Leonella Pippi - 31.10.2017 12:02

Hier tauschen wir unsere Ideen aus! / Here we share our ideas!

Arianna ciotti - 15.12.2017 17:59

A single word, many implications

By Arianna Ciotti LSP Assisi/Italy

Migration is one of the problems of our century, which involves several countries. The causes which bring people to leave their own nation are numerous, and some of them are:

• The lack of prospects for the future
• Worsening of life conditions
• Bad economy
• Bad environmental conditions
• Political instability
• Violation of human rights
• War

This is not only a social, economic and political phenomenon, obliged migrations are also emotional experiences which negatively affect every person involved.

The problems of the journey of migrants are remarkable, but we should not forget that the first step in the process of migration is that migrants are obliged to leave their old countries and lives.

In this setting, everything is new  just like migrants are strangers to the country which receives them. 

Photo taken by Arianna Scarponi

First of all, migrants have to face radical changes that have repercussions on their way of thinking.  For example one of the biggest problems is the language, which causes difficulties in communicating material and physical needs; there are also cultural differences, and the break with their own traditions, habits and customs which are essential to preserve their identity; and also religious issues, such as the impossibility (or sometimes prohibition) of practicing their faith because of the lack of places of worship. 

Ending up in a new country, with a different culture, language and traditions is not simple and these problems increase the perception of a country as unfamiliar, and sometimes, even when migrants are legally integrated in a country, people do not see them as part of the society. Interpersonal relations are sometimes hard because of the differences or lack of tolerance towards them.

According to a definition of the UN organisation, integration is a ‘progressive process to the active participation of migrants to the new county’s life, thanks to knowledge, adaptation and reciprocal comprehension by both the incoming people and local people’.

During our Erasmus week, we took part in lectures and interviews with cultural mediators, volunteers, representatives of associations and university professors but also migrants who told us about their personal experience. Surprisingly they underlined, more than the desire to start a new life, their strong longing for home and we understood their difficulty:  not only  facing  the long and hard journey to come to Europe and the daily problems of integration, but most of all having to leave their families and friends behind. Which will not be easy to overcome.

Katarzyna Krawczyk - 02.01.2018 20:12

Hallo Arianna! 

Ich habe deinen Artikel gelesen und er hat mich zum Nachdenken gebracht. Die Flüchtlinge sind eine große Herausforderung für Europa. Wir solllen versuchen sie  zu verstehen. Für mich persönlich ist diese Situation unvorstellbar. Ich meine den Krieg in Syrien. Die Migranten müssen sehr viele Hindernisse überwinden. Sie müssen ihr ganzes Hab und Gut  in ihrer Heimat lassen. Sie begeben sich in völlig neue für sie fremde Länder. Oft haben sie Schwiergkeiten mit der Anpassung an andere Kultur. Darüber habe ich eine Reportage im Fernseher  gesehen. Die Reportage war über die Mutter, die mit ihrer Tochter aus Syrien flüchten musste. Sie sind vor dem Krieg geflohen unb hatten Probleme sowohl mit der Aufenthaltsgenehmigung als auch mit der Anpassung. 

Stella Ujma - 18.01.2018 16:38

Hello Arianna,

For me your article showes really well how hard it is to arrive in a new and foreign country. I personally couldn't imagine having to life somewhere without friends or my family and without speaking the language. Also not being accepted in the country you have to life is extremly hard. Therefore I think it is really important to help refugees so they feel welcome and accepted. You could work as a volunteer or as a teacher so you could help them learning your language. In Germany we have several organisations who help refugees and at which you can work as volunteer. This work is so important because it helps integrating the refugees into society.