 

Jenga is always lots of fun!

Uno was brought by one of the participants and we all loved it!

Imagine a spoon, an egg and having to walk under the table.. the fastest team wins!

Our next activity is going to be a World Café (language exchange) tomorrow, friday from 17 to 19 at Ultra Caffe in Kumanovo. Join us and come to practice your English, French, Spanish... skills, teach us your language or just come to have fun and meet new people. See you tomorrow!

English course with children from rural area!

In the framework of our Intercult'rural project we are organising a non-formal English course with the 7th and 8th grade students from the Staro Nagoričane School.

  10 century Church of St. George, Staro Nagoricane

Every Wednesday after the school hours we are receiving the children in the youth center, located next to the school, for one hour of pedagogical games and activities. The objective of these classes is to make the children enjoy learning a foreign language.

After two sessions we can see that the children really appreciate having this unconventional activities. They participate actively and enjoy dicovering new ways to learn :)

On our side we are very satisfied with this activity, it's very nice to share our time with these kids and feel that they are grateful for our presence. Next Wednesday: numbers and colors!

Work in progress...

Raising awareness on human rights and migration

This week is global Human Right's week and Thursday was dedicated to migration/refugees.

We wanted to do a little action in Kumanovo to inform people about this day and talk with them about migration to know what they think about it. So with our "No borders"-hearts we went to the main square of Kumanovo and spent few hours there talking to young people that passed by and who were not too busy.

So what do young "kumanovians" think about migration?

* First of all, many people link the subject to emigration from Macedonia and told us they want to migrate one day too. They think migrating to foreign countries (mainly to EU*) is a good opportunity for them to learn new skills and get new experiences. Moving to EU* to study or to work is unfortunately quite hard for them because of visa restrictions, but they are hoping that in few years Macedonia will join European Union which would make moving much easier for them.

* Some people we met said that there are no human rights in Macedonia and the opportunities to find a job for example are quite limited. That is why opinion of many people towards refugees is rather negative. They said that the refugees arriving to Macedonia are not bad people and they are in need of help, but the things are though for us Macedonians too so we just do not have ressources to help them.

* "Refugee-crisis" seems to be something people in Kumanovo do not know much about and they are not used to meet a lot of foreigners in their lives. They do not really know what to think about it and for some it felt even little scary when the refugees first started to arrive in the country. However, those who have actually met refugees and heard their stories said it had really touched them and they believe that this kind of humain dimension to the situation might change some people's opinions.

* Despite some concerns Kumanovians might have towards refugees, many of them still think that everyone should have the right to migrate, especially those who are coming from war riven areas or are otherwise persecuted. They think that migrants should be seen as individuals like everyone else and treated equally with the natives.

Now, that we have a proper idea of the attitudes towards migrants that young people here in Kumanovo have, we will keep working on raising the awareness of the situation and see what we can do to change the attitudes even a tiny bit. :)

NO BORDERS!

*EU: European Union

Movie Night / Филмска вечер / Nata e filmit

Welcome to watch City of God with us in Multikulti Thursday evening at 7pm!

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood. José "Zé" Pequeno (Leandro Firmino da Hora) is an ambitious drug dealer who uses Rocket and his photos as a way to increase his fame as a turf war erupts with his rival, "Knockout Ned" (Seu Jorge). The film was shot on location in Rio's poorest neighborhoods.

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What refugee crisis?

The project I am participating in is called Volunteering for acceptance and diversity. Themes like acceptance and diversity are certainly topics that should be “In” all the time and in a multi-ethnic society such as Macedonia there is work to do around these themes constantly. But the reason why CID is engaged in this type of project right now is the situation of refugees currently in Europe and more particularly in Macedonia. The project's main aim is to raise awareness of “refugee crisis” among Macedonians and increase their tolerance and empathy towards them. This will be done by organizing workshops in schools and different kind of events in the city. But before getting to them, I want to precise what are we talking about when we speak about refugee crisis. What is actually going on and should we even call it a 'crisis'?

Source of image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_migrant_crisis

The term refugee crisis is used to describe the situation in Europe in 2015 when a rising number of migrants made the journey to European Union across the Mediterranean sea or through South-East Europe to seek asylum in one of the EU countries. The situation was described as a 'crisis' and got a lot of media attention because the number of asylum applications was more than double compared to previous years, but also because the number of deaths while crossing the Mediterranean rose to record levels.

The reasons to flee are complex and intertwined, but most of the migrants are escaping war and persecutions in counties like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq (according to UNHCR about 80% of the asylum-seekers that arrived in EU in 2015 originate from these three countries). The rest are mainly from South-Asia, West-Africa and Balkan countries fleeing violence, discrimination or poverty and lack of economical opportunities. According to UN's refugee convention, can acquire a refugee status a person who is in fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of particular social group or political opinion in his/her own country. However, in practice it is often difficult to determine who is in fear of persecution and who is not, which makes granting the asylum in some cases rather arbitrary.

The growing number of migrants arriving to EU countries has resulted the Union control its boarders more and more strictly, building walls, fences and putting ID-controls in place. These measures have done it more and more difficult for migrants to cross the boarders which have resulted in live threatening – and paying - attempts to cross the Mediterranean, for example. Ever changing politics and laws have violated migrants basic rights and created absurd situations, such as a number of migrants stuck in the refugee camps in Macedonia waiting for the boarders to open again so they could continue their journey towards Western Europe.

The rising number of asylum-seekers in Europe (especially in Germany and Scandinavia where the majority of migrants are heading) certainly raises questions about how to welcome and “integrate” them all properly; anyhow, should be kept in mind that only a tiny part of refugees in the world are in Europe. According to UN almost 90% of them reside in low- and middle-income countries close to situations of conflict and only 10 countries, most of them being so-called development countries, host over half the world's refugees, as we can see in the image below. This relativizes the situation we are currently facing in Europe and raises the question; should we even call it a 'crisis' or does it only accentuate the idea spread by media of being “flooded” by refugees and hence the willingness to control the boarders even more?

Source of image: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/refugee-crisis-amnesty-international-10-countries-host-more-half-uk-needs-to-do-more-a7344171.html?cmpid=facebook-post

Jannika

Who are we?

Hello everyone,

After the intense EVS Party and planning our first movie night (we are waiting for you at Multikulti tonight at 7pm!), each of us four want to let you know why are we here and what are our first impressions of Macedonia. So here you go! :)

ANDREEA

Salut,

My name is Andreea, I’m Rumanian but I’ve lived in France in the last 5 years, oh la la! In the last 2 years I was woking in an association that promotes the European mobility programs. As my contract was finishing, and I wanted to travel a little bit, discover a new culture, but in the same time to continue my associative engagement...what could be better that an EVS.

3 months ago my friend Clarisse (from Planete Volontaire NGO from Marseille, France) said I have 2 EVS places in Macedonia.

Intercult’Rural? CID? MultiKulti? Kumanovo? what's all this...few days research gave...CID =Center for Intercultural Dialogue, MultiKulti=ze social center, Intercult'Rural= the name of the project, Kumanovo= city in North of Macedonia.

Interesting...we (if your are asking who’ we are, me and Dorian - see his profile below)  decided to apply, after 2 weeks of work we had our motivation video (watch it here) that we sent to CID.

End of August they said YES, 1 week after we bought our tickets...and here we are Monday 3 October 2016 registration in the Kumanovo police station, opening a bank account, having Macedonian traditional breakfast (kebab, salad, cheese).

The integration week started.. coordination meeting with Daniel, playing with the kids from MultiKulti, Macedonian classes, visiting the Staro Nagoričane village where we will work...the next 2 months will be intense!

  

 

On Saturday we went with the hiking group to the beautiful Kokino megalithic observatory site for helping in an action for promoting tourism. What an amazing view, being in a place with so much history is magic.

While they installed some information panels, I picked up some trash. Personal comment: It’s sad to see how people don’t respect their environment, We’ve never seen that much cigarettes butts in a square meter, a public ashtray will be very useful.

A second group went for a walk for marking a hiking path. It was nice to share the day with local people!

 

DORIAN

Hi, 

I'm Dorian, coming also from France but originally from Spain. Well, you have read how we decided to integrate an EVS project. After some years living and working in Marseille, where I had the chance to meet lots of volunteers and youth people from all over Europe and world, I had in mind the idea to get involved in this programme, and finally here we are, living our EVS dream and sharing this experience with amazing people  :)

Throught our intercult'rural project we will raise awareness about the youth's situation in rural areas in Macedonia and we will have the chance to work with kids and teenagers from a rural village.

As you can see the first weeks of the EVS are busy ones, but the first impressions are good: quite small city, very friendly people (and adorable children), healthy and tasty food, mad weather, we will not have the time to get bored.

JANNIKA

Здраво!


After a week in Macedonia I already feel like home here; I can get around in Kumanovo, I know where to buy the cheapest vegetables and where to go for a run, I know few words in Macedonian to get by in the supermarket (OK if they ask me anything more than if I want a bag, I am lost! :D) and my EVS colleagues are starting to feel like a family.

My name is Jannika, I am originally from Finland but have been living in three different countries for the past seven years, which is why I adapt to new environments quite fast, I think. I just finished my Master's degree in International Migrations and Ethnic Relations and wanted to gain some experience related to my studies and contribute to the current refugee situation with my knowledge. The EVS project in Kumanovo seemed like a perfect opportunity for me and so I decided to spend next three months in Macedonia. The project I am working in is about raising awareness of “refugee crisis” and promoting acceptance and tolerance among young people in Macedonia. During the next three months we are planning to organize workshops in local high schools, evening activities in Multikulti and events such as photo exhibition and public debate in the city. Also, we are going to do activities in refugee-camps close to the boarders and have fun with the kids in Multikulti whenever we have time.In my free-time I am a dancehall-dancer so I might also teach some Jamaican dancing to Macedonians if they are up for it. ;)

Kumanovo seems a small but interesting city. It is quite different than any other places that I have lived in and I love the mixture of different cultures and religions that are present. I can not wait to discover more Macedonia and put my hands into work to realize the projects we have been planning!

Hope to see you around! :)

Onur (Онур) - Robin (Робин)

Merhaba,

My name is Onur (Онур) or Robin (Робин). 

I born in Turkey but I can’t see borderlines. 

So all World is my country. 

I went to Czech Republic last year and I wanted to go abroad again. 

So I choosed this EVS* Project.

In this Project I’m working for acceptance and tolerance, beside this I’m doing technical works too because I study Computer Education and Instructional Technology.

I'm also volunteer at "Youth Service Center", "Turkish Women Union", "Tuğba Çansalı-Öğrenme Tasarımları/Learning Designing", "Ankara University Modern Archery Society".

Our work included some flash mobs and I love theatre, basicly this project so good for me.

Here I am. 

My motto is “live in the moment and try to be happy” and I’m very happy to being here. I lived in many cities, towns, small towns, and villages in my life and mostly I prefer small towns because it will be easy to go somewhere and mostly you will see the same friendly people.

I believe that Turkey and Macedonia have same culture. 

Like foods, melodies, clothes. 

So I don’t feel like stranger for this country. 

Just I don’t understand their language (yet).

We have movie nights every Thursday and you can vote for movie from our blog.

If you want to meet with us, we will be at Multi-Култи

Ciao.