PRO M OTING R E FU G E E I NT E G RAT I O N A ND I NC LU SI ON : E M P OW E R I N G M U N I C I PA L I T I E S AC R OSS E U R OP E P R O MOT IN G R E FUGE E IN T EG R ATIO N AN D IN C LUSIO N : EMP OWE R IN G MUN IC IPAL ITIES ACROS S EUROPE Background, guidance and recommended studies/ frameworks: A community of researchers and several international studies have provided a robust overview on a macro level in terms of conducive integration standards and national policies, such as the National Integration Evaluation Mechanism (NIEM) based on a UNHCR pilot and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). Key documents are available with comprehensive guidance on the essential building blocks for effective integration policy and planning within Europe, illustrated with real world in-depth case studies of city experiences of national integration policies.55 December 2022: Registration and protection counselling desk at Assistance center Bottova in Bratislava, assisting a Ukrainian refugee. © UNHCR/Zsolt Balla, 2022 Models to draw inspiration from for countries seeking to strengthen data collection and/or monitoring on integration outcomes: 5. Data and achieving an evidencebased approach Main issues & challenges for municipalities ● Integration is inherently difficult to monitor and measure: Tracking an individual’s progress from arrival through full integration into the market system and a community—let alone a cohort over an established period—is a major undertaking, due to data protection measures in place and a lack of connectedness across systems. ● Representative data of forcibly displaced and stateless persons in Europe is scarce: Public surveys, censuses and administrative statistics usually do not disaggregate data by legal status53 but include them under third country 14 A 2018 Migration Policy Institute research report56proposes a cost-benefit analysis model. Data sources for measuring integration are based on 4 categories: Survey data (large social surveys, such as labour force surveys), Longitudinal surveys of immigrants (where routes and dates of entry are recorded), Longitudinal surveys of refugees (such as the German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Refugee Survey) and Service-specific data (such as from Public Employment Services). ● The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and its multiple research projects focusing on monitoring impact of core integration activities (language acquisition, state orientation/integration courses). ● National programming and policy experiences from a range of countries that have developed specific integration frameworks with inputs from local authorities and other local actors, from the UK, to the Nordic countries. ● Ireland: The NGO Ukrainian Action has carried out comprehensive periodic surveys tracking the progress toward integration of refugees from Ukraine, and offers a model example of effective joint data collection and subsequent advocacy efforts by refugee leaders and host community volunteers. ● Switzerland – Staggered cohort study: Using the date of implementation of a government asylum seeker dispersal policy as a starting point, researchers pulled together data from Swiss administrative records and social security data provided by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office to examine the labor-market outcomes and career trajectories of a universe of refugees and migrants in Switzerland over a period of 20 years. Link to Summary / Link to Complete Study nationals (at best). Furthermore, forcibly displaced and stateless persons are not sufficiently considered in the sampling. ● Weak monitoring mechanisms for integration processes and impact: Historically, very few municipalities compile and publish statistical data used for monitoring integration.54 Because authorities have failed to build data sets of aggregated information on previous refugee cohorts and their integration outcomes, there is a lack of granular data to pinpoint which measures are effective for which group of refugees, develop more systematic targeting criteria, thus leading to reliance more on broader good practice examples. UNHCR REGIONAL BUREAU FOR EUROPE, AUGUST 2024 UNHCR REGIONAL BUREAU FOR EUROPE, AUGUST 2024 15