Migration as a National Security Challenge: Problems of Asylum Seekers' Adaptation (A Case of Tornio, Finland)

Abstract

The article considers approaches to the problems of contemporary migration flows to Europe in the context of ensuring national security, taking into account social and cultural contradictions between the local community and migrants. It begins with a brief overview of securitization theory, used as a theoretical tool to facilitate practical security analysis. Today we are witnessing a growing trend of migration securitization in Europe, which affects the position of migrants. The media and the Internet, being key sources of information, not only reflect the attitudes in society, but also construct stereotypical images of particular social groups, dividing into us or them, friends or foes, and can contribute to shaping a certain attitude of society towards its representatives. The theory of securitization distinguishes the following main threats to the national state from migrants: political threat, economic threat, social threat, and cultural threat. Social and cultural contradictions of migrants' integration are revealed on the basis of interviews with asylum seekers at the Tornio Refugees Reception Center (August-September 2016) regarding their stay in Finland and relationship with the host community, as well as on the basis of the authors' own observations. The authors believe that prerequisites for the fragmentation of European society are caused, on the one hand, by the desire of migrants to preserve values and norms of the traditional culture, and, on the other hand, by the clash of expectations (of both migrants and the host community) with real life, misunderstanding and refusal to accept host community traditions. The obtained results highlight the significant role of communication activities with the joint participation of locals and newcomers in understanding each others' culture, decreasing negative perceptions and reactions in the integration process. The study confirms the desire of migrants to preserve the values and norms of their own traditional culture. The elimination of social and cultural factors and lack of social contacts can lead to the formation of enclaves and potentially conflict situations. The article offers recommendations for improving general intercultural and interethnic communication in order to reduce the risk of forming closed social groups.