Are Estonians ready to integrate the new refugee situation in their imaginary?. Analysis of the factors that hinder integration

Abstract

The EU quota plan on distribution of refugees demands Estonia to host 550 asylum seekers by the end of this year. How is Estonia reacting towards this new situation? This article explores around the topic of integration of foreigners -in this case refugees- in a new environment as a two-sided phenomenon which needs the willingness of both the newcomers and the local population to be successful. The aim is not to treat integration as a big-picture phenomenon but to describe how are integration discourses and conceptions gestating already before the arrival of refugees. Interviews, observation, data analysis and theoretical work have been focused on finding which could be the reasons hindering the integration of refugees into Estonians’ minds. Thus, our approach will be focused on Estonian society’s integration to the refugee situation, not in refugees’ integration to Estonia. The main obstacles for Estonians to integrate refugees into their conceptions of their country are (a) the lack of a clear picture of who refugees are, (b) the lack of experience in receiving immigration in general -and refugees in particular-, (c) a hesitating Government who does not act accordingly to the tempos of the situation, (d) a national mindset derived from a historical past stained with traumatic experience regarding people entering Estonia, and (e) an antiforeigner sentiment spread from the reasons mentioned above. If we asked “Are Estonians ready to integrate the refugee situation in the imaginary of their country?” then the answer would be “So far, no”.