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In the past two decades students of international migration have brought into focus the
transnational nature of many international migratory flows. The concept of “diasporas” has
become popular among students of migration. The term “diaspora” is static. It refers to a formed community, not a process of community formation. By contrast, the term “diasporization” captures the process. ‘Diasporazation’ can refer to the process of formation of transnational ties, as well as identities and practices that link a migrant community to their home. These ties to the home community vary in intensity and form. Yet, it is this link to the homeland that distinguishes the diasporic community from a transnational migrant community. The term ‘diasporization’ can also refer to the process through which the receiving society treats migrants as if their existence in the host society was merely ethereal, as if their ties to the home lands preclude their integration in the host lands. When migrants are treated by a host society as ‘birds of passage’, no language or cultural training is provided to them to make their integration into the host society possible. The term “social integration” has many meanings. In this presentation, I use the term to refer to the migrants’ acquisition of communication skills (including language and cultural understandings) to enable them to function effectively in a new society. I will argue that these communication skills make it possible for the migrants to exercise and negotiate their legal rights