ABSTRACT
Estonia's immigrant population is almost entirely a result of Estonia's occupation by the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Estonia's policies and public debate on immigrants and national minorities have dealt only with the old minorities and/or the Soviet-era settlers. The new immigrants to the independent Estonia have remained rather invisible for debate, research and policy development. Estonian scholars tend to stress the importance of internal developments for policy change, such as the consolidation of the overall political framework, the lack of clear-cut differences of economic status between ethnic Estonians and Russian-speakers, processes of cultural modernization and westernization, and socio-psychological factors. The discourse on immigrants and migration has so far been intertwined with the debate on issues such as the integration of minorities, citizenship policies and language policies. Most rights guaranteed for Estonian citizens are guaranteed for other permanent legal residents. This especially covers welfare rights, economic rights and basic legal rights.
