Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2022, 58(1): 71-97 | DOI: 10.13060/csr.2022.008

Migration Integration in the Czech Republic: An Analysis of the Priorities the Country Has Set and Its Support for Them

Marie Jelínková1, Ondřej Valenta2
1 Fakulta sociálních věd, Univerzita Karlova, Praha
2 Sdružení pro integraci a migraci, o. p. s. Přírodovědecká fakulta, Univerzita Karlova, Praha

Perspectives on migrant integration differ by time and place. This article examines this vague concept to shed light on how its evolution over time has shaped the current conceptions of migrant integration in the EU and the Czech Republic. It describes the situation in the Czech Republic and the country's normative goals in the field of migrant integration. While the country has explicit integration priorities in place, there is no evaluation of their fulfilment. The article explores whether these priorities are indeed fulfilled and from what sources by analysing a unique dataset of 3061 projects in the field of migrant integration. All these projects were implemented in the Czech Republic between 2010 and 2019. The results show that although funding for migrant integration has increased since 2016, even taking into account the long-term increase in the number of migrants in the Czech Republic, funding in support of these priorities is allocated very unevenly. European funding remains crucial. Among the most supported priorities is knowledge of the Czech language and education. There is also some support in the social field. By contrast, the issues of discrimination, equal rights, foreign nationals' access to health care, and the development of professional skills receive hardly any support. The results thus show a discrepancy between the priorities that have been set and their fulfilment, especially in the area of activities targeting the majority society and its institutions. The declared two-sidedness to the process of integration process thus remains a somewhat unsupported vision.

Keywords: integration, migration, governance, transnationalism, evaluation

Received: November 30, 2020; Revised: January 25, 2022; Accepted: January 26, 2022; Prepublished online: February 21, 2022; Published: March 8, 2022  Show citation

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Jelínková, M., & Valenta, O. (2022). Migration Integration in the Czech Republic: An Analysis of the Priorities the Country Has Set and Its Support for Them. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 58(1), 71-97. doi: 10.13060/csr.2022.008
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