by Leonie George

Created on: March 22, 2009

Migrants face massive challenges in a new country and those who have the most difficult time of it are refugees or asylum seekers. Many in this group do not know the language of their new country upon arrival; they have no money, little or no documentation regarding their education and work experience, and few or no family members for support. Yet these are just the beginning of woes for many new migrants.

If you have lived your life comfortably and securely in a Western nation it can be difficult to grasp how difficult a migrant's situation can be. Picture yourself having to leave the comfort and security of your home suddenly and finding yourself in a country where nobody understands you and you understand nobody. That alone would be horrifying enough. Add to that the likely scenario that you are going to find it difficult to gain employment. You have no documentation to prove what qualifications and skills you have gained in your own country. How would you survive if this happened to you? That most migrants in this situation survive admirably and quickly gain language skills and employment is a testament to their courage and desire to survive on a new playing ground.

These initial difficulties may be only temporary however, the difficulty of "fitting in" to the new society whilst preserving their own cultural identity is an ongoing struggle for most migrants. When you've grown up in a particular culture, your ideas about life are well entrenched and you feel quite comfortable with them. Yet if the majority of those around you see things differently and behave in different ways, you're likely to have difficulty socialising with them, and they with you. From time to time, people criticise migrant groups for their failure to integrate and for grouping together in particular suburbs. Such criticisms are utterly ridiculous. As Westerners we consider it our right to socialise and bond with those whose ideas and beliefs are close to our own and we would resent anyone telling us we should not do this. Most migrants are very keen to integrate into their new society and they do - as much as they wish to as individuals. Suggestions that migrants should adopt the same practices and beliefs as their new society surely come from people who have never thought about what their life would be like in similar circumstances.

Preserving cultural identity is usually something migrants feel strongly about and their need to do so should be supported by their new society. As Westerners,

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