The present text maps the actual situation of the participants of the controlled resettlement from the former Soviet Union to the Czech Republic in the years 1992–1993. Better to say, it maps the situation of a group of these settlers who at present live in the village Milovice, in the revitalized former military domain in the south-eastern part of the region Střední Čechy (Central Bohemia). The aim of the research was to analyze how the settlers perceive their reception from part of the majorite society, to study their adaptive strategies and to find out if the resettlement to the Czech Republic and the choice of the mentioned locality fulfilled their wishes and to what degree. The final part of the article summarizes what the settlers see as positive and what as negative aspects of the resettlement. The text is based on repeated directed interviews and observations realized in Milovice in the years 2008–2009.
Transnationalism and diaspora are concepts that are often intertwined but nonetheless differ. This article examines the link between transnationalism and integration processes among return migrants from the Armenian diaspora and examines the role social networks play in integration in Armenia. Returnees to Armenia can be divided into those who have returned from the Armenian diaspora (second and subsequent generations of migrants) and those who emigrated from Armenia and decided to return. This is reflected in the literature as a distinction between the 'old' and the 'new' Armenian diaspora, the latter having emerged in the 1990s. Before returning, both groups maintained ties with people in Armenia and may differ only by the extent and frequency of use of these ties. These ties can then accompany them when they return to Armenia and help them to (re-)integrate. The integration of returnees has its own specifics, compared to the integration of migrants, and may not be as simple as it might seem. This article focuses on the transnational ties of 23 migrants of Armenian descent who returned to Armenia after a long time abroad and draws on original research on return migration in Armenia conducted in 2016 and 2018. Semi-structured interviews with returnees revealed that their participation in the labour market is instrumental to their integration into mainstream society, and their work may involve transnational activities. The article shows the different opportunities that weak and strong ties provide returnees and that may facilitate their integration. Weak ties on a local level are crucial for returnees to be able to reintegrate and fully participate in life in Armenia. The article aims to understand the return strategy as one of the migration options that may or may not be permanent. A return may be followed by re-migration, under certain conditions and if obstacles to sustainable reintegration, and the article also explores the motivations for re-migration.
Post-WWII geopolitical changes in Indochina and Central & Eastern Europe drastically altered the international relationships of Czechoslovakia. Viet-nam became one of its partners. After the 1954 defeat of the French, the first Northern Vietnamese immigrants came to Czechoslovakia. However, after the Velvet Revolution of 1989 political agreements on cultural cooperation ended, and a return migration began. Nevertheless, the reconsolidation of democracy in the successor states of Czechoslovakia did not bring to an end the long established connection, and spontaneous individual migration started. Since then thousands of persons have come, and the Czech Republic remains one of the most desirable destinations for Vietnamese migrants. This article is the result of a qualitative survey conducted among pre-1989 returnees that was carried out in Vietnam from July 2010 to February 2011. The main task of the study is to frame the migration in a broader historical and political context, and show how the consequences and organized features of pre-1989 migration have shaped the perception of Czecho-slovakia and the returnees’ relationship with it.