Topics - Work Packages

WP1: Legal & Policy Framwork
WP2: Border Management & Migration Controls
WP3: Refugee Protection Regimes
WP4: Reception Policies
WP5: Integration Policies
WP6: Conflicting Europeanization
WP7: Longitudinal Survey Analysis
WP8: Comparative and Prescriptive Analysis
WP9/10: Impact Strategy

WP1 – Legal & Policy Framwork: Sustainablity and Interaction

WP1: Legal & Policy Framwork

This work package aims to gather background information about the socio-economic, political, legal and institutional context of migration governance in the countries that are the object of our research (Greece, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Poland, UK, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon). The WP has a threefold objective:

- It has an explanatory aim because we will identify which factors at the macro-level (constitutional structure, legalprovisions, economic welfare, public policies, culturalelements etc.) can be regarded as decisive in explaining divergences in migration governance across different countries.
- It has an assessment aim because we will assess the performance of EU and national legislation, case law and policies in response to the current refugee crisis.
- It has a policy-oriented aim, because we will pinpoint potential policy responses and best practices in the management of migration.

Finally, WP1 will serve as a basis for the socio-economic and cultural, legal, policy and institutional background which contextualizes the outputs of subsequent WPs.

WP2 – Border Management & Migration Controls

WP2: Border Management & Migration Controls

This work package focuses on the EU border management and migration control regime. Its overall aim is to explore the impact of policies on MSs and migrants and their effectiveness within the wider context of EU Asylum and Migration policies explored in other WPs. It also examines border management policies at macro, meso and micro levels from the perspective of the diverse actors implementing them and those being affected by their implementation. It has the following objectives:

- To gain an overview of the legal and policy frameworksrelating to border management and migration controls in the EU and countries of origin, transit and settlement.
- To map the institutions and social actors involved in the implementation of border management and control policies in the EU and countries of origin, transit and settlement.
- To explore how border management and migration controlpolicies are implemented in countries of origin, transit andsettlement.
- To scrutinize patterns of cooperation and tensions among actors involved in border regimes in relation to their perception of security.
- To explore how non-state actors involved in or affected by border management and security regimes understand and respond to it. This includes both cooperation in implementingcontrol policies and patterns of resistance (i.e. through hosting “illegal” entrants).
- To analyze how refugees and migrants understand and respond to the EU border management and security regime, and how their experiences and actions are shaped by it.

The WP will cover Germany, Sweden, Italy, Austria, UK, Greece,Poland, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.

WP3 – Refugee Protection Regimes

WP3: Refugee Protection Regimes

This WP aims to examine the impact of recent migration movements on asylum determination systems and refugee protection regimes in the EU, selected MSs and third countries. Drawing on the policy frameworks produced in WP1 and WP2 the objectives in this WP are:

- To track changes at EU and national levels that occurred in response to managing recent migration movements, in particular within the context of the European Agenda on Migration. Relocation and resettlement policies are expected to be particularly important here.
- To investigate the implementation of asylum and refugee protection policies by national authorities, supranational actors, such as the UNHCR and EASO, and NGOs.
- To explore the beliefs and perceptions of refugees confronting asylum systems and protection regimes and understand the strategies they adopt when negotiating access to international protection.
- To examine from a normative perspective how a fair share distribution scheme of responsibility for protection of refugees should be (re)formulated at the European level and globally, as well as to examine the desirable criteria and principles on which a legal framework may be based to foster cooperation between MSs and between the EU and third countries.

By focusing on both policymaking and implementation in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Poland, UK, Iraq and Lebanon, this WP will contribute to understanding policy coherence within and among MSs, as well as between the EU and third countries. In addition, it will ascertain coherence in relation to adhering to protection norms and procedural standards as established by international, and national legal frameworks.

WP4 – Mapping and Assessing Reception Policies, Practices and Humanitarian Responses

WP4: Reception Policies

This WP focuses on reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refugee crisis. Despite efforts to achieve harmonization (especially promoted by the 2016 CEAS and by the ENP), relevant differences exist in this field in the countries that are the object of research (Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Sweden, UK, Turkey and Lebanon). These variations contribute to secondary movements and asylum shopping, create tensions and nationalistic policies and implement inefficient and discriminatory reception policies. WP4 will fulfil five ancillary, but very relevant, objectives:

- To develop a mapping of policies and practices of reception inthe countries being researched
- To develop a typology of these policies, practices andresponses
- To assess the coherence of these policies and practices withrespect to international and EU standards and regulations asthey are assessed by WP1
- To study migrants’ perceptions, actions and reactions topolicies and practices and
- To provide basic information in the area of reception for the development of all subsequent WPs

WP5 – Integration Policies, Practices and Responses

WP5: Integration Policies

This WP focuses on integration policies, practices and responses in the targeted countries. The goal of this WP is to explain the co-constitutive relation between integration and immigration policies, processes and responses studied in previous WPs. WP5 will situate integration policies and processes within the framework of migration governance. As a framework, this WP will deploy the heuristic model developed by Penninx and Garcés- Masarenas (2016), also found in the European Commission’s (2016) classification, for studying dimensions of integration, which includes:

- The legal-political dimension: this examines how integration policies and processes are intrinsically related to migration governance by analysing the legal, political and institutional settings of countries. This also includes EU level integration policies, which mainly concern the integration of Third-Country Nationals. This macro level research will contribute to the contextualization of the topic.

- The socio-economic dimension: this explores the position ofimmigrants (former refugees now “newcomers” in receivingcountries) in the socio-economic realm of host societies by looking at their access to and participation in institutional facilities for finding work, housing, education and healthcare. Thus, the focal point will be on the integration policies andprocesses at macro and meso levels. Specific attention will begiven to the role of actors at subnational levels both inimplementing policies and through participating in policy making.

- The cultural-religious dimension: this aims to understand howmigrants negotiate their position in a new society and how they respond/interact with policies aiming their integration at legal-political, socio-economic and cultural levels. Here, we will focus on four aspects which play an important role for understanding integration outcomes at micro and meso levels:

- The perceptions and practices of migrants, linked to motivation and learning.

- The role of gender and family ties for affecting conceptions and practices of citizenship, particularly notions of belonging, rights, autonomy and community honour intransit and destination countries.

- The psychosocial function in negotiating migration and integration processes.
Differentiation in the integration processes of refugees with a specific attention on vulnerable refugee populations (ethnic, religious and sexual), their perceptions of homeland, and the continuity of cultural existence.

This WP will be conducted in source/transit (Lebanon, Iraq) and transit and destination countries (Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Poland, Austria), though the primary focus of integration is on transit and destination countries.

WP6 – Conflicting Europeanization

WP6: Conflicting Europeanization

The main aim of this WP is to examine how the recent migration crisis may affect the future of European integration. We propose to establish the main parameters of divergence in migration governance and to explore how these could impinge on the future course that EU integration takes with regards to the relative importance it is due to pay to secular, humanitarian, internationalist, rights- and liberties-oriented goals in comparison to religious, security-focused, exclusionary positions that are also rejectionist of multiculturalism, foreignness, and alternative lifestyles and orientations within the community. The main objectives of this WP are as follows:

- To identify the conservative and liberal course ofEuropeanization in the face of the recent refugee crisis and to explain the main parameters that make state (macro) andsocietal (meso) actors conservative and liberal Europeanizers.

- To analyse the relationship between state (macro) and public(meso) actors’ stance on immigration and their positions onthe future course of EU integration.

- To examine the factors and the ways through which state actors re-frame EU policies in order to change their ideological direction.

This WP will be conducted in Greece, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Poland, and the UK.

WP7 – Longitudinal Survey Analysis Among Forced Migrants

WP7: Longitudinal Survey Analysis

The aim of this WP is to disentangle the contextual factors driving recent migration movements from the perspective of forced migrants on micro levels, both in terms of pushing and pulling factors. A quantitative survey will be conducted to support the micro-level dimensions of the study (specifically WPs 2–5). Thus, through the survey we will gather information about refugee/migrants’ norms, values, attitudes, strategies and behaviours in terms of borders, refugee protection, reception, socio-economic, and socio-cultural integration (dependent variables). While collecting this data, we will take into account refugees/migrants’ individual characteristics, such as gender, age, educational level, region, socioeconomic level, and religious affiliation (independent variables). The second main goal of the survey is to examine responses via the collection of longitudinal data (repeated measurements of individuals over time), in order to assess how their norms and values change as they adjust to new societies. We have a large enough sample to disentangle differences based on various characteristics, but we will also use follow-up samples for migrants. The survey will be conducted in Sweden (destination) and Turkey (transit) among Syrian refugees.

WP8 – Comparative and Prescriptive Analysis

WP8: Comparative and Prescriptive Analysis

The project focuses on 11 different countries with 14 partners and on four thematic areas with three level of analysis. This constitutes a complex matrix in terms of analysis and requires a concentrated attempt at integration. WP8 aims to revisit the research findings obtained in the other WPs (1-7) and to elaborate on trends, patterns and drivers in the research of mass migration, its governance and changes over time. WP8 will identify the range of domestic, regional, international factors, actors, interests and interactions involved in mass migration. It seeks to use the research results presented in the integrated reports of each of these WPs in order to:

- conduct unit-based comparative analysis, including studies between countries, groups, as levels as well as within andacross regions;
- conduct theme/variable-based comparison, covering causes,processes, consequences of specific policy types (bordercontrol, reception, protection and integration);
- reconceptualize the main categories for studying mass migration;
- visualise categories in the form of tables, charts, graphs;
- make generalizations and delineate exceptional cases.

Moreover, WP8 will help to promote the theoretical development and theory refinement of mass migration response policies. Thus, it will contribute to theories of refugee and forced migration studies, ideally with conceptualization of the notion of governance of mass migration and reflection on causal links. Looking at this comprehensive picture we will be able to evaluate whether or not the notion of a single global regime for forced migrants remains analytically coherent or politically relevant.

WP 9&10 – Impact Strategy: What will we do?

WP9/10: Impact Strategy

The main aim of this WP is to ensure effective communication of the research findings to different audiences, which are defined as

- Policy-makers, practitioners and other relevant non-state actors;
- The Scientific community;
- Refugees; and
- the Broader public (host societies).

In order to disseminate the results effectively, in an early phase we will establish migration governance networks in each country, consisting of local/national stakeholders and relevant non-state actors, and will organize roundtable discussions. These networks will function both as a learning platform for participants (incl. the research team) and as a dissemination channel to reach out to the main target group.
Moreover, RESPOND will

- produce a documentary video on the impacts of the recent mass migration in different landscapes, which will help us to disseminate the project findings to the general public and to visualise the impacts at different levels,
- organize an art exhibition in two destination countries (Germany and Sweden), where refugee/migrant artists will be contacted to exhibit their artwork about the suffering and hardship of their people and the positive lives they have created as central themes in their art works,
- develop an advice hub (Hope: Advice hub for refugees) together with NGOs in two transit countries (Turkey and Iraq). The advice hub will provide legal and practical advice to refugees in transit conditions and help them to enter into the labour market by providing access to local companies willing to hire migrants.

At the scientific level, we will;

- prepare ca 60 country reports and 15 comparative-thematicreports through all work packages;
- publish peer-reviewed journal articles;
- prepare an edited volume based on the presentations made inthe project conference;
- initiate a working paper series, entitled Global Migration: Consequences and Responses
- generate a large empirical dataset at macro, meso and microlevels in seven research WPs, which will be available and accessible to the scientific community beyond the life time of the project;
- issue biannual project newsletters.