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Resettlement: Living situation in the country of first asylum and in Germany ,
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The research project "Resettlement: Living situation in the country of first asylum and in Germany (RED)" examines the admission and integration process of refugees coming to Germany via the resettlement program (RST) and the federal humanitarian admission program from Turkey (HAP Turkey) (so-called resettlement refugees). The study is conducted by the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) in cooperation with the Chair of Prof. Dr. Martin Kroh for Methods of Empirical Social Research at the University of Bielefeld.
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Internationally, the number of refugees continues to rise. The majority of refugees first seek protection in neighboring countries (so-called countries of first asylum). There, they often live in precarious living conditions for a long time. Especially vulnerable people have no stable future perspectives. A return to the country of origin is not possible in many cases. Resettlement tackles this issue and aims to provide particularly vulnerable refugees from countries of first asylum with sustainable protection and long-term livelihood opportunities in receiving countries. Numerous states conduct resettlement scheme, including Germany.
The research project examines two federal programs launched in recent years: The German resettlement program and the admission program for Syrian and stateless persons seeking protection from Turkey (HAP Turkey). The German resettlement program was initiated in 2012 and became permanent in 2015. A total of 2,800 places were available for resettlement in 2023. The admission program for Syrian and stateless persons seeking protection from Turkey (HAP Turkey) is implemented since 2017 with annual admissions of up to 3,000 persons. Both programs are part of the European Resettlement Framework.
Research questions
The goal of the study is to answer the following questions: Are the programs fulfilling their objective of ensuring protection and long-term living perspectives for particularly vulnerable refugees? How does the living situation of refugees change as a result of their admission to Germany? What are the barriers to integration after admission? In short, which long-term participation opportunities do resettlement and humanitarian admission programs establish?
Methods
The project explores humanitarian admission processes from the perspective of the refugees. Representative data on the living situation of resettlement refugees in Germany will be collected through a survey as well as by analyzing administrative data. In addition, qualitative interviews and participant observations will be conducted with refugees in the admission process. Moreover, refugees who are still in the countries of first asylum will be interviewed. The project thus combines quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection (mixed-methods design), which enables in-depth insights into the effectiveness of humanitarian admission programs.
The survey data will be made available to researchers in anonymized form by the BAMF Research Data Centre after the project is completed.
Funding for the project is provided by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) totaling 4.2 million euros.
Previous research projects on resettlement
The RED project builds on many years of evidence-based expertise of the BAMF Research Centre in the area of "resettlement and humanitarian admission". On the basis of the insights gained from a study in the pilot phase of the resettlement program (2012-2014), the center has published a number of analysis. For example, a report on the reception and integration experiences and migration decisions of refugees admitted under the resettlement program, as well as an article on the underlying principles of resettlement in Germany. The BAMF Research Centre also evaluated the humanitarian resettlement program "Neustart im Team - NesT", which the German government implemented in May 2019. As part of the resettlement program, NesT provides for the admission of particularly vulnerable refugees with the support of private actors (so-called mentoring groups). The findings of the evaluation allow for an evidence-based continuation and further development of the NesT program.