The IOM indicates that migration management must consider integration as a key element since it includes fundamental aspects such as the protection of human rights, non-discrimination, employment, public safety, social stability, health, education, and many significant aspects for development.
People on the move wishing to settle down in the STAGE partner countries (i.e., Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece and Italy) face several obstacles that hinder their integration and make them feel unwelcomed or/and excluded. These challenges have been maximised in recent years since the peak of migration flows after 2015 and the break of the pandemic in 2020. The increase of the economic crisis in Europe and therefore, the increase in inequalities, along with the widespread anti-migrant propaganda and the criminalisation of solidarity, have reinforced an anti-immigrant sentiment and hostile reception of migrants. The main areas that migrants face major challenges are indeed the main aspects of one’s life: employment, housing, education and entering the administrative system.
STAGE partners managed to contact using interviews and questionnaires 230 migrants, TCN, refugees and asylum seekers residing in the five participant countries. Regarding their country of origin, most participants came mostly from Asian and African countries and fewer from European or American ones. The age of the respondents ranged from 11 to 80 years old, and was different in the partner countries, although the majority mainly ranged from 21 to 50 years old. Most participants travelled alone to the consortium countries, with the pandemic of Covid-19 affecting the journey of half of them.
The STAGE project has identified that, regarding people on the move’s access to the labour market and employment opportunities, the picture in the partner countries is not promising.The access of migrants and refugees to decent and stable housing is a major problem in all partner countries. Similarly, access to information and access to public administration is limited, which creates a hostile environment for people on the move who wish to obtain the necessary legal documentation.
Despite their specificities, all the countries involved still have a lot of work to do to ensure proper integration of migrants.
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