CVEK

The book “Slovakia and Migration. Searching for Ways to Coexistence” brings a number of interesting research findings that allow us to look at coexistence in a diverse society both professionally and humanly. The publication is the result of a two-year research project on the integration of foreigners in Slovakia, in which we conducted 2 representative quantitative surveys (among foreigners and the majority population), 1 questionnaire survey at the level of district towns, 56 individual interviews with integration actors at the local level, 9 focus groups with the majority population and 50 individual interviews with foreigners living in Slovakia.

This mosaic of research thus looks at the topic of inclusion of foreigners comprehensively from different perspectives. In the publication we point out that public administration institutions are still not prepared for the topic of integration. People with a migration background are invisible in public policies. Migration is resisted by the public and seen more as a threat than an opportunity. Mutual contacts with foreigners, however, greatly contribute to changing attitudes and better coexistence. For foreigners, Slovakia is a small and peaceful country where a good life can be lived. We have the potential to develop, but we are prevented from doing so by our closed attitude to diversity.

The book offers suggestions for improving public policies and promoting coexistence. Thus, policy makers, academics, other actors, and ordinary people interested in the kind of country we live in will find useful information in it.

The publication is an output of the project Research on the Integration of Foreigners – Barriers, Tools and Attitudes, which is co-financed by the European Union from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. Funds for Home Affairs.

The monitoring report focuses on the structural and horizontal preconditions for the successful implementation of national integration strategy in Slovakia: governance and overall policy framework, fighting discrimination, addressing antigypsyism and education. The report also includes case studies of two localities to illustrate the potential and limits of Slovakia’s Roma inclusion policies in practice.

The report notes that despite relatively slow progress overall, we can trace palpable results, mostly through several active municipalities and through the projects of NGOs. Additionally, at least in areas such as housing, health and employment, we can see the efforts of the action plans of the NRIS to scale up successful local municipal or NGO-run projects using ESIF funds. As we argue throughout the report, nevertheless, significant efforts must be invested into actual implementation of plans into practice in all areas. Moreover, in the area of non-discrimination, especially when it comes to maltreatment by police, residential segregation and segregation in education, there appears to be limits even in the state recognition of troubling practices as a precondition for any meaningful action.

The report has been prepared by the Centre for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture (Governance and Overall Policy Framework, Antidiscrimination, Education), the Roma Advocacy and Research Centre (Antigypsyism), the Community Centre of Minorities (Case study of Veľký Krtíš), Roma Media – ROMED (Case study of Hlinné), the Association for Culture, Education and Communication, People in Need and Roma Platform.

The report has been prepared as part of the Roma Civil Monitor pilot project, ‘Capacity-building for Roma civil society and strengthening its involvement in the monitoring of National Roma Integration Strategies’. The pilot project is carried out for the European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers. It is coordinated by the Center for Policy Studies of Central European University (CEU CPS), in partnership with the European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network (ERGO Network), the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) and the Roma Education Fund (REF) and implemented with around 90 NGOs and experts from up to 27 member states.

The idea for the project Intercultural Guide to Lives in Slovakia came from the constantly recurring questions concerning daily life in Slovakia which we are asked during our work by incoming foreigners. The great number of them surprised us at first, we still do not have an answer to some, and it is evident that for many questions no simple answers exist. 

Our idea was a book that looks different to the ordinary guidebook for a country. So then, do not look into it for facts about the country’s area, the number of inhabitants, or precise instructions on what you may and may not do. Our guide, by taking the qualities or strangenesses of Slovakia as perceived by people from outside, aims to enable new arrivals and old-established residents alike to look at ordinary situations from different perspectives and to taste, with a pinch of spice and salt, what we’re cooking together.

The idea for the project Intercultural Guide to Lives in Slovakia came from the constantly recurring questions concerning daily life in Slovakia which we are asked during our work by incoming foreigners. The great number of them surprised us at first, we still do not have an answer to some, and it is evident that for many questions no simple answers exist. 

Our idea was a book that looks different to the ordinary guidebook for a country. So then, do not look into it for facts about the country’s area, the number of inhabitants, or precise instructions on what you may and may not do. Our guide, by taking the qualities or strangenesses of Slovakia as perceived by people from outside, aims to enable new arrivals and old-established residents alike to look at ordinary situations from different perspectives and to taste, with a pinch of spice and salt, what we’re cooking together.

In an attractive form of a leaflet, we are introducing the main conclusions from our research on Complex Instruction Program as one of the tools of inclusive education and its potential implementation in Slovak schools. This leaflet thus serves the teachers, school principals, and policymakers who are interested in learning more about the basic principles of the program and get a brief insight into the experience of the primary school in Hejőkeresztúr with an education of children from diverse backgrounds.