EMN Informs

The EMN together with the OECD prepared Inform EU and OECD Member States responses to managing residence permits and migrant unemployment during the Covid-19 pandemic. The key findings of the Inform indicate that vulnerable communities including third-country nationals are being especially affected by the impacts of the pandemic. Many countries have introduced temporary measures with regard to the processing of applications for, and issuance and renewal of, residence permits to prevent legally staying migrants from falling into an irregular situation.

This document is part of the series of EMN and OECD Informs which deal with measures adopted by EU Member States, Norway and UK in various areas of migration in relation to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to contribute to the assessment of the implementation of the Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents (LTR), the EMN Luxembourg collected information through the EMN Ad-Hoc Query mechanism about the state of play across the EU Member States. The information was subsequently processed in the EMN inform which concerns the following topics: the exclusion clause, the duration of residence and periods of absence from the Member State, the conditions for acquiring and the loss of the LTR status, the rights attached to the LTR status, the conditions for residence and work in another Member State (intra-EU mobility) as well as the information and communication activities by Member States on the LTR status.

The phenomenon of unaccompanied migrant children going missing has increasingly been in the focus of public attention in the EU. In the new Inform, the European Migration Network has mapped how cases of unaccompanied children going missing are being treated in the Member States. What policies and procedures are in place to register and follow up on cases of missing children, and how is data on missing children collected in EU Members States, Norway and the UK? The new EMN Inform and shorter Flash offer a comprehensive picture of how the phenomenon is tackled currently in the EU.

Inform looked into outreach and information activities, which are distinct from but closely interlinked to return counselling. Besides state actors, a broad range of non-state actors, such as civil society organisations, health and education services and international organisations, were involved in information dissemination. The research found that 19 countries and IOM implemented information campaigns between 2010 and 2019. Outreach activities were found to be more successful when the dissemination tools used were varied, targeting mainstream as well as highly specific communications channels, the timing was carefully considered and when made available in non-national languages.  The research found that Member States had made specific efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, such as minors and suspected victims of trafficking in human beings.

The Inform offers the analysis of the policy and operational support available to return counsellors to assist them in their role to provide migrants with timely, unbiased and reliable information on return. It found that there were no national legal or policy frameworks in place to ensure a standardized approach for return counsellors’ minimum qualifications and training requirements; however, minimum standards were upheld by relying on well-established practices or, in some cases, guidance and expertise provided by IOM. Professional support typically included initial training, refresher courses, handbooks, guidelines and helplines. In some cases, counsellor monitoring practices were also in place. One of the main challenges identified was the limited personal support available to help councilors to deal with aspects of the work that could be difficult and emotionally draining.

The outcomes of the Inform shows that across both government and non-government providers, in the main, counselling fulfils two inter-linked purposes: to help the migrant to make an informed decision; and to ensure the effective implementation of migration policies by encouraging voluntary return and ensuring compliance with return procedures. While available to all third-country nationals, counselling occurs generally when an irregular situation is detected, and during the return procedure. Good practices included tailoring the counselling approach to the specific circumstances and needs of the individual, as well as the development of clear indicators and tools to measure the impact of the process of return counselling.

The inform outlines the key findings of the EMN Synthesis Report regarding the labour market integration policies and measures in Member States targeting third-country nationals. It focusses on current policies and those either recently implemented or amended since 2014. It offers examples of promising labour market integration measures implemented by the public sector as well as tailored employment-related initiatives provided by the private sector.

This inform EMN summarizes the key findings of the EMN Synthesis report on the response of the EU member states to the unprecedented migratory movements to EU Member States and Norway between 2014 and 2016. The Synthesis report provides an overview of the changes to national strategies, approaches and measures and examines the changes made in the processing of applications for international protection; reception services; registration procedures; asylum procedures (including rights afforded to applicants) and the content/legal consequences of the protection granted; border control and law enforcement; integration measures; plus other areas impacted by these policies. It draws out key challenges, good practices and lessons learnt during this period. Finally, the study shows the extent to which the (Member) States included in this study are operationally and organisationally prepared for potentially similar situations in the future.