Migration has become a key issue in the second half of Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas’ term, and his statements about a “critical mass” of foreigners have drawn criticism from experts.
Benkunskas has indicated that when the proportion of foreigners in a city reaches 10% of the population, a critical mass has been reached, and the risk of segregated communities or ghettos forming increases. The mayor said in April that such data is provided by scientific studies.
According to municipal data, around 641,000 people currently live in Vilnius, including around 61,000 (or 9.5% of the city’s population) foreigners. Their number has increased threefold over the past six years.
The mayor of Vilnius has warned that the increase in the number of foreigners could lead to social challenges, such as higher crime rates, lower incomes and segregation in certain city neighborhoods. However, Vilnius city officials could not provide specific studies that would indicate a 10% threshold beyond which segregated communities begin to form. Instead, they pointed out that the figure was raised at a conference on migration issues, where academics and the head of the Migration Board, Indrė Gasperė, discussed the issue. The Migration Board explained that
the idea was raised in informal conversations and reflects an opinion rather than a conclusion based on scientific research.
A search of scientific databases also failed to find any relevant studies. Sociologist Karolis Žibas pointed out that the mayor’s statements have no empirical basis, and international studies do not point to any specific, universal “critical mass.” He added that segregation depends on a number of factors, such as housing availability, income inequality, the labor market, the education system, and the level of discrimination. It is a combination of city and state policies and socioeconomic structures, not a simple demographic threshold of 10%.
Žibas noted that there are no signs of ghettoization in Vilnius. Most foreigners are workers or students who stay in Lithuania for a certain period of time, and therefore long-term segregation is unlikely. The sociologist urged not to compare Vilnius with Berlin, Stockholm, or Paris, where migration trends have been shaped by various historical and political factors. Žibas said that currently Vilnius more closely corresponds to the employment migration model, characterized by strong mobility and a small permanent territorial concentration of immigrants.
Meanwhile, Vilnius has introduced new integration measures, including requirements for learning the Lithuanian language. Benkunskas said the growing number of foreign students was a serious signal for action, and warned that without an effective integration policy, Vilnius could face the same problems that plague large cities in Western Europe. Researchers, meanwhile, have warned that public debate is increasingly based on threats rather than data.
Read the full article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2900348/does-migration-lead-to-ghettos-researcher-challenges-vilnius-mayor-s-warnings
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