3rd meeting of the European Migration Forum (2-3 March 2017)

ACCESS –Migrants' access to the EU, to rights, and to services: challenges and way forward

Background paper

This paper presents an outline of the European Migration Forum meeting (Brussels, 2-3 March 2017), highlighting the key themes that the meeting will address, and providing an overview of the workshops. The programme was developed taking account of the various inputs put forward by civil society organisations during the consultation processes undertaken by the Forum organisers in October 2017.

The purpose of this year meeting’sis to allow for a reflection on the issues and challenges that have emerged across the multi-level migration governance and that go beyond the need to address the emergency, in order to move from a crisis management perspective into a long term comprehensive strategy of migration management.

The Forum will thus provide the opportunity for ca.120 civil society organisations from across the European Union and its neighbouring countries to discuss with European institutions and representatives from local, regional and national authorities the key issue of ACCESS: migrants' access to Europe, to rights and to services. In a nutshell, the meeting will include a discussion on safe legal alternatives to the perilous journeys migrants undertake, as well as a reflection on the way migrants can access services upon their arrival, together with the rights to which they are entitled to, and how to ensure continuation of such provisions to facilitate their integration process. Moreover, an underlining horizontal theme will be that of communication and the media – changing the current narrative on migration, with a view to explore how public discourse can influence public perceptions on migration and integration of migrants in receiving communities.

The participatory method successfully used in the previous edition of the Forum -designed to engage groups in strategic conversationsand to harness collective input in finding the best way to achieve a common purpose - will be maintained. All participants are therefore expected to contribute to the discussion and engage in dialogue with one another at various points, assisted throughout the Forum by a team of facilitators, who will coordinate and animate thevarious workshops.

WORKSHOPS Day 1. Access to the EU

As a follow-up to the topics explored in the previous editions of the Forum, the first day of the Forumwill focus on further discussingthe need forsafe legal alternatives to the perilous journeys migrants often undertake. Thistopicwill include a reflection on the following:

  1. Resettlement
  2. The EU legal migration framework: what gaps and implementation challenges?
  3. Family Reunification today: what are the practical challenges and how to address them?
  4. How can we change the narrative on migration?

WORKSHOPS Day 2. Access to rights and services

The current migration situation has led the EU to a fast paced policy process, mainly focused on responding to urgent needs in times of crisis. The second day of the Forum will on the contrary focus on understanding of how this affects and relates to long term integration of migrants and refugees. Four topics will be explored:

  1. Service provision for migrants: how to ensure an integrated approach?
  2. How to strengthen cooperation between different authorities and levels of governance for an effective integration of migrants?
  3. Protecting all children in migration: how to make it a reality today?
  4. How to build bridges between migrants and citizens and local communities?

The topics will be dealt with in parallel participatory workshops. Each workshop will be facilitated by a European Commission official and a civil society representative that has helped to design the session.

3rd meeting of the European Migration Forum (2-3 March 2017)

ACCESS – Migrants' access to the EU, to rights, and to services: challenges and way forward

WORKSHOPS DAY 1 – ACCESS TO THE EU

A. Resettlement

This workshop will be divided into two thematic sessions:

1)Resettlement in the EU; and

2)Private sponsorship schemes as a complement to resettlement

Both sessions will also discuss the role of civil society in assisting the long-term integration of persons arriving either via resettlement programmes or through private sponsorship schemes, and where further engagement, support and coordination is possible and/or required. Each thematic session will be introduced by a short presentation addressing key issues and questions considered relevant to the smaller group discussions that will follow.

1. Resettlement in the EU – Where we are now?

On 20 July 2015, 27 Member States, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, agreed to resettle over 22,000 displaced persons from third countries who are in clear need of international protection. While several Member States have been engaged in resettlement for many years, this is the first truly common and coordinated EU effort, which involves a number of Member States resettling for the first time. In parallel, under the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, States that have not yet established resettlement programmes were encouraged to do so at the earliest opportunity, while those that have already done so were encouraged to consider increasing the size of their programmes. Reflecting these developments, the aims of this session are to take stock of the EU’s contribution to global resettlement to date, to highlight the most recent developments in advancing resettlement to the EU, and to explore the vision for resettlement in the EU in the coming years. This will incorporate the following elements, both through the introductory presentation and via the questions provided for discussion:

  • Reflection on the trajectory of resettlement in the EU over the past years.
  • What are the primary lessons to be learned from resettlement in the EU to date that can inform future programming (e.g. pre-departure and pre-arrival activities, secure and predictable status, specialised services, etc.)?
  • What types of support and services is civil society already providing to resettled refugees in the area of integration, and what are the primary gaps evident that need to be overcome in order to improve the integration outcomes of resettled refugees?
  • What type of support is required to assist new and emerging resettlement States, including on integration, to support the sustainability of their resettlement programmes, and what is the primary role of civil society in such efforts?
  • How can we better coordinate resettlement in the EU, from the regional to the local level, in cooperation with civil society?
  • What is a realistic vision for resettlement in the EU in the next 2-5 years, and how can EU-level initiatives, together with civil society engagement, support increased resettlement to the EU in the medium to long-term?

2: How can private sponsorship schemes complement resettlement to the EU?
[short introduction by UNHCR]

There are close to 1.2 million refugees around the world in critical need of resettlement[1]. The developmentof a private sponsorship scheme alongside existing resettlement programmes has the potential to increase resettlement places for vulnerable refugees. Moreover, private sponsorship can play an important role in facilitating the integration of newly arrived refugees thanks to the support and engagement of individuals, community organizations, faith-based groups, NGOs, private companies and families of resettled persons. In addition, it can enable the reunification of people in need of international protection with family members.Civil society involvement is essential in the successful development of private sponsorship programmes, as has been illustrated in, for example, Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom. Reflecting on existing European and non-European models involving civil society, the aim of this session is to explore the feasibility and possible modalities for the further development of private sponsorship programmes in the EU. The session will also be an opportunity to introduce the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (GRSI), as well as the activities of the European Commission-funded European Resettlement Network+ project. This will incorporate the following elements both through the introductory presentation and via the questions for discussion:

  • What is the experience of private sponsorship in the EU to date?
  • What role has civil society played in the development and roll-out of such programmes and what potential role could it play in the future?
  • From civil society’s point of view, are there additional considerations and/or planning required when designing and supporting integration measures under a private sponsorship programme?
  • How can civil society be best supported and their role strengthened, both nationally and at the EU level, in providing integration services through a private sponsorship programme to ensure the sustainability of such programmes?
  • Can such experiences, allied with non-European models and the GRSI, allow for the promotion and expansion of private sponsorship programmes in individual Member States?
  • What are the primary considerations (protection and otherwise) that need to be applied to the development of a private sponsorship programme to ensure that it can be a credible complement to resettlement?
  • From civil society’s point of view, are there other considerations and/or planning required when designing and supporting integration measures under a private sponsorship programme (compared to resettlement)?
  • How can civil society be best supported and their role strengthened, both nationally and at the EU level, in providing integration services through a private sponsorship programme to ensure the sustainability of such programmes?
  • Within the limits of its competence, what is the potential scope of EU support to civil society in the development of private sponsorship programmes?
  • What, from civil society’s point of view, are the primary challenges and considerations relevant to the promotion of private sponsorship schemes as a complement to resettlement in the EU?

B. Family Reunification today: what are the practical challenges and how to address them?

Family ties are among key reasons for third-country nationals to seek residence in EU Member States. Families face situations as different as the initial reasons for migration, with sponsors ranging from researchers to refugees. Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification[2] was the first Directive to be adopted in the field of legal migration: it secures the right for legally residing third-country nationals to be reunited with at least their spouse and minor children where certain conditions are fulfilled.

The Commission issued its first implementation report on the Directive in 2008[3], with the conclusion that the level of harmonisation across the EU remains low and there are definite shortcomings in how Member States are putting the rules and procedures for family reunification into practice.

A Green Paper[4] was issued in 2011 to discuss if amending the Directive would be necessary; it gathered 120 responses and was complemented by a public hearing within the European Integration Forum in 2012. The conclusion was that the most appropriate way forward, instead of a legislative proposal, was to ensure the correct implementation of the existing policy across Member States. Accordingly, in 2014 the Commission issued guidelines on the application of the Directive[5] with the purpose of ensuring a transparent and clear understanding of family reunification rules and common standards at EU level, and contributing to the coherent application of these rules across Member States. The impact of the guidelines and status quo of implementation more generally is currently assessed as part of the Fitness Check of the legal migration legislation. In order to support this work, there is also a comparative study of the European Migration Network underway on national practices related to family reunification.

Therefore, it seems timely to gain concrete insight into where we stand today in making the right to family reunification effective. The objective is to trace the steps of migrant families and find out how we could better support them throughout their journey. The targets set out in the Commission guidelines serve as a benchmark as the participants are invited to illustrate the reality for family reunification applicants across Member States. Relevant aspects to be covered include:

  • applicants' access to pertinent information;
  • ease of submitting the application and providing the required evidence;
  • swift processing of applications and adequate safeguards; and
  • individual assessment of applications and justified decisions.

Participants to this workshop are encouraged to rely on their experience and knowledge, refresh their memory on the content of the guidelines and prepare to share stories of the challenges they have encountered as well as any established or proposed solutions to address them.

C. The EU legal migration framework: what gaps and implementation challenges?

The Fitness Check on legal migration aims to evaluate the existing EU legislation on legal migration, and in particular to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and EU added value of the legal migration Directives adopted so far[6].It willalso evaluate whether the EU legal migration legislation is attuned to the economic and social needs of the EU and whether categories and issues currently not covered need to be addressed at EU level. It was launched in September 2016 with the publication of the roadmap and will run through 2017, while results are expected at the beginning of 2018. A public consultation will be launched in spring 2017.

Last year's European Migration Forum's workshop on low and medium skilled migration started a conversation on what can be done at the EU level to address certain gaps in the legal migration framework. That workshop notably discussed the possibility of a general framework of legislation instead of sectorial Directives and emphasised the need for third-country nationals to be able to exercise their rights. The Fitness Check and this workshop may build on those inquiries.

Three fundamental issues will be explored with participants, with the results being fed into the targeted consultation for the Fitness Check. Those issues are:

1)Opportunities of the EU legal migration framework

The EU has developed legislation in relation to legal migration providing opportunities for third-country nationals to come to the EU. Understanding how the EU has added value in the field of legal migration is required to properly evaluate the EU legal migration framework.

In what way has the EU provided opportunities for non-EU citizens to enter and stay/reside in the EU? Whom did it benefit? How successful has it been?

2)Obstaclesto the application of the EU legal migration framework

Obstacles to an effective application of the EU legal migration framework can come in a number of guises: is the EU legal migration framework too complex? Is it not applied correctly?

What are the obstacles to the application of the EU legal migration legislation? What effects do these obstacles have in practice? How can the EU act to overcome the obstacles?

3)Gaps in EU legal migration legislation

The Fitness Check will seek to identify gaps for specific categories of third-country nationals or key issues not covered by EU legislation. Once identified, it is important to understand the scope of these categories of people or issues, how they are currently dealt with (at national level for example), and challenges presented by their exclusion from EU legal migration legislation.

What are the gaps? Who are the people or what are the situations falling within the gaps? How are these gaps currently being addressed? How could the EU bridge the gaps?

D. How can we change the narrative on migration?

Today migration is one of the most debated topics, in all parts of society. Media coverage across all communication channels is omnipresent, and discussion surrounding the issue is highly politicised. Waves, invasion, masses…the terminology often used to define migrants and migration flows intrinsically dehumanizes migrants and refugees and does not account for their individual stories. This polarised and, at times, toxic debate has a strong impact on policy making and public opinion. The reality is much more complex and nuanced that it is often portrayed.

Recognising this, many actors in the field have been calling for a change in the narrative on migration. This change means basing our statements and positions on facts. It means acknowledging and addressing all elements that contribute to the existing migration flows, even if this makes the picture far more complex than we would like it to be. It means empowering media and communication experts with the tools to allow them to be more respectful of the reality through training and clarification of definitions and terminology.

In addition, to bring about this change we need to find a way to engage constructively with members of society who hold onto current, negative narratives on migration and who see no need to address the way that society debates the issue. Without engaging with those who hold an opposite view, we risk perpetuating 'echo-chambers' of like-minded individuals in which we can never have a full picture of the issue, or arrive at lasting, positive solutions. We will risk always "preaching to the converted" and talking among ourselves.

The workshop will ask participants to focus on the following questions:

I: Know your audiences – whose perception of migration do we aim to change?

a)Recognising that the EU countries are very diverse, where could/should we start?

b)Which countries are we – or should we be - talking about?

c)Who are the key stakeholder groups in these countries?

d)How do we engage groups of society who have a different/ opposite view?

e)How do we break out of the circle of "usual suspects"?

II: Know the key players: Who do we think influences – or even manipulates – the current narrative on migration?

a)What is the role of i. policy-makers, ii. traditional media?

b)Which other key influencers exist in society and need to be considered?

c)Recognising that social media are an increasingly important source of information for many citizens and others, what is their positive and negative role?

d)Which activities and channels are estimated to be the most appropriate and effective for engaging new audiences / spreading a different narrative / challenging the existing narratives?