On behalf of the Institute of Public Affairs, I am pleased to present you with the final publication from the project "National Integration Evaluation Mechanism. Monitoring and improvement of the integration of beneficiaries of international protection” which sums up the research and advocacy activities conducted during the project and offers recommendations which can serve as guidelines for implementing more efficient national and European reception and integration policies.

The present analysis focuses on the public activity of beneficiaries of international protection through social organizations. Firstly, it refers to the Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy  as an element of the EU framework of public participation of residents with migrant and refugee backgrounds. The analysis briefly presents the NIEM research on building bridges. Then, it gives an overview of social organizations of migrants and refugees in Poland, namely the legal aspects of self-organization, the characteristics of associations and the activities they provide, and the challenges refugee leaders face in running organizations. Finally, the analysis provides recommendations for various actors (public administration, social organizations and the media) to strengthen the public participation of beneficiaries of international protection and asylum seekers. 

This report provides an overview of the measure taken by the Lithuanian and Latvian governments in response to the sudden influx of irregular migrants across the Belarussian border in the period of June 2021 – January 2022. The analysis of the situation reveals that
the response of the Governments was in many ways similar, while the main differences were caused by a considerably different number of irregular migrants received by these countries.

This policy brief examines the effects of EU Member States’ integration policy frameworks upon the long-term integration prospects of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. Drawing on NIEM data, the brief makes the point that the status of countries’ overall refugee integration frameworks clearly has repercussions for the ability of member states to adapt to the new circumstances of a massive refugee movement from Ukraine.
In doing so, it finds that most countries’ integration policy frameworks are not adequately prepared for the largescale arrival of refugees, in particular those which have seen the largest number of arrivals. In concluding, the brief outlines two potential future scenarios on how the activation of the EU temporary protection directive will impact on the EU asylum and integration debate. While in the first scenario the situation will be marked by entrenched positions, in the second scenario a reset of the debate would lead to better harmonised refugee integration policies in the EU.

This study analyses the reception, adaptation, and integration of refugees in the Czech Republic. It focuses on applicants for international protection and people who have already been granted one of the forms of international protection, i.e., asylum or subsidiary protection. The report does not aim to capture the integration process in all its complexity – such is the ambition of other publications within the NIEM project – but rather to complement such a comprehensive picture with the experiences of individuals.

In contrast to texts based primarily on analyses of legislation, strategic documents, or ministerial statistics, this study seeks primarily to convey the perspective of the refugees themselves. It captures their impressions of the first days after their arrival in the Czech Republic, looks at their involvement in the State Integration Programme2, and describes the most important challenges that both applicants and holders face in the later stages of their integration into local society.

This analysis maps the availability of data supporting evidence-based refugee integration policymaking as measured by 44 NIEM indicators. Pointing to widespread data gaps across the NIEM countries, the report shows to what extent governments dispose of a statistical knowledge base for developing, implementing and evaluating their policies.

The third NIEM European report compares developments in 14 countries in the 2019 to 2021 period and highlights key overall results. Policy gaps and best practices identified in this research are intended to inform authorities, civil society and experts and to stimulate debate on how to reform refugee integration based on evidence. Special attention is given to integration outcomes as well as the impact of the covid-19 pandemic in the involved countries.