Introduction

This collection of essays resulted from a conference on ‘Middle East and North African Immigrants in Europe’, held at the Maison Française/St Antony's College, Oxford, on 10–11 May 2002. The conference was organized in response to the growing importance of immigration as an issue in European states and societies and the increasingly heated public debates on the subject, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. The popular press in Europe, exploiting feelings of insecurity among sections of the host societies linked to changes resulting from globalization affecting their social and economic position, proclaimed an ‘immigration crisis’ and sought to portray illegal migrants, asylum seekers and especially Muslims as a security threat to European societies. A barrage of restrictive new legislation by European states to deal with asylum seekers and illegal immigrants and tighter rules governing family reunification/family formation have been accompanied by measures to promote the inclusion and integration of existing immigrant populations and their access to the citizenship of the host countries. At the same time there has been acknowledgement in government circles in Europe of the need to allow some forms of immigration, especially of skilled and professional workers, given the problems resulting from low birth rates among nationals and an increasingly ageing population in European Union (EU) member states. Moreover, employers and labour subcontractors in Europe's flourishing underground economy need a large pool of illegal immigrants from which to recruit low-paid workers who undertake jobs, especially in the service sector, shunned by most nationals. As the conference opened immigration had been propelled to the top of the political agenda in Europe. The far-right Front National leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, had been successful in the first round of the French presidential elections in April, on a platform which focused on ‘insecurity’ and was steeped in anti-immigrant and racist sentiments. On 6 May the flamboyant and charismatic Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, who had campaigned to halt immigration into the Netherlands and had criticized Islamic culture for its intolerance to homosexuality, was assassinated. In the following months, combating illegal immigration became the priority issue in debates within the EU, notably the Seville summit in June. As the conference was sponsored by the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, it was decided to focus the discussions on immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa.