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Europehasbeen rYrngto integrate tsminoritiesinto th"emainstream ordecades.Nowthoseeffortsare

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beingblamed or therising[*tio"t in an ncreasinglYdiverseworld.Butdontgrve P'TherearestillwaYsorus oallgetalong

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wo MTDDLE-AGEDWoMENWEARINGHIJABScHAt

;;;;A"r in tuabic astheYwalk down ther""",, eft."a of them is a Muslim bookstore'lirof"ui"e ovosby imamsandbookswith titlesItu[ il*itnc Miracles i'n the Koran' on one*-"t ift"las ahalalbutcher shop;aroundan';;;;;, "*"tic store hat sellsonlv Arabmusic

soiIn" ttu,plu't"'"a posters dvertising-concerty heMoroccan usician aiudi' But his snt Morocc::T:t l1France.And wdre "ot i" the suburbs' where many of;;;;t ;;tginalized North African communities live'TheGouttedOr quarter sright in the18tharrondissement;i;; "*pituf. "This neighborhood'you,wouldnt

even;;;y;.i -e in parisj' s"ays areshrltel',a 44-vear-oldHindu Indian who runs a stall under the elevatedmetrotracks. Here peoplepresewe heir North African Muslimheritageat the expense fbeing French'Francehasdoner""i. " n""t:ob ofintegrating its immigrants,i'"- i; iratel, the fact irat FiancesNorth African citizensdont feel at home s simplya shame'To others' t's much-*or" Ju"g"rousthantftui' rttt"" yearsago'PrincetonUni-;;;;tq, iltedt" EastscholarBernardLewissaid hat' thanl

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immigration andEuropds owbirthrate,WesternEuropewill haveMusli"mmajoritiesby the endof the century: "Europe will be partof the ArabWest, he Maghrebl'He'snot alone'The fear of a Eura-bia (capital Londonistan)populated,bypoor' angry fervent Mus-tims sgalninggtound. slamistsare determined o subdueandcol-onir" d.ttopJ;;claims AmericanessayistBryc9 1wer, in his bookWhi.lnEuropeSl'ept."Noi,nearlythewholeof WesternEurope spracticallywithintheir graspi'-Europeans,or their part, worry thatits Muslim population canonly becomemore segregated nd dis-affected; hat the Londonbombings, he France iots and he Dan-ish cartoonprotestsare ust a tasteof what's o come'A new reportby the British think tank PolicyExchangeound that 13%of BritishMuslims ased 16 lo 24 agteed when asked if they admired"ordanizatiJnshke al-Qaedh hat arepreparedto fight the Westl'"tt'r ti*" for a reality check.Muslimsmake up about3Vo f IheE.U.population oday,andthat figurewill leach no more han 10%Ay ZOzi.But the feai that radical Islamwill sweep hroughthe oldiontinent is ryrnptomaticof somethingbigger: Europe's dentitycrisis.Thanls,-in part, to immigration, the relativelyhigh Muslimbirthrate and heiising numberofmixed-racemarriages,Europe ssettins morediverse6y the day.Oncehomogeneous ommunitiesL" n# a tmble of cultures. nevitably,someof them clash'And, asEuropestruggleso figureoutwhat it means o be European,manyofits ciUzeniire left feelingalienatedandfrustrated'ForgetEurabia. he real issue acing Europeis multicultural-ism-uslns thatword not asapolicy option,but asafact'Theworldcontainsolver5,000 ethnocultural groups' and technolog;t,cheapairfaresand the global economyhavescattered hem around theplanet,n countleis ombinations. incehe mmigrantwavesn thellOs attd'60s, Europeannationshavebeen ookingfor differentways o blend differentpeople of different cullures nto successfrrl,o"u"ef-,rlsocieties'611 'ud he samegoal: a society hat givesequalfpportunity and equal respect, egardless-of race,creed,color orf"iifr, forqryu"rr on, th"t ro.iety still doesntexist.But multicultur-alism s witir us to stay.So he question s how to make t work forEurope.This isn't about-at least,not just about-stamping out s-IamiJextremism.This is aboutthe day-to-day nteractionsof a di-verseEurope-at work, in school,on the streets'Hereare ive waysin whichEuropecan urn its multiculturalreality nto somethinghatenriches he Continent-rather than tears t apart'

SAVETHE VEILSWhenAishaAwangoesout in crowds,shegoesunder cov=er. Shewearsher body-length ilbab, her hijab (a scarf hathidesher hair) anda niqab,a Muslimveil that coversalmostherentire face. I feelmorecomfortable,ike I respectmyselfmorewhen I'm coveredi'she says'The only things Awan leavesex-posed are her eyes. You can seesomebody'swhole historybyIooking nto their eYesj' hesaYs.Bu-twhen they look at a veil, all some awmakerssee s

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ASCHOOLPUTSFAITHINHARMONYirhe Jean-BaPtistee a SalleI school s destined o beattheI sharp ndofthe debateon n-tegration, ince t is ocated nasuburb orthof Parishattakes naround10%ofthe roughly140,000 mmi$rantso Franceeachyear.Yettheschoolhas arge-lyachievedhe goal,so elusiveorFrance s awhole,of creatinghar-mony romdiversity.Saint-Denismaybe he biggestmeltingPot ntheworld oday,andwe reflect hatdiversity f ethnicitiesand aith

amongourstudentsand each-ers,"saysschooldirectorG6rardH6loir.Hesays hat the school snotout o createan nstitutionalformof multiculturalism, ut simplyto helpstudents ntegratentowiderFrench ociety. Weprovideasettingwhereeveryoneivesandworks ogether n spiteof racialorreli$ousdifferences, ut withoutallowingthoseo becomedividersor boundaries," aysH6loir. With-outcompromise,e'dallwinduP nourownghettos."

When tcomesto eligion,heschoolpracticeswhat t preaches.Though Catholicestablishment'Jean-Baptistee a Sallegetsapplicationsfrommoreandmoreparents romotherbackgroundswhowant better nstruction nddisciplinehan heirkidscanreceiven hedisadvantagedarea's ublic chools. round 0%of studentsadmittedqualifyforthefinancialaid he stateoffers o stu-dents urning o privateeducation.Thatmeans hatwhatgets hem nis notmoneyor reli$on,butdedicationo studY,Heloirnotes.Only27

o/oof tls 2,4.36studentsarepracticingCatholics, omParedo25%Muslims,8o/oews nd4o/oProtestants;he restdon't practice

any eligion.Reli$ousstudiesarevoluntary nd argelyocusonhistoryandphilosophY;hoseseek-ingthe raditional eligiousnstruc-tionof theirfaith mayalsodo so nclasses ed bytrainededucatorswhoshare hosestudents'beliefs.Theschoolcafeteria s attentive oreligious ietary ulesandaccom-modatesastingduringRamadan

(lffithCIut**ffipr*rnise, w*'dall wind up in our

T r r 2 >CIwrlgneffios.--GERARD HELOIR' school direcior

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ffi& " ' 4 - - t " * E2We" ' fu r * "*w- ..-,-"

trouble.SinceFrancebannedovert religioussymbolsn its stateschoolsn2}O4,veiled women-whether they wear a head scarf,a niqab or a full-bodyburqa-have been caught n a stormof de-bate n Europe.AsaBritish citizen,Awanstill has he right to wearwhatevershewants.SeveralGermanstates, y contrast, rohibitMuslim teachers rom wearinghead scarvesn class. n partsofBelgium,civil servants re banned rom wearinghead scarves twork, and he Dutch governmentplans o make t illegal o wear

the niqab or the burqa anywhere n public. (Theestimatednumber of women in the Netherlandswho weareither runs n the dozens.)Islam isnt the biggestpart of the multiculturalconversation,but right now it's the loudest. Thehead-scarfdebate-like anything to do with reli-gion-is charged with emotion. France defends tsban n schools sanecessarytep o maintain he na-tion's offrcial commitment to secularism,pointingout that it alsoapplies o Jewishskullcapsand Chris-tian crosses.But Birgit Sauer,a political scientist atthe University of Vienn4 says he timing of thesenew laws shows hat Europe s still unwilling to ac-cept Islam as an element of its identity. "All thesestates ad rouble balancing eligion with secularismlong beforeSept.111'she ays.Soyouhave o as\Why now? What is European and what is not?"That'saquestionSauerand other resear6hers ope o answerwiththe vBIr,project,a three-year tudyofhead-scarfpoliciesn eightcountries-including Britain, France and Turkey-funded by theEuropeanCommission.Sauer's ome countryoffersan ntriguing case tudy. n Aus-tria, votershave historicallybeenkind to right-wing politicians."All he signswould ndicate hatwe shouldhaveaprohibitive awagainsthe head scarfi'saysSauer.But it's rarelydiscussed. ndwhen it is, everyonesays hey don't want a banj'That's becauseAustriaofficially-and legally-recognizesall religionsequally. tprotects he role of taith in shapinga person dentity.

Europeangovernments eed o recognize hat Islam-like allreligions-is an integralpart of the European dentity, while Mus-lims should be willing to bend to certain aws that are n place orthe commongood,with no exceptions. U.S.-style ands-offap-proach keepschurchand stateseparate, ut still gives he taithful aspacen mainstreamsociety: ift statewidebans on the veil (andallotherreligioussymbols), ut leavedecisions n dress odes o in-dividual nstitutionsandorganizations. owhile one schoolmightprohibit teachers lom wearing the niqab in class,another mightnot, giving Muslim teachersa choiceof where to work. In return,womenwho coverwouldhave o accept hat n certainsifuations-at passport ontrol,say-securityconcerns rump personal eliefs

M&ruV $$AYS$$&"}ean"ffiep*$mtw$e *Sa$44ff*s"w[$s]w$YfimtegraEEomemwwuts

or Lent.Students an ake religousholidays, o matterhowawkwardlytheysit with he schoolcalendar.Yetforall hat, religiondoesn'tplaya big role n school ife,saysGregory imbembe, 5, who sofAfricanori$n. Youdon't reallyno-tice religionat all except orthecrucifixes n he classrooms."In act,H6loir answhathedeemsnonscripturalxpressionsof aith-a rule hat's n inewithFrance'sawagainst eligioussymbols n state schools exceptthat awapplies o crosses,oo).

"We haveno headscarveshere,no yarmulkes, o urbans,nohoods,piercings rtattoos,"hesays. Studentsare here be-cause heywant o be, so theymust adhere o our rules.Effortis madeby everyone-that's

what a community oes."Whydo parents crape ogeth-er he 3,840-a-yearfees? e-cause heywant o give heir kidsabetterchance o moveup eventual-ly n French ociety. heschool-which akeselementary tudents o

baccalaureatendvocationalrain-ing-has earnedaglowingeputa-tionamonguniversities ndcompa-nies ecruitingtrained orkers. tsdirector aysalmostallyouthsleave heschoolwith a diplomaorprofessionalraining ertif cate,andestimatesaround90%ofthosewho eceive ccupationalrainingfind obswithinsixmonths.That'sno smallboast n an areawhereun-emp oyment anges t om 25 4OY,'Youworkharderhereand he rulesarestricter,but hat's whyyoucome,"explains xelBlanchard,15.'All want sthat ineon myCVthat says, GraduatedJean-Bap-tiste de aSalle.'Whatthat epre-sentscan change ourentire ife."-By BruceCrumley/Paris

0oIc

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and heywould be required o show heir faces' nlr*,i"J,,nit Ualance etweenpolicyandpiety sn'tuncommon.All overEurope,governmentsncl en-;;';;;;d", u'" *""ti"gIn the middle' underff;-ilh ffiF;;h religiouicourtsavehepoweri" tTt f" ""ti"ti*inal caies ike divorcesettlements'e"Jirt" Nl,n"rlands givesequalgovernment und-ins to faith schools ndpublic schools' n tne con-dtfi;; idr,h" faith schoolsmeetstrict nonreligious;itlri; il their curriculums' These concessionsf,#;ahreat;th","tt'lu' state; hev ust giv.e eli-i'"* J"**""iti"s the chance o be apart of it'

GET A BETTER VIET FROilI THE TOPil;;;"-t, Ntamko Sabuni s a posterchildfor i*""ttru integration' She-came, ow s*"d;;;;th;cot'go*li"tt thewas12'afterherfather laimedollticarsviu-,N"y*ry"i: l"tTl :Tt^ST^:*l:irli"ir,"ir- rn'tegration ndGenderEquality.-Butn a country#;;;t;;i.h; [opututio"at" immigrants r hechildrenof m-#;;*;F,rnii' irt" ottty "*u"t 6fanethnicminoritv n thefi?ni;ffiilend s*"d"tt isn theonlv-cogntrvhere' om-pared o theirdiverse ofrl"tio"t' leaderiookpale' People f-lenhave ery owexpectaiionsf mmigrantsi' ays abuni'So't" ffi;;;G" * i*Jpotition' vou ave tobcbetter han heothers.ts abalanceou t-:ueobeconsciousf'all he imel'"*'il;;;"lik"-"" i*ua"""t' And addressingt couldrequire,"*;';;;J; action' "political parties9ay leed to usewhat;;;";;h, "ot,ld""t"*tttodo* methods-toaccelerateheir;*tift;honi' saysrevor hilllpt'h"-"dof BritainsCommis-ffi i;;A;Ji *'d Ho*"" Rights' rhev might ry to ensuretheyhaveproportionate-ffi"J t"pteseniation.in heir candi-;;;:.'o; .f;t irrigt't uvtt'"ieverv candidalg hort isthasohaveat eastonepersonrtolttii*ftit" on t' Youcant forcepeopleontoconstituencies,"t fo" cancompelparties o think abouttheir resPonsibilitiesi'"'"'i;;;;;;;; before' when it became clear there weren'tenoughwomen tthe top,gou"t"'n""tt uttossEurope ntroducedHffiil.;;;, i"ltiutiu"ito boost henumbers' Britains Labouri;il;#fi'il:l-::***"t*l"TffJ:l1l'iTiffi:lthe 1997election'andsaa""Ui" n'"* OOo120'WithoutsimilarmeasuresobringmoreEu-t"r""" *f"#iesinto powerpositions'huge- wathsof the popu-i;##";iilil; i""r'p"*"iirr-..r *ourd'ritnderestimateheimportanceofpotiucsaspaJoi tttit "o*"ttationl' saysGeoffMul-;;'i, il;;i,ili,'tt tunttt'" Young oundatioli London'be-i""t"',tt" n"frtical forumls a egitiLate place o havea dialogue'b talk about differenpes,uttJ to'o"' Without representation'youhaveno voice,And, not surprisingly' you're much more likely toturn toviolenceor rioUng o make ourself heard"'TheFrenchriotsof 2005are ust th" *";i;;;;nt'glimpse of the extremes eople*jn;il;d;n thev feel ike no onds istening'--i""irt"i*"y io *un" t"t" everycitizen- ounts? ount them'

Literally. Yetsomecountriesdont collectethnic data n their cen-"s;ffiih;;;ihat do are oftenbehind the curv-e'Britain intro-ducedamixed-race ategoryo its censusn 2001'onlyto discov-er that it was alreadyoifi" 1o""tty's fastest-grgwing ethnic*t*ttb gt""n tt's ilelal to collect dutu.o1ethnicity or religionin France, Belgium, p3t'muttt' Italy and Spain' mainly "1 tl:srounds that identiffinil*tt; by their '"t" ot faith is' in itsell

a orm of discrimination' But amove o makeallpeoplee-qualislsi*;;G th"i, irrh","t't differences' For instance' studies shorv,iL "tfr?i" minorities tenJto sufferhigherratesof diabetes han

their white counterparts.Sowithout knowing exactlyw-l-roma{e1ililffi;I"*n, fto*i' ii possible.o.treat.dg-"*teffectivelvAnda detailedthnic t"uiao*" lt"i ji* *t:"tttl.P:::::;standingwhat citl"ens "eeJ "ow-it's also he onlyway to-predicti^'ffi;:;;it;;i'til tuture' Dovouwant o etdiversitvtake ts owncourse ndpotentially.become",.Ttt1t-.::t:itrifftpr io, do you want to manage t' be prolctive' and turn itinto abenefit?A smartsociew s gJing to trv : q*,it TiT*Tefit. But that societyhas o-kno* "l*""ttf *1"1 it's dealingwith and';ih";;""t, we just dorft know enoughi'PUSHPEOPLE Pi{;;il;"*" "r".9"1itt in amulticultural ocietvsntsegregation,aceor rerslon" T': i:Y'*T:::t *:::,h"r" i:".-d";;;;i t""tt" rti Britain1renoj the mostdivers

"t""t;;i"nt ,it""ior,,,g FoundationsMulgan'but-areaswherea,:-it;#; j";i-*J",r".rryliT:.J*-:#*":"#;ffi ;'r"d""* ;i bu"tt ieplacedwith much lesssecure

"*pi"y-"",:' duropds minorities iuffer'on average'more than

double the rate ot unempioyment aswhites,'But a blanket affir-;dt*-;;; f olicy ike thekind in place n the.U'S is anonstarteriffi;;"p. tThere is such diversity among different minorities';,h;";" greatlyoutperforming even he white majority' that tott""i i"*t aft"t ust benefityou b"ecausef thecolor of your skin s;;ii;-M;igan. In Britain,

the averagesalary or an Indian isurii.iiooUr" ihat of a Pakistaniand' acrossEurope' the Chines

TIME, FEBRUARY 6'2007

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,HELPWITHAFIRMHAND

hegoodnewstraveledfast.Asa eftist,Bologna'sincomingmayorSergioCoffemtiwassure o be a friendto thecity'smostmar$nalized'Andso an llegalencampmentof Roma efugeesonthe city'soutskirtsbeganattractingnewresidents.WordwassPread-ing," ecallsBolognammigra-tionchiefFaustoAmelii'thatthe newadministration asgo-ingtotakecareof hem."But f Cofferatiwasndeeda riend,he urnedoutto be hekindwho ellsYouwhatYoudon'twanttohear-in thiscase, CamP losed " n2005'ninemonthsafterhis election'the mayororderedhe swiftdis-mantlingof heencampment,pluscheckson he legalstatusofits 120occuPants ndaninspection fall unofficial ous-ing n Bologna. hecityof373,000 helPedamilies indtemporary ccommodation'butmade egatitaatop Priority.The oughstanceshockedlongtime lliesof Cofferati'59'a risingstarof he ltalian eftaf-ter 12 years eadingthe oun-try'sbiggestabor yndicate'CGIL. uthe saYs emandingthat mmigrants beYtheaw s

ff iY Yl.Hg f isf f iw*sff*r*tH ntoss{$d*wur fio$*grna'wt|*egnt fiom***wt6*

simplypartof his ob. "Somepeople eem othinkthat legaFityandsecurlty reonlYssuesforthe rigfit,"CofferatiellsTtME. But, n oday'ssociety,governingmeanshelPing re-ate hebestconditionsfor if-ferent people rom differentbackgroundso live ogetherwithoutconflict."The ocals eem o agree,witha recentpollPuttingthemayor's pprovalatingat56%.That'sbecauseCofferati'sget-toughapproachs couPledwitha progressivepolicYowardlegal mmigranG. or ts oreig;trresidents,he cityProvideshousing ssistance,talian-lan-guage ourses,PsYcholo$calcounselingand alk-inhelPdesks n native anguagesorbuieaucratic uestions.But hegreatestboon o newarrivalss((T-i{*isdt*asyf*r imrnigrant$:but th* city' r t l r t$CIes elrl"*4MAR" *loroccan imt$igrantplentifuwork-Bologlra's2'6%unemploymentate s amongItaly's owest.MoroccanmmigrantOmar, 9, hasworked teadilYsinceanivingnBolognahreeyearsago.He',s appy boutthatandrelievedo haveaplace n a city-run ostel or sin-$e immigrantmales,eventhoughhe'llhavetofindotherquarterswithinaYear.'Thise-solveda crisis or me,"Omarsays. Life sn'teasYformmi-grants,butthecitydoeshelP."RaymondDassi'aCameroonianhohas ived nBologna ince1996andnov"heads ts mmigrant ssocia-tion,supportsthemayor'stough ine-butthinks his e-spectfor aw-abidingmmi-grantsshouldgo urther,esPe-ciallysinceBologna eedsforeign-bomworkers. Wearehelpingltaliansl.TheY an'tsee hat,"saysDassi, 5. 'TheYneed o democratizemmi-grants.Theyneed o say, Let'sseeyour deas. ' Bologna's ldandnew esidents re earninghow o live ogether;nextcomesgoverningogether.-BytfitsraeUl@m

dobetter at work and at school han nativewhites' Soan employ-ei couldfill its antidiscrimination quota andstill donothing tohelpminorities at the bottom of the ladder'Thebestwayto makeminoritiesmoreupwardlymobile sto getspecific-and creative' The French are teaching Chinese oriftooi.nifat"n in deprivedneighborhoodsso heycanget nto thegi"UJl*""*y. Meanwhile, n Britain, r9s9ar$ shows hat thefiieeesthurdle tr young Pakistani ndBangladeshimalessnt alackofirtIs, but amix ofdiscriminationandtroublegettingaccesso net-*otto. SoioUenters n predominantlyAsianneighborhoods re ry-l* io "o"ul""e employers o offer moreentry-level obs or take n-3r" pt*itio"al employeesor someworlqilaceexperience'nsteadof .etvlng on ,*""pi.tg nationalpoliciesand lawsaimedat all mi-""riti"t.i"ft"*es tailolredtogroupswithin

groupscanbettermatchthe right peoplewith the right jobs'In schools, oo, the best waY tomake sure everyonegets to the sameplace maybe to treat them differently'AnOrganizationor EconomicCooper-ationandDevelopmento.r.c.n.)studyshowedhat,when estedon heir mathskills, lS-year-old first-generation m-migrants scoreon avetagemore *ranoni grade level behind their nativepeers-this despitesurveys hat showimmigrants are more enthusiasticaboutschool hannonimmigtants.Partof the reason,saysAndreasSchleicher,headofanalysisor theo.s'c.o.'sDirec-

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UNITYBEGINSATHOMEhefikMehmetcan'ttakefivestepsalongGreenlanes highstreet n northLondonwithoutsomeone top-pinghim o chat.Mehmet' ro -tundTurkwhohas ived n hisarea or over50 Years,s ech-nically etired,now hat hissonruns he amilY airsalon'Buthe'sstillbusYworkingfor hecommunity. schairof the lo-cal raders'association, e

calmsanyfrictionsbetweenbusinesses nd residents.nhisspare ime,heworkswithlocalpolice o defuseclashesbetweenethnicgangs'Plushe'sagovernor t a nearby ol-lege,wherehehelPsPromoteintegration.Andhe does t all

((nf dm. 1 . l "sornstnmgT0rmy str#*t, dc it

r ) tfrcm mYneart.-SHEFIK MEHMEf,volunteerfor free. Thethings do' I donotgeta Pennyforthem,"esays. lf I dosomethingfo rmYstreet,mYcommunitY'do itfrommyheart"'Green aness nLondon'sHaringey orough,whichhasapopulation f 224,300,almosthalfof hemethnicminorities.TheborougfincludesSouthTottenham, narea e-searchers t University ollegeLondonecentlyProclaimedhemostethnically iversenBritain-and PossiblYallfWesternEuroPe-with 113ethnicgroupsivingn t. nte-gratingHaringey'sesidents'

who ogether peakaround193 anguages,s oocomplexfor biggovemmenttohandlefromabove.Here,gettingalongis up o the Peoplehemselves.And heyseemhaPPYtooblige nnumerousways' henewSomaliForumbringso-gethermembers f a dozen if-ferentSomaliorganizationsoensurehere'sno overlap fservices, nd hat no councilfundingorvolunteermanhoursarewasted.TheLivingUnderOneSunProject elPswomenof manycultures, ften ecentlYarrivednBritain.Therearemanythingswomenwanttodo,butdon'tknowhow o start,"saysAynurErisir, furdishTurkwhovolunteers or the Project."DoyousaYHi'to Yourneigh-bor,or not?DoYou mileornot?Youdon'tknowtheircul-turesandcustoms."Soeachweek,womenbringtheir hil-dren o meetat anadventureplayground, hereonecom-munityPlays ostand eachestheothersabout ts culture.And hen herearesmaller'butjustaseffective, ctsof n-tegration,iketheKit@PEvicaf6,whichoffers reeTuddshlessons. Wecanbenefitfromthe richnesshatdiversitybrings, r et t divideus,"saYsDavidLammY, .P or Totten-ham. Wechooseo benefit"' tisn'teasy: Wehavehadtobam howto ivetogetherhere."But t'sworkworthdo-ing---and very ittlebit helps. llove hisareaand don'twantto see t godown,"saYsMehmet. So fwe'reallcook-ingsomethingandPut n adropof saltto make t better'I'mproudof hat"'J.E

toratefor Education, s that manycountriesput their im-migrant students hrough the samesystemas everyoneekI. "rqualig'has odowith equalityofoutcomgs.,lgtwithequality-ofnputl' he says.Nordic countriesarehiglrlysen-sltive o this. Ueir question snot,How dowe do thesamethingforallstudentJ?but, owdowedo herightthingthat"rr"bl"t all students o reach heir potential?"Swedens opoftheclasswhen t comeso bridgingthelearning gapbetween ts immigrantsand native Swedes,"na soti" oi ttte reasonor that turnsonhowit handlesan-guage.While somecountriesexpecttheir immigrant stu-f,enl to learn tt classesaught n thehost anguage, therscombine regular classes with supplementary host-languageessonsswedendoesonebetter.By aw, f thereareat eastdu""rtoi""t from the samecountry in one district, they have he

riehtto be aught n their native ongue. And hatis"averypowerfuJwayto havechildrenvalue heirown culiures, rather than just being confrontedwith completenoveltyl'saysSchleicher' heeffectsare subtle but promising' While unemplol'rnentamong oreign-Eorncitizens n Swedens still high(aroundL\Vo), ts lower than in Germany,Franceor Belgium.And theproportion of immigrantsen-rolledin Swedishuniversities shigherthan it wasfiveyearsago.

hotdpopulation evelssteady.Europe'salsoaging'gv Zd5d over 0Vo fEuropeans ill be 65or old-er,andthereareritenoughyoung uropeanso re-place heir laborskillsor pay for their pensions'g"a. f tn" E.U.seriouslywantso achieveheLis-bonAgendagoalof becoming themostcompeti-tive and dynamicknowledge-driveneconomy-nthe world'; by 2010, t will needway more highlyqualified researchershan Europe'suniversitiescan urn out.Theargument hat immigradon s toblame for the failings of multiculturalism ignores

MAKE IMMIGRATIONSMARTEREurope is shrinking. Across the E.U',women arenot having enoughchildren to

the numbers.Europedoesn'tust needmore m-migrants;t alsoneedsawider varietyof them'-Yetanti-immigrantmovementsareflourish-ing in places ike eelgium, Britain, Germany-and Italy' Lastrn8tttfr,'a group of Jtranationalist M'E'P's finally gatheredenoughmeirbeis to createa ormalcaucus, iving hemmorepo-Iiticiclout andmaking hem eligible or E'U' funding' So mmi-grationposes wo-partchallengeor Europe:howto bring n theieople ii needsandhow to do sowithout feeding he hysteria'' 'Forsomedeas,Europecouldlookto Canada,whereimmigrantsmakeup lSVo f the generalpopulation'Yetpollsshow hat the ma-iotiy ofCanadianshive apoiitive view of mmigntion' Someof thisir trr*lo to the dedicated ntegrationprograms hat local govern-mentsandNGosun. Supportgroups'counseling essions,i:ee an-guage uition, evenbuddy systeml h1t bring ipryrefants togetheririili no*-*a-bred Canidians all help smooththe transition forthosecomingto Canadaand thosewho arethere already'But thecountry salsopiclcyaboutwho it welcomesn thefirst place' mmi-grantsareselected singasystem-thatwardseachapplicantaseriesif foints onfactorslikeige, qualifications,lnowledgeofEnglishand

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past emplolment. "The target is young, educatedmigrantsl' saysRandallHansen,an immigration and citizenshipexpert at the Uni-versityofToronto."Itk basedon atilacting human capitali'France's nterior Minister and presidential hopeful NicholasSarkozyhas advocatedswitching to a points-based mmigrationsystem.And Britain is already esting ts ownversion,which targetsboth skilled andunshlled labor to fill gapsacross he entire work-force. But Europehasgenerallybeen resistant o the idea.Themain concern is that it would encourage llegal immigration (aproblem hat Canada,which sharestsborderwith the world's rich-est country doesn'thave). There are an estimated 11-13millionnon-European llegal immigrants in the E.U. But the EuropeanCommissions hopingto slash hat numberaspart of apush o har-monize immigration policy across he E.U. One goal is to crackdownon llegalmigrantswhile alsoworkingwith the African coun-

triesmanyof themcome rom. Non-E.U. oun- w EL e s ff Etries, for example,could be givenmore access ffing Europ*toEurope'sniversities1dobsf theyprorn---***m.:flifu"#ise to reintegrate their illegal immigrants. If tfieneA$rieansEurope can improve its policies on immigra- ir*Francetion, then maybeEuropeanswill improvetheirattitudes."There'spublic support for immigration in Canadabe-cause he widespreadperception s that the border is firmly undercontrol and everyone s .especting he systemj'says Hansen."Whenyou ose hatperception, ublicsupportcollapses."TlfiilK LOCAIIY, ACT LOCALLYIt was ust over10yearsagowhen the first sign appeared:FROM NOW ON WE WILL BE HERE EVERYTHURSDAY.AL'vVAYS

AT 4 P.M.-WHETHER THERE IS SUN, RAIN OR SNOW. WE WANT TOSTARTA CHILDREN,S GROUPAND WOULD LIKE YOU TO PARTICIPAIEThe meetingspotwas a playgroundn Cologne's horweilerdis-

trict, whosehigh-riseblocksbecame ome o manyof the migrants hat the Ford Motor Co. recruitedinto Germany n the '70s.Of Chorweilert 80,000residents, 0Vohavemmigrantbackgrounds nd athird are on welfare. LaleAkgiin, apsychotherapistandM.P., new hat the bestway o keep he peacein sucha culturally diverseareawas o start with thekids. So, n 1995,shefounded Kinderndte(Chil-dren'sNeeds)with a group of family counselors,and heyput up that sign.Today, Kinderncite runs a dozen differentgroups or severalhundredchildren. Everyweek,they play soccer,go on field trips together,helpeach other with homeworkor just throw a party."Many of the children see hat their prejudicesdonotbearup againstealityj'Akgiinsays. They see hat they can geton with children rom other nationalities."Whenit's time to startup a new group,Kindernriteem-ployees ometimes isit aplaygroundwith just askipping rope and some chalk (since 1995,they'vegone hrough352kg of chalk). A lot candevelop rom thesesimplemeansl'saysmanag-er Nicole Hansen. The children can add theirown ideas and creativity right away."A similarprogramn Bradford,England,s allabout the kids, too. In a three-day iot in 2001,hundredsofyoung Asianmen destroyeddozensof white-owned businesses, training relationsbetween he ciLy'sSVoPakistani opulationandits white residents.Working or EducationBrad-ford, the private company that runs Bradford'sschools, ngie Kotler noticed hat the inner-citystudents,who are over90Vo onwhite,had ittlecontactwith he students ttending he majority-white schools n theperiphery.Soshesetup thbSchoolsLinking Project, twinning schoolsandhaving their students meet up regularly to playsports,put on an opera or plant an allotment."Theyoungerkids askabout hings ike Eid andChristmas,how they are similar,how they aredifferent,"saysKotler. The older kids will showtheir frustrationswith the tensions round hem.Theyask, Why did we everget o thispoint?"'The beauty of both ideas s that they are simpleand ocal."Youcan't ailor integrationmeasuresrom the top downj' saysSteveVer-tovec, director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and SocietyatOxford University."Integration meansbuilding common groundrules on civility, and this happenson the local evel.Cohesions allabout everyday nteractions, n the supermarketor on the play-groundi' Successful,ong-lastingntegration akesplace n commu-nity clubs and childrent play groups,bake salesandblock parties.Programsdont have o be big or expensive;Kotler saysEducationBradford runs its twinning scheme bn a shoestringi' "This isritwoolly liberalmulticulturalisml'she says.Yes,t's about espectingdifference,but itt alsoabout discoveringwhat it means o live to-getherandfeeling O.K. with a senseof multiple identity.' Becausethe only way for Europe o getover ts dentity crisis s to getused othe idea that there isnt just one.-ttrttlt rerylhreby UIlaPlon/C;open-h&n, Gnnt Rosenfu4lParisndRegineWonitulBeilinTIME. FEBRUARY 6.2007