European Website on Integration - May 2022

• The European Commission (EC) continues to support European Union (EU) countries in welcoming and meeting the needs of those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This month, it launched a dedicated phone helpline in Ukrainian and Russian to provide information on entering and travelling in the EU and on access to rights and opportunities.

• The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) published three testimonial videos of Ukrainians who registered for temporary protection in Athens. Watch them here.

• The European Website on Integration (EWSI) is still tracking the measures and initiatives EU institutions, national governments, civil society and other stakeholders have taken to address the early integration needs of those fleeing Ukraine. Find all relevant information here.

The FOCUS project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, worked to deepen and make more accessible existing knowledge on critical dimensions of integration, with special emphasis on psychological and social factors. It recently published a series of short policy notes summarising key findings and outputs.

A recent opinion poll in Slovakia found the general public to be generally very open and supportive towards those seeking refuge from the war in Ukraine, identifying a strong feeling of solidarity two months after the beginning of the recent wave of new arrivals fleeing Ukraine.

The temporary protection granted to refugees arriving from Ukraine in Belgium allows them to access the labour market and various social benefits. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, 11 292 bank accounts have been opened in Belgium by refugees arriving from Ukraine and banks are working to facilitate access to their basic services.

Denmark has been hosting a historically low number of refugees since 2016, and is already experiencing housing shortages and rising prices, so accommodating new arrivals from Ukraine is presenting a challenge. This has led to the suggestion of some problematic solutions.

The final FOCUS conference will showcase the project's results. Integration stakeholders will take stock of integration in the EU, discussing with other integration practitioners from civil society, academia and policy the ways in which these results can be implemented in practice.

This conference will bring together representatives of European cities and regions and other relevant stakeholders to identify successful regional and local approaches to sponsorship, welcome, and integration, and to examine successful models of governance, sponsor, and volunteer engagement and partnerships with local authorities.

The online launch event of the EMN annual report on migration and asylum will present significant developments of 2021, placing these into the wider migration and asylum context. Presentations will showcase measures to improve national authorities’ flexibility to respond to emerging situations, and reflect on how such flexibility has been applied or strengthened to manage incoming refugees fleeing Ukraine.

This drop-in centre for undocumented workers provides information, legal counselling and support to migrants, promoting and calling for the same rights to services, protection and justice for all workers, whatever their residence status or nationality.

Bollihop is a Swedish project that seeks to strengthen the integration of girls and their mothers through sports.

This international programme works to change the media representation of socially vulnerable groups, such as ethnic and religious minorities, members of the LGBTI+ community, and migrants.

Das neue Jahresgutachten des Sachverständigenrats für Integration und Migration (SVR) widmet sich dem Themenfeld „Migration und Gesundheit“. Die Studie zeigt, dass Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zum deutschen Gesundheitssystem leisten.

This new policy brief examines regional-level migrant integration policies, revealing gaps and variations between regions across the EU, and assesses how the EU Action Plan can be an opportunity to address these gaps. It finds that the most favourable conditions in terms of migrant integration and inclusion policies at the regional level can be found in health and education.

This report considers the experiences of foreign national and ethnic minority prisoners - many of whom belong to groups that are overrepresented within the system - within the Irish penal system and examines how well their needs are being met.