While the welcoming response to Ukrainian refugees marks a turning point in many EU member states’ openness to displaced persons, in particular for those neighbouring Ukraine, a recent comparative report reveals that many countries are poorly prepared in terms of their long-term refugee integration policy frameworks.

2nd comprehensive report, published by the National Integration Evaluation Mechanism (NIEM)—which monitors and measures refugee integration policies in 14 EU Member States—highlights large gaps between countries and their policies in areas such as education, employment and housing (among others). While some countries obtained high scores, such as Sweden (72.5 out of 100), others, including Hungary (32.8), Poland (36.9), Bulgaria (37.1) and Romania (38.5), find themselves at the other end of the spectrum.

Of course, the temporary protection regime in place for people fleeing Ukraine has its own set of legal conditions for integration, but many indicators included in the research refer to the wider integration infrastructure in place and on whether governments pursue a comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of refugees.

Summary of the key findings of the report:

• Since the last NIEM comparative evaluation report two years ago, there has been little to no progress by the 14 countries analysed.
• As a matter of fact, many countries have even seen some backsliding, specifically in the areas of residency, housing and social security, although there has been slight progress in the areas of citizenship, collaboration, family reunification and language learning and social orientation.
• Compared to the legal provisions in place on residence and equal access, all countries do worse when it comes to active policies supporting integration, cross-sectoral coordination and government support for civil society and local authorities.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries with more inclusive integration policy frameworks had more favourable outcomes in terms minimising the effects of COVID-19 upon refugees.

The full report can be accessed: here

The national Lithuanian report (in Lithuanian) can be accessed: here

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Notes to the editors:

• The National Integration Evaluation Mechanism (NIEM) is the biggest civil society-led project the European Commission has funded under AMIF and the only transnational AMIF project on integration.
• Co-authors of the comparative report are Alexander Wolffhardt, Carmine Conte and Sinem Yilmaz from the Migration Policy Group.
• For further information on country results for Lithuania, contact Giedrė Blažytė, research director at Diversity Development Group (giedre@diversitygroup.lt).
• For further information about this latest NIEM report in general, please contact Richard Girling (comms@migpolgroup.com).