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Integration of Syrian refugees

for a successful experience with refugees: Policy (legislation and policies have to be in place to allow actions to be taken,
while policies must evolve to adapt to changing needs); leadership (it is necessary to have strong leadership within the
government and civil society); government structure (formal legislation, as well as coordination and collaboration among
different government and civil society groups are important for refugee integration); media (free media outlets play an
important role in informing and engaging the public); civil society (government needs to engage ordinary citizens);
multistakeholder partnerships (collaboration at local, national, and international levels); implementation on the ground
(working with communities to prepare them for integration policies related to refugees); family (keeping families of
refugees intact); and intercultural personal contact (direct personal contact between Canadians and refugees) (Alboim,
2016).
Germany has improved active labor market policies and implemented mandatory integration measures, including
an increase in funding for language courses and the development of mechanisms to assess previously acquired skills.
Germany is one of the several countries to have admitted the largest number of Syrian refugees, more than 25,000,
partly due to legislative changes. In October 2015, the German Government introduced several laws related to asylum
procedures. The country amended its Asylum Act and Residence Act. The latter provided rules for the admission and
handling of refugee claims. Other changes included accelerating the asylum application process, reducing the financial
burden on states and municipalities, and improving refugee minors’ safety. These laws seem to provide a stimulus for
inflows of refugees in Germany. However, the increased number of admitted refugees in Germany could not only be due
to changes in laws but also to other countries implementing procedures to reduce inflows of asylum seekers.
A large number of refugees continue to arrive in Greece each year. Over 850,000 refugees and migrants arrived in
Greece in 2015. By sea alone, 173,000 refugees arrived in 2016 and approximately 30,000 in 2017 (EU, 2018). Greece has
been implementing legislation to address immigration assistance, while the EU has been providing funding to humanitarian
partners in the country. The asylum system continues to face deficiencies, such as a lack of reception centers and poor
detention conditions (Papademetriou, 2016). These issues are expected to continue in the near future. The large number
of refugees arriving in Greece is one of the factors that led to the implementation of the 2016 EU-Turkey statement, as
discussed below.
Italy’s system of migrant and refugee reception is considered to be slow and has been criticized by international
organizations such as Doctors without Borders (MSF, 2016). Due to Italy’s geographical location, the country has seen an
increase in the number of immigrants from North Africa, which might partially explain the increase in negative sentiments
toward migrants and refugees, as shown by a survey from the Pew Research Center (Poushter, 2015).
In the United Kingdom, the initial policy regarding the Syrian crisis focused on providing humanitarian aid and relief.
In early 2014, the National Government announced that it would take a more active role in the Syrian crisis and created a
program that helped with the settlement of the most vulnerable refugees from Syria. Public reaction to this effort was positive.
The favorable environment for refugees in the country led experts to conclude that immigrants might have higher chances of
success when policies are coupled with the support of the native population (MIPEX, 2014). However, after the Brexit vote on
June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom is on an imminent path to exiting the EU, scheduled for March 29, 2019. Prime Minister
Theresa may highlight that this referendum was an indication that the British population wants a reduction in immigration.
The country’s net migration was 336,000 in the 12 months before the Brexit vote and 230,000 in the 12 months after the vote
(Casciani, 2017). The government aims to reduce net migration to below 100,000 per year (Hunt and Wheeler, 2018).
3.7. EU-Turkey statement
We also explored the socioeconomic and political context as experienced by the Turkish population in recent years. On
March 18, 2016, the European Council and Turkey formally agreed to put several principles in practice for governing
EU-Turkey relations and tackling the migrant crisis: (1) New irregular migrants would be returned to Turkey; (2) for
every Syrian returned to Turkey from Greece, another Syrian would be resettled from Turkey to the EU; (3) Turkey
would prevent new routes of irregular migration; (4) the EU would increase the resettlement of refugees residing in
Turkey; (5) the EU would accelerate visa liberalization for Turkish citizens; (6) the EU would provide financial support
for Turkey’s refugee population, which would include three billion Euros in 2016 and another three billion Euros by 2018;
and (7) improve humanitarian conditions inside Syria (EU, 2016a).
The progress report on the EU-Turkey deal highlighted the significant steps toward implementing the deal (EU,
2016b). Eleven migrant lives were lost in the Aegean Sea since the agreement, compared to 270 during the course of
2015. Returns from Greece to Turkey reached 578, including 53 Syrians. Resettlements to Europe reached 1,614 refugees.
Financial support included 2.2 billion Euros in allocations and 1.3 billion Euros in signed contracts but only around 0.5
billion Euros in actual disbursements. Turkey allowed the EU to monitor the status of returned migrants, including access

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