Background:

As the Government of the Republic of Lithuania is in the process of revising the Lithuanian migration policy guidelines, which is their main strategic policy document on migration and asylum, the country seeks to gather information about strategic policy documents on migration and asylum in other EMN Member and Observer Countries.

Respondents:

24 EMN Member and Observer Countries answered this query (including BE)

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• 9 EMN Member and Observer Countries (BE, BG, CZ, FR, GE, GR, LT, RS, SK) indicated having an all-encompassing migration strategy in place. GR has specific separate national strategies in place, namely the "National Strategy for the Social Integration of Applicants for and Beneficiaries of International Protection", "National Strategy for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors", and "National Strategy for Vulnerable Persons". In BE, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, upon taking office, delivers a policy statement to the federal parliament, outlining the intended policy direction for his/her term, covering all areas within his/her competence. Additionally, the Secretary of State submits an annual policy note, detailing planned actions for the upcoming year and potentially reviewing activities from the previous year in line with the general policy statement. 
   
• Only FR stated that its strategy has recently changed, as the French strategic policy is updated every year and presented in annexes to the Bill. LT answered that while there had been no changes to the LT Migration Policy Guidelines since February 2020, there are plans to update them this year.
   
• The approaches regarding the implementation of migration strategies vary. CZ indicated having a specific Coordination Body to govern the implementation. In BG, there is a strategic working group "Migration Policies", that develops an annual plan for the implementation of the objectives of the national strategy. 
   
• Apart from LT, all of these 9 countries answered positively to the question of whether their document foresees measures by which the goals of the strategy will be achieved. For example, in SK, action plans formulated on the basis of the Migration Policy contain a set of tasks indicating the responsible coordinator and deadline.

For more information, please read the compilation of answers above.