The effects of the transition to market economy, namely closure of the formerly State owned industries or agricultural complexes lead to intensified negative demographic trends. Resulting from the unemployment in the rural settlements, mostly people in active age started leaving their communities. There is a steady stream of those people, moving from rural to urban areas, from the smaller settlements to larger cities, from the capital to another country. 

The internal migrants, out of their environment, are immediately facing a series of problems, related to the more expensive living in the larger cities, and later - lack of appropriate or lower level of education, satisfactory in the rural areas, but non-competitive in the urban as well as professional background not needed in the city.

Migrants from poor countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa are heading to West Europe looking for a better life. Many of them stay in our region. Immigrants, especially those of a different culture, language, religion and race are facing a exclusion by the society in the host countries. The events in France, Great Britain, Germany and other West European countries show deep problems in integrating the migrant communities. Not so visible in  in Central and Eastern Europe, where the migrant community is smaller, the migrants here are facing similar if not worse situation.

The problems related to the poverty, lack of resources to find a decent home and provide for, the collision of values and beliefs, the inevitable language barrier, create an environment of a long-term misery, fear, uncertainness in the future and despair. We do not have a vast experience in community development with immigrants and often there is no community, but individuals, which prevents it to take place. But we have tested PCD with people from Arab migrant communities in a large city in CE. It was very difficult to work in a multi-ethnic, multy-language and especially multi-culture environment, but time built trust, people from different ethnic and religious communities could unite and work together to help other migrants and even to support vulnerable native people. It took a long time, but it proved possible. And along with our joint work comes integration. But only after we understand our differences and accept them as they are.

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