Multiculturalism in a diverse world: immigration and integration

In times of an economic boom countries often recruit foreign workers:

• e.g. when Germany 🇩🇪 hired "guest workers" in the 1950s
• e.g. in the USA 🇺🇸 immigrants gave rise to the concept of the melting pot, where all ethnic identities were merged to the American one

Sadly, wars are not only a historical topic, but an actual problem in many areas worldwide. A few sample are:

• PAST: After World War II Europe 🇪🇺 had to cope with millions of displaced people.
• NOW: As a consequence of Russia's 🇷🇺 - or rather Putin's - war of aggression against Ukraine 🇺🇦 many citizens flee to Europe.

Millions of people worldwide risk their lives illegally crossing borders because of circumstances beyond their control.

Many of them become victims of human traffickers who exploit their desperate situation. The dangerous passage to a new home frequently results in death, and the asylum seekers often face:

• discrimination
• racism
• xenophobia
• resentment

Anti-immigration groups claim that migrants ostensibly

• are a drain on society
• call for too many benefits
• take jobs away from locals

But, these fears are not justified❗️

It was already mentioned, that the ostensible opinions on immigration are not true. This is so, because immigrants:

• pay more taxes than locals
• are often well-educated in their countries of origin
• tend to be young and healthy (advantageous for countries suffering from demographic problems like an ageing population with a shrinking workforce that has to support a growing number of pensioners)
• bring needed professional skills

Immigration and migration in general:

• broaden our horizons
• enrich our culture
• create an atmosphere of tolerance
• new cultural specialties become part of a local identity of a city

Last but not least, I would like to point out some ideas for ensuring ethnic diversity which is an asset for every country.

Here are some tips for promoting multiculturalism:

• learning about each other through social communication and socialising
• encouraging open discussions
• incorporating multicultural ideas
• organising cultural exchange programs
• promoting cross-cultural understanding and friendships
• ensuring bilingual education
• education people about cultural misconceptions and prejudices
• highlighting positive contributions
• advocating for policies
• addressing systemic inequalities
• collaborations
• ...