Welcome to the EMN Quarterly Flash, our selection of the key developments in the areas of migration and asylum from July to September 2022. The full PDF version of the EMN quarterly can be found here.
| Temporary Protection Directive |
| On 6 July 2022, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, presented guidance for supporting the ‘Safe Homes’ initiative at a dedicated session of the Ukraine Solidarity Platform. The guidance document consolidated experiences, considerations, and practices gathered across EU Member States as hundreds of thousands of Europeans opened their doors to host displaced persons from Ukraine. On 2 August 2022, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights published an overview of how the EU Temporary Protection Directive is being implemented at the national level in the nine EU Member States, where most people fleeing Ukraine have fled to, (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain). It provides an outline of who is eligible for protection under the Directive, whether governments register people, information regarding unaccompanied minors, as well as the core rights accessible through the Directive such as employment, healthcare, education, and housing. On 23 August 2022, the EU Justice and Home Affairs network, comprised of nine EU agencies, published a joint paper on their actions and contributions undertaken towards the EU’s solidarity with Ukraine. The paper underlines key activities such as reports and analysis, key challenges and potential solutions, the investigation of international crimes, supporting EU national authorities, and contributions to the enforcement of EU sanctions.The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched an online survey to collect the views and experiences of people fleeing the war in Ukraine that is ongoing. FRA is also releasing continuous updates related to fundamental rights and implications for those fleeing Ukraine, including how the Temporary Protection Directive is being applied at the national level and concrete actions taken at the EU level. On 6 September 2022, the European Agency for Asylum (EUAA) signed a plan to activate the deployment of personnel, interpreters, and specialised training to Bulgaria, as over 530 000 Ukrainians have arrived in the country this year. |
| General developments |
| The European Agency for Asylum (EUAA) announced that the rate of asylum and subsidiary protection reached its highest level since early 2017. Additionally, they published their yearly overview on the state-of-play of forced migration monitoring systems across the EU, showing that the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on returns and monitoring in 2021. Building on the 10-Point Plan that was presented in March by the European Commission to coordinate efforts supporting people fleeing the war in Ukraine, an EU Support Hub for Internal Security and Border Management in Moldova was launched. Guidelines on stricter visa processing for Russian citizens was presented by the European Commission. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union called for more use of technology to combat trafficking in human beings and outlined ways in which technology can be implemented to this end. Ukraine and Montenegro joined the European Migration Network as Observer Countries in August and September, respectively. |