Title: An Open City: The Role of Migration in Cardiff
1An Open City The Role of Migration in Cardiff
- Terry Threadgold
- Professor of Communication and Cultural Studies,
Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural
Studies - Pro Vice Chancellor Staff, Cardiff University.
2The City of Cardiff
- Capital City for Wales
- Driver of the Welsh economy
- Population of 320,000 people
- Modern and vibrant European city
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51950s Economic Boom
61970s Major Economic Decline
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10Tradition of Openness
- New City 200 years of growth
- Netherlands
- Ireland
- England
- Somalia
- Norway
- Yemen
11Tradition of Openness
- New City 200 years of growth
12Tradition of Openness
- New City 200 years of growth
- Indian sub-continent
- Caribbean
- Japan
- Korea
13Tradition of Openness
- New City 200 years of growth
- Africa
- Middle East
- Phillipines
- Kerelan
- Eastern Europe
14Cardiffs Migrant Population Today
- 30,000 born outside the UK
- Around 10 of the Cardiff population
- 111 different nationalities registered for
National Insurance purposes - Growing migrant population
- The absence of statistics
- for planning
- e.g., migrant workers,
- Somalis.
15Cardiffs Migrant Population Today
16- There are over 3,000 international students
currently studying at Cardiff University,
representing over 100 countries. - Cardiff University also runs an International
Foundation Programme, a one-year academic
programme designed to provide the academic and
English language skills needed to start a degree
at Cardiff University. - Cardiff University has a large International
Division of more than fifty staff and employs
6000 staff, including 820 international staff
from 78 different countries.
- The University of Wales Institute Cardiff has
over 800 international students from 120
different countries. The International Office has
two English Language and Study Skills Support
Tutors who help with additional language or study
skills support for international students. - The International Student Welfare Office provide
advice on visas, accommodation and other
practices or procedures in the UK.
17Migration and Social Cohesion in South-East Wales
(funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation)
- This research was carried out in seven
communities, or areas, In Cardiff in 2005-6 - the long established Somali and Chinese
communities - the cross-ethnic groupings of Arabic speaking
communities (including Yemeni, Iraqi and Sudanese
groups but here excluding the Somalis) - a socio-economically deprived valleys community
with a recent intake of migrant workers (Merthyr
Tydfil)
18Migration and Social Cohesion in South-East Wales
- the increasingly diverse but originally white
working class Cathays community located around
Cardiff University - the multi-ethnic and again originally white
working and now often partly middle-class STAR
(Splott, Tremorfa, Adamsdown and Roath) area of
Cardiff - the predominantly middle-class and partially
Welsh speaking area of Llandaff which has been
the site of considerable English and white
immigration
19Migration and Social Cohesion in South-East Wales
- and a group of people we came to call
administrators because they construct or
implement policy, or deliver services in areas
regarded as central to integration (language
support, housing, education, health, employment).
- Included in this group were four media
professionals. This was because of the recognized
role of the media in fuelling anxieties about
migration. - The majority of these people also belonged to the
middle-class white host community in Cardiff
and Merthyr Tydfil.
20Research Questions
- To explore the responses of different host
communities to new migration both historically
and in the past ten years. - To focus as much on majority white as on ethnic
minority communities. - To compare policy concerns with evidence based on
lived realities.
21Methodology
- 108 interviews, and 52 focus groups across seven
communities/sites. - Began January 2005 and completed August 2006.
- Participant observations.
- Interviews with community leaders
- Focus groups with community members.
- The research was carried out by a team of 8
researchers, three speaking community languages
22The Welsh Context
- We explored these things in the very specific and
complex context of devolution in Wales where
strategies and initiatives to do with
immigration and asylum operate within the context
of international, European and UK immigration,
asylum and integration policies and legislation
as well as - the Welsh Assembly Governments wider strategic
all party agenda for Equality and Diversity
23The Research Context
- There is in fact surprisingly little knowledge
about the social and economic disadvantage
experienced by new migrants - Even less is known about the ways in which
immigration can affect local areas or what the
challenges are for new migrants and existing
populations.
24Challenging the Policy Myths
- There is no evidence that community tensions are
an inevitable consequence of new immigration. Our
evidence indicates that the nature of relations
varies according to - the local socio-economic context
- the social class background and gender of both
new immigrants and receiving communities - the history of previous settlement and the
ethnic, age and class profile of the area - the actual and perceived ethnicity and class of
new immigrants
25- national and local media representations of
immigration, asylum and migrant workers - the legal status of new immigrants
- the success of local agencies and groups in
mediating between established and incoming
populations. This is true in both deprived and
middle class areas.
26Findings Work and Acceptance
- There is a strong connection between community
acceptance of new migrants and the ability of
those migrants to work. - E.g., the way diverse groups live and work side
by side in relatively deprived areas. - In the more deprived areas of Cardiff all new
migrants tend to be identified as asylum
seekers but are accepted once known to be
migrant workers. - The acceptance of Chinese restaurant staff in
middle class Llandaff because they work.
27Super Diversity not Community
- Diasporic or transnational communities with
global links are not limited to the ethnic
context - These links do not necessarily have any impact on
the capacity or willingness to integrate or on
community cohesion - Diaspora must be regarded as one normal way of
living and being in the current global context. - Close knit communities of the traditional kind
are in fact only found in the valleys context of
Merthyr Tydfil in our research. - What is much more common is a very complex kind
of super diversity.
28Who is Segregated?
- There is is no evidence that ethnic minority
groups are any more segregated than receiving
middle class and working class communities and
none that they are any less well integrated
than some of those living in working class
communities on council estates. Integration is
not used in these contexts. Deprivation is.
29Recognising the Role of Social Class
- Middle class ethnic community leaders and members
with a level of education and experience which
allows them to mix and negotiate with middle
class administrators make a huge, unrecognised,
contribution to the local and national economy in
their support of new migrants. - The same can be said of middle class
hostadministrators and community members who
work toward inclusion.
30 Social Class and Race
- Living in deprived, working class environments in
Cardiff, has unexamined consequences for both
integration and social cohesion. New migrants are
anxious about alcohol and drugs and the
behaviours of the youth in the host community. - Middle class asylum seekers, e.g., from Sudan,
live in the same poverty but have better
community support and strategies of dealing with
it than some other groups. - White immigration, whether middle class
professional, student or migrant worker, appears
to be invisible to local populations in Cardiff.
At least it is not referred to as immigration. -
31Lack of Communication
- There is evidence of a lack of communication
between those who try to support incomers and the
grassroots. - Examples include the perceptions and realities of
the Communities First Agenda in STAR, or
misunderstandings about council initiatives to
support Portugese migrant workers in Merthyr
Tydfil.
32 Intergenerational Issues
- In many areas different age groups do live
parallel lives but that this does not
necessarily produce tensions or lack of cohesion.
- E.g., the older white working class residents in
Cathays and the transient student populations
different age groups, Welsh speakers or the
Chinese in Llandaff. - Where it does produce tensions, the tensions can
be as much within communities as between them
e.g., different age and gender dimensions within
the Somali community interacting with different
migration and settlement histories. - Inter-familial differences across all migrant
groups produced by migration and the need to
integrate.
33Factors which Inhibit Integration
- Fear of the outside
- In Llandaff people defined their communities in
terms of the dangerous others outside it. - In Butetown and among the Somalis all over
Cardiff it was whiteness and what lay outside
the community that could be alarming - especially
after 7/7 - the way people look at you or move
away from you. - With the Chinese it was often inadequate English
which made them feel more comfortable among
Chinese or means that the elderly do not access
services to which they are entitled. - Undocumented workers (the Fujianese) often had no
choice but to stay where they worked. - Myths about others in both directions.
34Versions of Social Cohesion
- In many areas of Cardiff (e.g., STAR, Cathays,
the Somalis), and among many groups (the Chinese,
the Arab groups, Llandaff), huge diversity (and
poverty and discrimination) is simply
accommodated and lived with. - The Merthyr situation with the influx of
Portugese migrant workers is very different
attitudes are strong but community cohesion not
greatly affected despite parallel lives. - It is dealing with the issues of integration
which ultimately produces community and social
cohesion. As one Somali focus group told us
having white friends alone does not solve the
issues of poverty, ill health and unemployment
with which they are faced. -
35Economic Realities
- That has to mean acknowledging poverty and
class difference - Dealing with the racism and discrimination which
is evident in our research in every single area
where integration is at risk (e.g.,language,
housing, education, employment, health, community
safety etc.) - Communicating more effectively
- Planning to work with the reality of super
diversity rather than imagined communities.
36Approach to Governance and Diversity
Community Strategy Vision To ensure that
Cardiff is a world class European capital city
with an exceptional quality of life and at the
heart of a competitive city region.
- Sets a long term vision and highlights the
arrangements that enable the Strategy to be
delivered - Prepared in consultation with key strategic
partners - Developed using extensive consultation with
local communities.
37Key Initiatives
- Generic Activities
- Impact Assessment
- Involvement
- Monitoring
- Training
- Specific Activities
- Equality Policy Team
- BME involvement
- EMAS
- ESOL
- Leisure Outreach
- Asylum and Refugee team Health and Social Care
- BME Housing Strategy
38Contemporary Migration Issues
- Engagement
- Council Focus Groups and consultation
- REF activity
- Planned communication activity
- REF activity
- Information from Migrants
- Promotion of benefits Migration
- Service Delivery
- ESOL
- Schools
- Health and Social Care
- Housing
39Contemporary Migration Issues
- Community Safety
- Combating racist harassment
- Community cohesion
- Combating economic exploitation
- Work practices
- Accommodation
- Department of Work and Pensions