In response to the discussion about military versus non-military migrants
and how they integrate, and particularly ARE HELPED to integrate into
communities, you raise some interesting points. As someone who has
migrated several times, voluntarily trying to leave my country as I did
not like the politics or repression, I know how hard it is to integrate
one's self into a society that is made up of long-established people.
There is virtually no help offered or even thought of. People are
friendly, say "welcome" and then forget about your existence. This was my
experience in moving to London, to Melbourne, and to Washington. The last
was less difficult, in the main because I came to work at the World Bank
which is staffed by people from all over the world, so they understood the
difficulties and offer some help. But, the difficulties of "joining" and
"becoming a part of" a society or community are much the same even if you
simply move to a new neighborhood, and have to get to know the neighbors
and find your way around; it's just a lot harder when one is a
"foreigner".
I have been fortunate enough to visit Israel and visit some of their
"Ulpans" where they house and "initiate" new immigrants for up to 6
months, teach them Hebrew, how to shop, etc. and help them find work.
This should be the model for ALL countries for ALL their migrants.
>From the previous post, it sounds like the Navy, and, I'm sure, other
military groups, have a pretty good system of support built in.
-- Lesley Shneier lshneier@worldbank.orgLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>