EMN

Asylum and Migration Glossary

The EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary provides an EU-wide multidisciplinary term glossary that has been translated in more than 20 languages. The latest version contains approximately 500 terms.

The purpose of the glossary is to ensure comparability and common understanding of terms and concepts in order to facilitate communication between policy-makers, legislators, practitioners, media and people interested in the topic of migration.

The EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary is developed and updated by a special working group, which collaborates with the European Commission, EASO, FRA, FRONTEX and international organisations, such as UNHCR and IOM.

The EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary has the following advantages:

  • Clear methodology and sources. There is a clear hierarchy of sources in the EMN Glossary: definitions derived from the EU acquis are prioritised, but other essential sources, such as the European/international conventions or terminology established by other EU and international bodies, are also used. The sources are clearly indicated.
  • Synonyms and term relationships. If mutually interchangeable terms are available for one concept, the preferred term is selected and all other possible terms are listed as synonyms. The translations also take into account different national synonyms, which point to distinctions in the EU or national usage. In cases where EU Member States have the same nominal language, national variations indicate whether there is a preferred synonym in a specific country or in EU context. The relationship between terms, namely broader terms, narrower terms and related terms, is also taken into consideration.
  • They complement the definition by identifying web sources with additional information and by specifying the scope of the concept and its meaning in different contexts.
  • User-friendly access. An interactive online version of the EMN Glossary is available on the EMN website.

More information on the EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary is available here:

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