Policy Briefs — RESPOND

RESPOND PRoject POLICY BRIEFS
RESPOND aims to turn its research findings into policy briefs in order to establish the critical link between the scientific community and policy makers.
On this page, you can find policy briefs from different countries where we have conducted research within the framework of RESPOND. If you are interested in learning more about the topics dealt with in policy briefs, we recommend that you take a look at related country or comparative reports, available in our working paper series.

RESPOND is a Horizon 2020 project which aims at studying the multilevel governance of migration in Europe and beyond. These policy briefs are based on analysis of reports, political speeches, legal documents and interviews.

Editorial: Migrants' psychosocial health: cultural and religious resources through resilience and coping

Editorial: Migrants' psychosocial health: cultural and religious resources through resilience and coping

The Research Topic, Migrants' psychosocial health: cultural and religious resources through resilience and coping, is published in Frontiers and addresses how resilience and coping strategies are expressed among the most vulnerable communities, and how they are bearing the burden and enduring the most dire consequences of recent crises, not the least the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. People with migrant backgrounds, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, who were already experiencing multifaceted repressions and discrimination, now find themselves in an even more vulnerable situation ranging from immediate....

Policy Briefs, Research OutputRESPOND Horizon2020October 12, 2023Sweden, Austria, Iraq, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Turkey, UK

Safe-Guarding Accountability and Fundamental Rights Compliance of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex – Policy Brief

Safe-Guarding Accountability and Fundamental Rights Compliance of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex – Policy Brief

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/19]

Authors: Lena Karamanidou - Glasgow Caledonian University | Bernd Kasparek - University of Göttingen

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex is currently undergoing intense scrutiny. An investigation of its own Management Board did not fully clear the Agency from alleged involvement in pushbacks – illegal returns that violate human rights under…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 26, 2021Germany, UK, Frontex

Integracja beneficjentów ochrony międzynarodowej w Polsce – przegląd działań Powiatowych Centrów Pomocy Rodzinie

Integracja beneficjentów ochrony międzynarodowej w Polsce – przegląd działań Powiatowych Centrów Pomocy Rodzinie

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/18]

Authors: Dominik Wach, Marta Pachocka - Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw

Reforma administracyjna Polski z 1999 roku wprowadziła trójstopniową strukturę podziału terytorialnego (województwo, powiat, gmina), a jednym z jej efektów było powołanie Powiatowych Centrów Pomocy Rodzinie (PCPR). Jednostki tego typu…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 26, 2021Poland

Adult Refugees’ Integration in Poland: Challenges in area of education and their effects on access to the labour market

Adult Refugees’ Integration in Poland: Challenges in area of education and their effects on access to the labour market

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/17]

Authors: Justyna Szałańska, Karolina Sobczak-Szelc - Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw

This policy brief aims to provide a brief overview of the opportunities and challenges faced by adult refugees (both asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection) in Poland in areas of education, in particular Polish language learning, and access into the labour market…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 22, 2021Poland

Rudimentary Integration Policies in Greece. Not a priority for Greek government policies.

Rudimentary Integration Policies in Greece. Not a priority for Greek government policies.

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/16]

Authors: Eva Papatzani, Nadina Leivaditi, Ilias Aggelos, Electra Petracou - University of the Aegean

Since the 1990s, Greece has been an immigration country, for migrants from Central and Eastern European countries, but also later for migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Nevertheless, no official integration policy was planned and implemented succesfully until recently. During the last decade, the political and social context in the country is…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 18, 2021Greece

Border Management and Refugee Protection in Greece Threatening Protection Rights, Re-territorialising Borders?

Border Management and Refugee Protection in Greece Threatening Protection Rights, Re-territorialising Borders?

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/15]

Authors: Eva Papatzani, Nadina Leivaditi, Ilias Aggelos, Electra Petracou - University of the Aegean

From the 1990s onwards, Greece has been an immigration country, for migrants from Central and Eastern European countries, but also later for migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In 2015, 856,723 people arrived by sea to the…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 17, 2021Greece

Flüchtlingsschutz in Deutschland Maxime der Deutschen Asylpolitik: Zugänge zum Asylrecht beschränken, Verfahrensrechte einschränken

Flüchtlingsschutz in Deutschland Maxime der Deutschen Asylpolitik: Zugänge zum Asylrecht beschränken, Verfahrensrechte einschränken

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/14]

Author: Prof.Dr. Sabine Hess - Göttingen University

Der Forschungsbericht »Refugee Protection in Germany« des Horizon 2020 Forschungsprojekts RESPOND untersucht die asylrechtlichen Regelungen in Deutschland seit 2011 hinsichtlich ihres Schutzcharakters für Geflüchtete…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 11, 2021Germany

Refugee Reception in Germany: Moving beyond isolationism and deterrence

Refugee Reception in Germany: Moving beyond isolationism and deterrence

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/13]

Author: Alexander-Kenneth Nagel - Göttingen University

This policy brief focuses on reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to refugee immigration in Germany between 2011 and 2017. Despite efforts to achieve harmonization (especially promoted by the 2016 CEAS and by the ENP), relevant differences exist in this field across EU member states. The European Union (Directive 2013/33/EU) has defined a number of “material conditions” of reception including “housing, food and clothing provided in kind, or as financial…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 11, 2021Germany

Refugees in Iraq: Access to Work and Stable Livelihoods

Refugees in Iraq: Access to Work and Stable Livelihoods

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/12]

Authors: William Warda - Hammurabi Human Rights Organization | Dr. Hamed Shihab - University of Baghdad

Iraq has attracted migrants since ancient times for a number of reasons: its cultural richness since the days of Babylon, Assyria and Nineveh, its natural resources, including oil, phosphates and sulfur, and abundant agriculture and livestock thanks to its two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. However, the scale of mass migrations over the centuries never approached levels seen starting in 2011, when waves of Syrian refugees fleeing violence and armed conflict began to arrive in Iraq…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020March 1, 2021Iraq

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq: Conditions and Challenges

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Iraq: Conditions and Challenges

RESPOND Policy Brief [2021/11]

Authors: William Warda - Hammurabi Human Rights Organization | Dr. Hamed Shihab - University of Baghdad

Although Iraq has faced conflict and difficult trials over the past three decades, it had not faced a large internal displacement crisis, until 2014 when Daesh occupied a third of its territory.

In 2014 more than five million Iraqis were forced from their homes. This displacement led to humanitarian repercussions and political, legal…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020February 9, 2021Iraq

MIGRATION GOVERNANCE IN ITALY: THE URGENCY OF SUBSTITUTING STOPGAP MEASURES WITH A STRUCTURED AND SYSTEMIC REFORM

MIGRATION GOVERNANCE IN ITALY: THE URGENCY OF SUBSTITUTING STOPGAP MEASURES WITH A STRUCTURED AND SYSTEMIC REFORM

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/10]

Authors: Prof. Dr. Veronica Federico, Dr Paola Pannia - University of Florence

Since 2014, Italy is receiving the highest number of non-EU citizens looking for economic opportunities and for international protection in its recent history. In 2019 there were more than 6 million foreigner residents in the country. Despite this high surge in number, the backbone of the national migration legal framework dates back 1998, when Italy counted little more than one million foreigners. Since then, the Italian Consolidated Law on Immigration (Legislative Decree No. 286/1998), the pillar of the system…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020December 14, 2020Italy

WHAT RESPONSES TO PROTECTION SEEKERS? THE ITALIAN WAY (BETWEEN FALLS AND ASCENDS)

WHAT RESPONSES TO PROTECTION SEEKERS? THE ITALIAN WAY (BETWEEN FALLS AND ASCENDS)

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/9]

Authors: Prof. Dr. Veronica Federico, Dr Paola Pannia - University of Florence

After decades of emigration, Italy has become the gateway to the European Union and a destination country itself. However, Italian government’s attempts to manage sizeable migration flows did not result in an efficient national system of migration governance. Conversely, mirroring a broader European trend, the Italian response has increasingly followed a security-based and regressive approach, culminated in 2018 with the Salvini Decree (No. 113/2018). The Decree introduced a number of restrictions, further narrowing down the legal entry channels in the country. Amongst those restrictions…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020December 11, 2020Italy

Reception and Integration of Refugees in Austria: Conditions and Challenges

Reception and Integration of Refugees in Austria: Conditions and Challenges

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/8]

Authors: Dr. Ursula Reeger, Ivan Josipovic - Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences,

Though Austria has been an immigration country for a long period of time, the arrival of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan around the year 2015 has resulted in heavy public and political discussions and a panoply of new legal restrictions when it comes to their reception and structural as well as socio-cultural integration. The restrictions set at the national level are echoed by varying strategies on the local level by provincial governments, NGOs, civil society actors and the refugees themselves. This leads to varying conditions of reception and integration across the country.

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020November 27, 2020Austria

Managing asylum in the middle of the Schengen Area

Managing asylum in the middle of the Schengen Area

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/7]

Authors: Dr. Ursula Reeger, Ivan Josipovic - Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences,

Austria has been among the main destination countries for asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016 in the European Union. Located in the centre of the Schengen zone, it responded to increased levels of immigration with a national strategy that came at the cost of a joint European solution. Austria reintroduced permanent border controls, passed a unilateral quota for asylum applications and turned towards multilateralism with third states in the Balkans. Based on an in-depth analysis of policy change and implementation, as well as semi-structured interviews with experts active in the field of asylum and border management, we provide the following…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020November 26, 2020Austria

Protection Policies in Sweden

Protection Policies in Sweden

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/6]

Authors: Mudar Shakra - Uppsala University | Justyna Szalanska - Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul | Önver A. Cetrez - Uppsala University

This policy brief aims to provide a brief overview of the current Swedish protection regime and the main legislative changes in asylum and migration policies between 2011 and 2019, which was investigated in depth in Work package 3 of the RESPOND project. Sweden has been internationally recognised as one of the main supporters of the international protection regime and a leading country in providing sanctuary to persons in need of protection. Sweden has received a large number of asylum seekers since 2012 in comparison to other EU member states. During the fall of 2015 in its referral response, the Swedish Migration Agency…

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020November 20, 2020Sweden

Reconceptualizing social Integration: Cultivating social intimacies and inclusive societies – the UK example

Reconceptualizing social Integration: Cultivating social intimacies and inclusive societies – the UK example

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/5]

Authors: Doga Atalay, Prof. Umut Korkut - Glasgow Caledonian University | Dr Naures Atto - University of Cambridge

Integration of migrants has been a much-contested concept that has received vigorous political and academic interest (Korkut et. al. ed, 2013; Schinkel, 2018). Yet, the Covid-19 pandemic is prone to pose further challenges to the relationship between the member of the host society and newcomers. The societal situation at the face of the pandemic itself requires much compassion, solidarity and responsibility to protect each other and public welfare.

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020November 19, 2020UK

Crisis governance and the quest for alternative Europeanisation in Hungary

Crisis governance and the quest for alternative Europeanisation in Hungary

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/4]

Authors: Prof. Umut Korkut - Daniel Gyollai, Glasgow Caledonian University

This policy brief reflects on the issues of “West” and “Europe” in Hungarian political narrative and public philosophy (Mehta 2011) drawing insights from Viktor Orbán’s speeches collected for RESPOND Work package 6 (WP6) “Conflicting Conceptualizations of Europeanization” report as well as interviews with civil society actors in the country in 2018 and 2019 as part of the RESPOND project. Looking at the Hungarian case, it presents assumptions about strong leadership and Europragmatism amidst economic, political, and health crises. Our policy recommendations are aimed for anti-authoritarian policy and ideational circles in Europe and Hungary.

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020June 19, 2020UK, Hungary

The Digital Publics of #Schengen and #Eurozone During the Coronavirus Crisis

The Digital Publics of #Schengen and #Eurozone During the Coronavirus Crisis

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/3]

Authors: Prof. Umut Korkut - Dr. James Foley, Glasgow Caledonian University | Dr. Ozge Ozduzen, Brunel University London

The pandemic in Europe and the outbreak of the coronavirus paved the way to abrupt and extensive border closures in the Schengen zone. More generally, it hindered the solidarity essence of the EU integration. The Schengen zone had temporary border closures in the past, in particular in 2015, amidst the sudden increase in the number of irregular migrant arrivals to Europe. However, at the face of the coronavirus health crisis almost all Schengen states introduced border controls starting with early March 2020. The border closures also implied states’ intervention with the transportation and expropriation of healthcare products across their borders.

Policy BriefsRESPOND Horizon2020June 4, 2020UK

Reception and Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Reception and Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/2]

Authors: Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, İstanbul Bilgi University | Dr. Susan Rottmann, Özyeğin University | Dr. Ela Gökalp Aras - Dr. Zeynep Şahin Mencütek, Swedish Research Institute in İstanbul

This Policy Brief focuses on reception and integration policies, practices and humanitarian responses to refugee immigration between 2011 and 2017 in Turkey. Protection under international law is limited for migrants, since Turkey does not grant refugee status to non-European refugees (instead granting “conditional refugee status” or “temporary protection status.”) This Policy Brief addresses the main challenges of reception and integration for migrants under temporary protection (mainly Syrians) in Turkey and offers some policy recommendations for different stakeholders.

Policy Briefs, TurkeyRESPOND Horizon2020June 4, 2020Turkey

Border Management and Protection Policies for Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Border Management and Protection Policies for Syrian Refugees in Turkey

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/1]

Authors: Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, İstanbul Bilgi University | Dr. Susan Rottmann, Özyeğin University | Dr. Ela Gökalp Aras - Dr. Zeynep Şahin Mencütek, Swedish Research Institute in İstanbul

This Policy Brief focuses on border management and international protection policies, practices and humanitarian responses to refugee immigration between 2011 and 2018 in Turkey. This brief addresses the main challenges in terms of the focused policy areas with an emphasis on the nexus of forced and irregular migration, in particular regarding the situation of Syrians in Turkey. It also offers some policy recommendations for different stakeholders. Our research is primarily based on the fieldwork that conducted in…

Policy Briefs, TurkeyRESPOND Horizon2020June 1, 2020Turkey