The Migration Policy Centre plans to investigate the impact of home countries on immigrants' integration in the residence countries, by a new project called "Researching third country nationals’ integration as a three-way process. Immigrants, countries of emigration and countries of immigration as actors of integration" (INTERACT).

Migrants will always stay in touch and will be influenced by their countries of origin; they belong to both worlds: the one they left and the one where they now live. However emphasis is still placed on the receiving state in integrating immigrants and hence in formulating integration policies. Technological progress, diverse modern communication means, a higher cultural diversity assumed by European countries have transformed the traditional way how migrants interact with their home countries, making it more dynamic and making distances more relative.

INTERACT analyses juridical, economic, cultural and political instruments developed by governments and other actors in the countries of origin in order to strengthen transnational connections. The project aims to identify to what extent the policies and measures adopted by the countries of origin and by residence countries respectively complement or contradict each other; what are the obstacles to immigrants’ integration and what are the success factors.

The project is co-financed by the European Union and implemented in partnership with the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), the Université de Liège (CEDEM) and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (UPF).

The research data will be collected by the network of more than 80 researchers involved in the project and will be centralised in a complex data base to be available on the INTERACT website (interact-project.eu).

Source: http://www.migrationpolicycentre.eu/newsletter/2013September-EN.html?utm_source=MPC+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f5c7af9e1a-MPC_2013February_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_57