Diversity and Inclusion: Immigration

Migration is when a person or people move to a new region or country, usually seeking employment and with the idea of living there temporarily or permanently. Below are some of the push factors reasons why someone leaves an area and pull factors the reasons why someone moves to a particular area.

The government in Northern Ireland can help migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in a number of ways.

• They can provide shelter, food and basic essential items.
• Countries should both shorten the time it takes to assess asylum applications and provide early support to those most likely to stay.
• Assist people in language learning, providing funded opportunities such as night classes.
• When choosing where to send migrants, it is important to consider where appropriate jobs can be found that match an individual's skills.
• Different refugees require different levels of support, governments should consider this and treat each refugee accordingly, taking into account their individual backgrounds.
• Provide protection from discrimination through laws ie Section 75 of the NI Act.
• Help accessing services such as health and education. For example government funded agencies can provide migrants with information about the education system open to them in Northern Ireland.
• If an immigrant has the right to reside they should be made aware of how to claim any benefits that are available to them.
• By providing the PSNI with funding to combat hate crime.
• Government funded initiatives, such as the Refugee Employability Programme (REP) in Northern Ireland, provide various types of support, including help with finding a job, improving job skills and accessing resources for training.

As a result of immigration the population in Northern Ireland is ever changing. The local community now, consists of immigrants from Poland, China, Philippines, Lithuania, Ukraine, India, Romania and Hungary amongst other countries. This enriches the local community and provides opportunities to become a multicultural, tolerant society. Here are some of the ways immigration benefits the local community.

• Promotes tolerance and understanding with communities from different cultures.
• Contributes to Northern Ireland's cultural diversity.
• Enriches the community by sharing experiences with different people.
• Generates more money into the economy through businesses.
• Increases tax contributions which can pay for education, healthcare and improvements in Northern Ireland.
• Eases skills shortages – doctors and nurses come to work in Northern Ireland's hospitals.

• An increase in racism and racist attacks.
• A rise in community tensions.
• The existence of prejudice and stereotyping.
• An increase in discrimination.
• Pressure on resources and services like housing, schools and hospital waiting lists.