Internal Restrictions on the Participation of the Vietnamese and Ukrainian Ethnic Groups on the Czech Labour Market

Funded by CERGE-EI through GDN fund in  2005 year.

Authors: Mgr. Jiri Kocourek – Applied Sociology, Petra Ezzeddine-Luksikova Faculty of humanity studies, Charles University Prague

The research examined following objectives:

• what does integration mean in terms of real situation of immigrants?
• what internal restrictions at the labour market migrants have to face?

The  quantitative part of the research examined 150 Ukrainians, 123 Vietnamese and 103 Czechs (as control sample).Qualitative part of the research examined 21 employers  and 8 officials from selected Labour Offices.

The research indicated that Ukrainians and Vietnamese migrants stay in the CR for the same primary reason-economical profit. The research suggest that Vietnamese institutionalization and community relations in the CR is related more to their families in Vietnam than to the community developing in the CR. The speed of the Ukrainians settlement is  inhibited by the short geographical distance of their home country. The authors came to conclusion that the geographical and intercultural distance indicates the positions of the migrants at the labour market. Vietnamese as migrants from distant countries do not properly understand Czech society and tend to develop a closed community.

Findings illustrate that  Ukrainians are in better position to find employment opportunities in Czech republic since they are in better contact with the majority,  they do not have so many problems with language and communication. On the other hand, Vietnamese respondents  are not able to speak Czech and they feel lack of information about Czech culture, society and legislation. The Vietnamese experience cultural shock more than Ukrainians, but its consequences are opposite in both groups. The authors came to conclusion that Ukrainians speak often about Czech discrimination and have a tendency to criticise Czech administration more than the Vietnamese.  It  illustrates a  traditional communication style of Vietnamese who are usually not able to speak about negative things and they tend to have more positive behaviour than Ukrainians.

The authors think that state institutions and policy makers should declare what integration means for them, for which groups of foreigners it is most applicable and if it is applicable for described group of foreigners. Integration  is not a monothematic term with unified meaning. It is a complex reality and it is important to distinguish the specific needs of immigrants and their specific consequences, motivation, social status and cultural traditions.