Needs the Integration Contract Services of Luxembourg Should Cover, for the Successful Integration of Non-EU Citizens

Integration of the foreign communities has been a forefront issue in Luxembourg for some time now. With a population of approximately 563,000, Luxembourg is a kaleidoscopic of cultures, comprising over 170 nationalities. The country’s continued progress depends largely on the successful assimilation of immigrants. To better understand what constitutes the best integration, the European Investment Fund for Non-EU nationals, together with the Welcome and Integration office of Luxembourg, funded this project. The aim of our study was to explore the definition of the integration according to Non-EU citizens residing in Luxembourg, and to evaluate the services of the integration contract of Luxembourg (CAI) which should cover their needs. Eleven focus group discussions with 50 volunteers (32 women, 18 men) recruited from among 233 Non-EU beneficiaries of the CAI were held. Semi-structured discussions (4 to 8 people) were facilitated in English, French, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian or Chinese and lasted between 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Encouraged, they delved into detailed explanations of the difficulties and challenges they face, their expectations upon arrival; considering the multicultural nature of Luxembourg, the differences between these expectations and the reality, their needs, both met and unmet, and their perceptions. To grasp the requirements covered or not covered by the CAI, and the problems faced by Non-EU citizens, eight questions exploring the contract were posed. To direct these discussions were four main guidelines: (1) The quality of services and activities proposed, (2) the organization (3) the availability of the personnel and (4) the utility of the information received. Transcriptions were analysed with the help of NVivo 10. A systematic and reiterative analysis of decomposing and reconstituting the data was conducted following three main steps. (1). Identification in the transcriptions were read in order to identify potential answers to the aims of the research and main categories (difficulties, challenges and integration needs). These informed subsequent analyses (2). Similar verbatim regrouped in category and an item was formular. (3). Categories were regrouped together in dimension. Three dimensions were identified professional career, linguistic acquisitionand socio-cultural activities or events which are two core elements essential to the success of the immigrant’s integration – recognition of the role of time in the process, and deliberate effort on the part of the immigrants, the society around and the formal institutions charged with the responsibility of helping with integration. Further, there was a majority consensus on good quality of services in at least one of the components of CAI, and on the availability of the personnel. The organisation and content utility was suitable for some, but maladapted to the needs of others, since they did not address their current concerns. The one fits all structure of the CAI, would need revision through considering smaller groups with specific needs separately.