presentation of Immigrant Citizen Survey, Belgian results, Brussels 9 May 2012

1. IMMIGRANT
CITIZENS
Focus on the Belgian results
Dirk JACOBS
Louise CALLIER
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences – ULB
Groupe de recherche sur les Relations Ethniques, les Migrations et l’Egalité (GERME)
Institut de Sociologie
dirk.jacobs@ulb.ac.be

2. Technical information
- Survey among citizens of non-EU origin born outside of Belgium (N=1027)
- Cities of Brussels (n=413), Antwerp (n=318) and Liège (n=296)
Goal: assess how immigrants experience access to and use of
rights aimed at integration
(fields: nationality, long term residence, family reunification, labour market,
political participation)
- Technique of random walk and focused enumeration in 10+% statistical
wards, response rate of 37%
- Multiple languages used
- Data-collection at the end of 2011 by IPSoS Belgium

3. General characteristics
Antwerp sample (N=318)
54% men
19,6% arrived before age of 16
66% foreigner, 34% Belgian
22% entered as refugees
41% has difficulty to cope financially
Wide diversity of origins (51 countries)
Origin biggest groups in sample:
- 29,1% Moroccan origin
- 15,2% Turkish origin

4. General characteristics
Brussels sample (N=413)
62% men
24,5% arrived before age of 16
40% non Belgian, 60% Belgian
16% entered as refugees
42,7% has difficulty to cope financially
Wide diversity of origins (39 countries)
Origin three biggest groups:
-45,3% Moroccan origin
-12,4% Congolese origin
-11,6% Turkish origin

5. General characteristics
Liège sample (N=296)
62,5% men
29,8 % arrived before age of 16
55% foreigner, 45% Belgian
27% entered as refugees
56,3% has difficulty to cope financially
Wide diversity of origins (47 countries)
Origin three biggest groups:
-Moroccan origin 27,8%
-Congolese origin 10,5%
-Turkish origin 9,8%

6. SATISFACTION LEVELS
Self rating on scale from 0 to 10
Items:
-Current life
-Educational level
-Job
-Housing
-Family life
-Health
-Social life
Results:
- Overall fairly satisfied with different fields of life
- Similar general results in three cities
- A bit less satisfied, however, than general population (EQLS 2007)

7. SATISFACTION WITH LEVEL OF EDUCATION
Regression analysis taking into account Belgian national (or not),
arrived less than five years (or not), region of origin, gender, in paid
work (or not) and arrived as refugee (or not)
Statistically significant effects (controlling for other effects):
Antwerp:
- no particular effect
Brussels:
- those who do not speak the official languages are less satisfied
- those who speak more languages are more satisfied
Liège:
- Those in paid work more satisfied than those without a job

8. SATISFACTION WITH JOB SITUATION
Regression analysis taking into account level of education, Belgian
national (or not), arrived less than five years (or not), region of origin,
gender and arrived as refugee (or not)
Statistically significant effects (controlling for other effects):
Antwerp:
- Latin American immigrants less satisfied
- Women more satisfied than men
Brussels:
- no significant effect
Liège:
- Newcomers (less than five years in the country) less satisfied
- Women less satisfied than men
- Migrants holding Belgian nationality more satisfied
- Refugees less satisfied 8

9. SATISFACTION WITH HOUSING
Statistically significant effects (controlling for other effects):
Antwerp:
- Newcomers (less than five years in the country) less satisfied
- Refugees less satisfied
Brussels:
- Refugees less satisfied
- Migrants holding Belgian nationality more satisfied
- Subsahara African , North African and Latin American migrants less
satisfied
Liège:
-Migrants holding Belgian nationality more satisfied
9

10. SATISFACTION WITH FAMILY LIFE
Statistically significant effects (controlling for other effects):
Antwerp:
- Subsahara Africans less satisfied
Brussels:
-Migrants holding Belgian nationality more satisfied
Liège:
-Migrants holding Belgian nationality more satisfied
- Refugees less satisfied
- Those in paid work more satisfied
10

11. SATISFACTION WITH HEALTH
Statistically significant effects (controlling for other effects):
Antwerp:
- The more educated, the more satisfied
Brussels:
-The more educated, the more satisfied
- Newcomers (less than five year in country) more satisfied
- Refugees more satisfied
Liège:
-Women less satisfied
- Those who speak more languages, more satisfied
11

12. SATISFACTION WITH SOCIAL LIFE
Statistically significant effects (controlling for other effects):
Antwerp:
- Newcomers (less than five years in country) less satisifed
- North African migrants more satisfied than other groups
- Migrants holding Belgian nationality less satisfied
Brussels:
- Migrants holding Belgian nationality more satisfied
- The more languages one speaks, the more satisfied
Liège:
- North African migrants more satisfied than other groups
- Women less satisfied than men
- Those who do not speak French more satisfied
12

13. ACCESS TO NATIONALITY
-Ever applied? (Brussels: 71,5% ; Antwerp 47,1% ; Liège
63,7%)
Logistic regression shows no impact of education level in Brussels
Antwerp: lower educated apply less for Belgian nationality
Liège: higher educated apply less for Belgian nationality
-Foreigners still wanting to become Belgian
Antwerp 71,1%, Brussels 61%, Liège 70%
WHO DOES NOT WANT TO BECOME BELGIAN?
Migrants who do not expect to stay in Belgium
Migrants who do not see the added value
- Relatively high perceived benefits and high
expectations (positive for getting a job, more local
involvement, feel to be part of society)
Seen as key to integration

14. PROBLEMS WITH PROCEDURE (NATIONALITY)
-> problems with documents
24% Antwerp, 21% Brussels, 20% Liège (no particular pattern)
-> problems with requirement
22,3% Antwerp, 7,8% Brussels, 14,4% Liège (refugees more
likely to complain in Antwerp and Brussels)
-> too much discretionary power
25,7% Antwerp, 16,6% Brussels, 22% Liège (no gender effect in
BXL, in Antwerp and Liège men more likely to complain ; In
Antwerp refugees up to 7 times more likely to complain)
-> did not understand procedure
13,8% Antwerp, 11,1% Brussels, 11,6% Liège (no particular
pattern)

15. PROBLEMS WITH LONG TERM RESIDENCE
35% of respondents in Antwerp, 24% in Brussels and 36% in
Liège have had experience with a procedure for long term
residence
-A substantial part had problems with documents:
Antwerp 42,7%, Brussels 27%, Liège 31,6% (more than in any
other studied city)
-Problems with requirements?
Antwerp 28,7%, Brussels 24,3%, Liège 30,9% (no particular
pattern)
-Problems with too much discretionary power?
Antwerp 42,2%, Brussels 25,2%, Liège 23,8%
(more than in any other studied city)
(in Antwerp higher educated more likely to complain)
-Did not understand procedure?
Antwerp 26,3%, Brussels 18,9%, Liège 22,1% (no particular
pattern)

16. LONG TERM RESIDENCE
Rejections?
Antwerp 7,2%
Brussels 6,3%
Liège 6%
Relatively high perceived benefits
-socio-professional insertion
-local involvement
-sense of belonging

17. FAMILY REUNION
-Problems with documents?
Antwerp 18,5, Brussels 25,8%, Liège 25% (no particular
pattern)
-Problems with requirements?
Antwerp 11,1%, Brussels 6,5%, Liège 37,5% (in Liège refugees
complain more about this)
-Too much discretionary power?
Antwerp 15,4%, Brussels 12,9%, Liège 25% (no particular
pattern)
-Did not understand procedure?
Antwerp 14,8%, Brussels 6,5%, Liège 16,7% (no particular
pattern)
- Relatively high perceived benefits (for family life but
also for socio-professional inclusion, local involvement
and sense of belonging)

18. LANGUAGE AND INTEGRATION
-Most migrants are polyglots (in all sorts of combinations,
often up to four languages, more than the average citizen)
-In Antwerp 70,4% says to master well Dutch, 39% French
and 44% English
-In Brussels 89% says to master well French, 15% Dutch and
33% English
-In Liège 89% says to master well French, 11,5% Dutch and
38% English
- Among job seekers 35% in Antwerp, 34% in Brussels and
30% in Liège mention insufficient language skills as a
problem to find a job (in Brussels and Liège this is
particularly the case for refugees)

19. - Problems for learning an additional language
Time problem:
21,4% Antwerp
27,1% Brussels
25,9% Liège
Too expensive:
15,8% Antwerp
13,7% Brussels
19,7% Liège
Problem of information:
16,4% Antwerp
19,5% Brussels
18,7% Liège
No motivation:
16,8% Antwerp
19,9% Brussels
24,5% Liège

20. LANGUAGE AND INTEGRATION
-Attended language/integration course?
40% in Antwerp, 19,3% in Brussels, 22,6% in Liège
59,9% not in Antwerp, 80,7% not in Brussels, 77,4% not in
Liège
WHO MORE LIKELY TO ATTEND?
- Newcomers and refugees in Antwerp (legal obligation)
- Women in Liège
-Assessment benefits course?
4,9% no use in Antwerp, 5,3% no use in Brussels, 6,8% no
use in Liège

21. LABOUR MARKET SITUATION
Antwerp 43% in paid job
Brussels 51% in paid job
Liège 36% in paid job
Antwerp: 53,4% private sector, 23,2% public sector, 8,9%
self-employed
Brussels: 48,1% private sector, 13,5% public sector, 29,3% self
employed
Liège: 40% private sector, 20% public sector, 28,6% self
employed
% self employed in Brussels and Liège much higher than in
other cities (also internationaly)
Logistic regressions shows that in Liège migrants without
Belgian citizenship are more likely to be self employed
In Brussels men, East-Europeans (outside EU) and higher
educated more likely to be self employed

22. Overqualification among the employed
35,7% in Antwerp, 29,2% in Brussels, 15,5% in Liège
Problems finding a job because of non recognition
qualifications
33,5% in Antwerp, 37,4% in Brussels, 41% in Liège
Holders of a foreign degree in 69% of the cases in Antwerp and
in 65% of the cases in Brussels and Liège did not ask for
recognition
Among those who did apply, the refusal rate was 28% in
Antwerp, 8% in Brussels and 16% in Liège
Just as in other countries, migrants should hence be encouraged
to ask for recognition

23. -Stuck in temporary jobs?
31,6% in Antwerp, 43% in Brussels, 40% in Liège
(no particular pattern, problem for all profiles)
-Not being offered a legal contract?
16% in Antwerp, 29% in Brussels, 28% in Liège
(more likely for non-EU eastern European in Brussels and
migrants who don’t speak French in Liège)
-Problems of discrimination in recruitment?
24% in Antwerp, 41% in Brussels, 44% in Liège
In all three cities men more likely to suffer from
discrimination at recruitement than women
In Antwerp Subsahara African report significantly more
problems than other groups
In Liège highly educated report significantly more problems

24. POLITICAL AND CIVIC INCLUSION
-Political membership?
Antwerp 7,6%, Brussels 9,8%, Liège 3%
-Trade Union membership?
Antwerp 11,8%, Brussels 19,6%, Liège 19,9%
-Member immigrant or ethnic organisation?
Antwerp 11%, Brussels 13,5%, Liège 5,7%
-Membership other organisations
Antwerp 19,2%, Brussels 24,8%, 17,2% Liège
-Knowledge of immigrant led ngo?
Antwerp 27,6%, Brussels 39,9%, 15% Liège
-Knowledge of advisory board?
Antwerp 14,3%, Brussels 12,7%
-Knowledge of regional consultative body?
Antwerp 5,5%, Brussels 14%

25. POLITICAL AND CIVIC INCLUSION
-Would go voting?
Antwerp 71,7%, Brussels 78,4%, Liège 76,5%
-Did go voting national election? (Belgians)
Antwerp 86%, Brussels 82,9%, Liège 76,4%
Non-EU migrants could register to vote in 2006
elections if residing five years in the country
In 2006 in Antwerp 12,20% registered to vote, in Brussels
(Region) 15,6% and in Liège 26,9% (official data Ministry of
the Interior)
To participate in the 2012 upcoming elections, non-EU
migrants not holding Belgian citizenship and residing for over
5 years in Belgium, should register to vote before the 1st of
August

26. Of all non-Belgians in our sample who in 2006 were eligible to
vote (n=94 in Antwerp, n=98 in Brussels and n=41 in
Liège), this percentage said they went to vote:
3,2% in Antwerp
20,5% in Brussels
22% in Liège
The percentage of those who thought they were not entitled to
vote was:
16% in Antwerp
4% in Brussels
7% in Liège
These figures reflect differential efforts of the local and
regional authorities in 2006 to inform immigrants of their
rights (individualised letters in Brussels, no government
led Flemish information campaign and a state sponsored
general campaign in Wallonia)

27. -Why no use of local voting rights (non-voters)?
Not interested
48% Antwerp, 21% Brussels, 24% Liège
Not interested in politics
40,8% Antwerp, 20,8% Brussels, 44% Liège
Not close to a particular party
36,2% Antwerp, 20,8% Brussels, 43,5% Liège
Makes no difference
55% Antwerp, 14% Brussels, 36% Liège
Procedure to hard
43% Antwerp, 4% Brussels, 40% Liège