Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RESPOND (RESPOND: Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond)

Teaser

Migration, and the governance of migration, has become one of the most important issues in our global world and a flagship in the political debate in many countries. Today, there are more than 250 million people around the world living outside their country of birth. About 10...

Summary

Migration, and the governance of migration, has become one of the most important issues in our global world and a flagship in the political debate in many countries. Today, there are more than 250 million people around the world living outside their country of birth. About 10 percent of them are refugees and asylum seekers who have fled to another country to escape conflict and persecution. During 2015 and 2016, 2.3 million refugees and asylum seekers arrived in Europe. The EU and its member states, as well as receiving countries, are faced with the enormous challenge of coping with this partly unexpected, and immensity dramatic wave of mass migration. This phenomena of mass migration has entailed multifaceted economic, political, social, and legal challenges, and has brought together actors (state institutions, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, host societies and refugees) with unequal power, and divergent priorities and interests.

RESPOND brings together 14 partners in 11 source, transit and destination countries and studies migration governance along five thematic fields: (1) Border management and security, (2) Refugee protection regimes, (3) Reception policies, (4) Integration policies, and (5) Conflicting Europeanization. These fields literally represent refugees’ journeys across borders, from their confrontations with protection policies, to their travels through reception centres, and in some cases, ending in their integration into new homes.

Accordingly, the research objectives are structured in relation to the thematic fields outlined:
● To provide a contextual background analysis of migration governance in the countries that are the object of our research.
● To analyse border management policies and practices at macro, meso and micro levels.
● To examine the impact of recent mass migration on asylum determination systems and refugee protection regimes.
● To map out reception policies and practices and assess the coherence of these policies with respect to international standards and regulations.
● To examine how integration policies and processes are related to migration governance.
● To examine how elite discourse on increasing external migration to the EU is framed in the media, and deliberated among stakeholders with regard to the course of Europeanisation.
● To provide evidence-based policy recommendations regarding migration governance, and enhance the migration governance capacity and policy coherence of the EU, its MSs, and third countries.

Work performed

In the first 12-months of the project, the work performed and main results achieved so far are:

● WP-Guidelines: For each WP, we developed specific guidelines and templates, such as . sampling criteria, data gathering, datasets, style and formatting, coding and analysis.
● Interview guideline: For each WP we developed a detailed list of meso- and micro-level questions as well as roundtable questions which have been translated to the needed languages.
● Coding lists: For each WP we developed a coding list to be used for later analysis.
● Deliverables: All deliverables except for the Ethics Advisor’s report, have been uploaded to the portal successfully.
● Ethical approval: We developed a base guideline for ethical applications. No empirical work started before an approval. Ethical clearance has been received for all countries where we conduct fieldwork.
● Data management plan: We developed the initial version of our DMP, which will be updated in the form of a living document.
● Quality assurance plan: We formed a quality assurance plan, which all partners can use when developing their reports and keep a high quality standard.
● Dissemination and communication plan: We formed a plan for dissemination and communication of our products, in order to develop a standardised work procedure.
● Micro- and meso-level interviews: In each country linked to WP 2-5 we conducted interviews, by now approx. 240 meso level and 540 micro-level interviews.
● Roundtables: We conducted 13 roundtables with stakeholders.
● Survey: For WP7 we formed a questionnaire, consisting of questions from WP 2-5, to be disseminated both electronically and in paper.
● Website: For the whole project two websites have been constructed, one linked to the coordinating institute (www.crs.uu.se/respond), and one more independent (www.respondmigration.com). We have also specific webpages at each partner institution.
● Migration Governance Networks: We established MGNs in 11 countries, organized kick offs and various seminars.
● Advice Hub: We formed Advice hubs in Turkey and Iraq.
● Newsletters: We finalised two newsletters, distributed widely both through our social media channels and via different mailing lists.
● Social media: We launched our social media accounts and prepared a guideline for how to use these platforms.
● Blog: We launched a blog for the project and developed a blog post assignment for partners to follow throughout the project period.

Final results

RESPOND has a comprehensive research scope. In the first 12 months, the Consortium endeavoured to operationalise this comprehensive, yet highly complex, research project. Within the project, knowledge production and a very ambitious impact strategy has started being implemented as well. Despite its complexity and large scope, the project is on track and progressing well. Looking at the first 12-months achievements, the project has shown glimpses of its potential in delivering high-quality research with an impact on targeted audiences.

The model of Migration Governance Networks has been implemented in 11 countries, brought together different stakeholders working in the field of migration. This model has been received positively by all stakeholders involved in MGN activities.

The Advice Hub aimed at reaching out to refugees and internally displaced people, providing them with legal and psychological counselling and facilitating voluntary efforts in organising educational activities for all ages. We see this model as a channel to better understand refugees in their everyday life context.
During this period, the visibility of the project has provided new collaborations not only with the scientific community, but also with various stakeholders. Our partners have achieved different successful actions within the project:

● Invited to a high number of workshops and professional conferences to share their research plans and objectives, despite being in an initial phase of the study.
● Included in different national and international networks related to migration issues, among these with UNHCR offices, European Commission representations, and national expert units.
● Establishing an institutional review board or creating new contacts for the ethical clearance in countries where this was lacking.

Potential impacts of the project so far:
● Collaboration with expert units in migration, governmental offices, ministries, and different authorities on municipality, regional, and communal levels, as well as local ongoing migration projects in the field of migration.
● The MGNs in 11 countries, and specifically the roundtables have brought together civil society practitioners, experts, and researchers in new and constructive ways.
● Public awareness about the reception, protection and integration of refugees in several project countries.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.respondmigration.com.