Attēls: pixabay.com
Considering Latvia is comparatively new to international in-migration in the EU, we decided to meet with the leaders of few of the biggest NGOs that are working towards facilitating in-coming migrants and Latvian state institutions. It is the hard-work of these individuals that we have been able to interact with foreigners who have successfully integrated into the Latvian society. During the course of our meetings with international students, we recorded accounts international students who sought assistance and support from all of these NGOs in their attempt to: learn the Latvian language; understand Latvian laws and regulations; and interact with the locals. This gave us the inspiration of conducting in-depth interviews of the leaders of these NGOs to further enrich our project with valuable insights.
- Biedrība “Patvērums “Drošā māja””
Firstly, we thank the director for taking out the time to meet with us and elaborate on the great woek that she and her organization is doing since past 14 years. We were informed by the director of the NGO that it was founded in the year 2007 and ever since, as stated by the director, “ it has initiated more than 50 projects which included work with asylum seekers, persons with alternative status and refugees, as well as other people who arrive to Latvia due to varying reasons to live for a long-term”. The director further emphasized the need for an expansion of projects and programs that could allow for a successful integration of in-migrants in latvia. The NGO (PDM-further in text) has worked with projects that provide specialist support to in-migrants from various countries. This includes legal consultants and social workers in terms of providing the newcomers with the support in most frequently reported challenges associated with the adjustment in Latvia. PDM organizes: (i) language and cultural integration courses to allow for the introduction of Latvia to the new-comers; (ii) interactive seminars and programs to allow for the in-migrants to explore Latvian traditions, culture, social norms, such as by organizing trips to museums, celebrating national festivals together – e.g., on the independence day of Latvia 4th May- , While table clothes celebration and winterfestival celebrations. It is evident by far with our analysis of the projects and activities that PDM organizes for the third country national in latvia that it has a great deal of experience and knowledge when it comes to understanding the mobility of migrants in Latvia, especially from third countries. In contrast, other NGOs that visited and whose leaders we interviewed, did not have such a tremendous amount of experince and proven expertise. The director said: “our aim is to eensure that in-migrants can, as soon as possible, fully integrate into their new home country, i.e., Latvia”.
Furthermore, PDM and its team has active relations with communities of in-migrants in latvia, for instance with Indian community and regularly invites young enterpreneurs, migrant youth and international students for sessions that could allow them to successfully achieve their goals in their respective lives. We had an opportuinity to meet with an Indian participant of the “migrant talent garden” initiative by the PDM who stated his experience as: “my first experience with PDM was in the year 2016, while I was a bachelors’ student at the Turiba university. The NGO and its representatives have helped me through my journey of studies, entrepreneurship and all difficulties related with them through my stay in Latvia, i.e., till this date. Without such an organization, in a strange country with state language different than English, I would not have been able to survive at all. On all occasions and problems, I know where to find the best information”. Another international student who sought legal consultation from PDM regarding the change of their residence permit from student to an employee, reported their experience as: “it is absolutely fantastic informational centre. My employer did not know about how to submit application for the change of my residence status after getting employment offer, however, the legal consultants of PDM guided me and my employer about all of the procedure which allowed me to obtain, very soon, my EU blue card”. Furthermore, other participants who had sought help from the PDM reported: “usage of free of cost interpretation services at various situations, such as at hospitals, schools, governmental institutions and legal institutions”. Thus, PDM by far is the only NGO in Latvia that provides in-migrants with all of the assistance that a newcomer can ask for in a non-English speaking country like Latvia.
The organization also actively partners with other NGOs and provide them with support with their experience and community connections. During the visit to PDM, we saw various videos and pictures of events where international students, general migrants and Latvian participated together.
Lastly, judging from the experiences of over 20 participants of our study, this NGO is one of the best in Latvia in terms of mobility support for in-migrants.
- Education Development Centre (IAC- Izglītības attīstības centrs)
We further wished to inquire about the areas of capacity building for Latvian municipal organizations amid the rising numbers of third country in migrants and therefore, organized our next meeting with Ms. Iveta Verse of NGO education development centre (IAC- Izglītības attīstības centrs). This organization is one of the most innovative in terms of their emphasis on capacity building and professional development for the governmental (municipal) employees who are at the front lines when it comes to delivering services to the in-migrants. One of their projects that we wish to include in our study due to their relevance with the scope of our project are "Intercultural communication and cooperation for professional growth" (Starpkultūru komunikācija un sadarbība profesionālai izaugsmei). The reason for the choice of these projects is due to the fact that by researching and reaching to various NGOs in Latvia, we found that a vast majority emphasizes on the needs of in-migrants. This NGO however, emphasized the needs of the local institutional workers in terms of catering to the needs of the in-migrants throughout the course of their settlement in Latvia. The director stated: “we do emphasize on the needs of the in-migrants, but at the same time understand the skill gap when it comes to working in a multi-cultural environment. It is very recently that in-migrants have arrived in Latvia and there is a need for an equivalent attention towards the professional development of the Latvian workers who have little to no experience of dealing with an individual from third countries with varying religious beliefs, political stances and cultural sensitivities. In this regard, a year ago we finalized our project that dealt providing information sessions and trainings to the a wide Latvian audience including, for instance municipal workers, ranging from: (i) school teachers and administrators; (ii) municipal workers; (iii) workers of the immigration and citizenship affairs department; and (iv) social workers who wish to learn from the experience of experts from other NGOs. The training programs including themes, such as: (i) globalization and in-migration of third-country nationals in Latvia; (ii) intercultural communication and cultural competence; and (iii) legal framework for working with third-country nationals, role of the media. Such initiatives are crucial for the Latvian work-force that had little to no experience of working with third country nationals with totally different cultural backgrounds. In such situations, we observed that by working for a long period of time with immigrants from second and neighbouring third countries, with similar socio-cultural composition, there were various areas of cross-cultural competence that are crucial for the governmental workers when it comes to service delivery in the globalized world. The author also participated in various training sessions as a speaker and bought to light various stereo-types that the professionals often consume by lack of literal interactions with people from third countries. Thus, this organization actively organize such sessions with third country nationals who have integrated in the Latvian society and have proficiency in Latvian language to interact with the local participants in an attempt to generate a humane perspective to service delivery in multi-cultural settings. It enriched our understanding of the issues related with cross cultural competence and management in the context of governmental institutions and their workers.
Thus, we conclude by stating that these two NGOs, according to our analysis, are playing a very important role in allow Latvia to embrace internationalization. Both, within their domains, are allocating resources into meaningful initiative that will have long-term positive outcomes for locals and migrants. We thank both of the individuals and their teams for their time and wish to cooperate with them in future.