2 October 2024

Johan Leman

Bad air!

“The annual averages from ExpAIR in Brussels are in! And, as expected, they are not good… Out of the 24 measuring points, four exceed the European threshold of 40 µg/m³. […]

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23 September 2024

Johan Leman

Shortage of social housing in Brussels fuels the far-right in the periphery

The dynamic is not hard to demonstrate. Rental prices in the neighborhoods of the Brussels canal zone are skyrocketing. You can quickly find yourself paying 1000 euros per month for […]

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18 September 2024

Johan Leman

We are turning our education system into a disaster zone…

To be clear: I understand very well that a school administration may choose to offer four days of classes instead of five due to a shortage of teachers. I also […]

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13 September 2024

Johan Leman

Does ease of acquiring nationality attract asylum seekers?

I have previously supervised a PhD student who studied in Istanbul at an UNHCR center why migrants in transit choose a particular country. The three main criteria were: whether a […]

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9 September 2024

Johan Leman

Migrant communities exhibit great differences within themselves

What strikes me more and more is how strong the differences are between people that outside observers deem to be similar. This especially becomes apparent after a certain period of […]

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2 July 2024

Johan Leman

Why a New Analysis of the Integration Process is Desirable…

Traditionally, the successive phases of migrant integration were classified as follows: the first generation was followed by a second generation (i.e., their children), and the process concluded with the third […]

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19 June 2024

Johan Leman

Some young Belgian-Moroccans are seeking their future in Morocco

At the end of the 1980s, the first important message disseminated by the Royal Commissioner for Immigrant Policy was that people of Moroccan and Turkish origin would permanently remain in […]

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13 June 2024

Johan Leman

What were the causes of the focus on Islam among the Muslim migrants?

You can’t miss it: if you listen to the workers of Moroccan and Turkish origin who arrived in Brussels between 1964 and 1974, they all, without exception, say that concern […]

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8 June 2024

Johan Leman

Important external influences on the integration of immigrants

Something that is often forgotten is that external influences, completely unrelated to the policies pursued in our country, can have very fundamental influences on the way immigrants integrate. I limit […]

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2 June 2024

Johan Leman

1960s: Characteristics of Moroccan and Turkish migrations to Brussels

Based on the 70 detailed interviews I held with people from that period until today, I remember not only many similarities, but also some differences in their migration scenario. I […]

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