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"Allowing communities to keep their identities does not mean that segregation is encouraged (in principle)"

It depends on how much those identities differ from the host country's. Russian immigrants to France integrate very easily and the problem (segregation or assimilation) isn't even posed. Migrants can have difficulties to adapt due to lack of enough access opportunities, or locals' negative attitude, but also due to their own lack of understanding, or negative attitude towards local values.
Without necessarily assumming ill will from either side , I think the problem must be considered both ways.

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! (Martin Luther King)

by ValentinD (walentijn arobase free spot frança) on Mon Nov 3rd, 2008 at 09:00:52 PM EST
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Not only about how identity differ, but about how they are percieved to differ. The Chinese culture is much more removed from the French one than the Arab one ; but since Chinese culture is unknown, there are no reactions against aspects of Chinese culture that would be disagreeable to the majority of the French population. India's arranged marriages are no better than the Arab ones, yet as the Indian immigration is small and not perceived as problematic, that aspect is not protested against.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Tue Nov 4th, 2008 at 11:38:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Not only about how they are perceived to differ, but also about how they express themselves to the outer world.
My theory is that the Chinese, while being quite different (I knew a chinese person well enough to make a bit of an opinion), are also quite careful to not impose on others (and the Japanese even much more so).
This "discretion" too is a part of asian cultures, just like exuberance defines all nations around the Mediterranean.
Just to say that it is still and always going both ways.

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! (Martin Luther King)
by ValentinD (walentijn arobase free spot frança) on Tue Nov 4th, 2008 at 03:14:11 PM EST
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