Evaluation of EU Assistance to the Republic of Belarus and Sector Study in the Area of Asylum and Migration

Detailed description of project Back

Belarus acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in May 2001 without reservations. The Law on Refugee Status, Complementary and Temporary Protection entered into force in July 2009, which improved the legal framework on asylum in particular, introduced new elements in the Belarusian legislation such as complementary protection and an absolute ban to return migrants threatened by torture. While international experts commend the government for its willingness to adopt refugee legislation in accordance with international standards, the government’s overall approach is still influenced by the perception that asylum seekers are more of a threat to public order.

The EU support in this sector is comparatively limited: since 2003/2004, Belarus received approximately 2.1 million Euro in bilateral assistance and 10.6 million Euro through regional projects worth; another 10.2 million Euro for regional projects is still planned or on-going while no further bilateral support is foreseen. The thematic focus of EU-funded assistance was, and still is, dominated by questions related to strengthening asylum seekers’ protection mechanisms and efforts to integrate refugees locally.

The purpose of this contract twofold:

• The evaluation of past and on-going EU assistance directed to institutions in charge of asylum and migration issues;
• The preparation of a sector study focussing on different types of migration flows to and from Belarus covering labour immigration; irregular migration, asylum seekers and human trafficking.

This will help the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Belarus to identify strengths and weaknesses of EU assistance delivered in the past and will help to define indications for programming of future EU assistance from 2014 onwards.

Type of services provided

PROMAN provides the services of a Team Leader/ Evaluation Expert and a Junior migration/asylum expert. The assignment is carried out in 3 phases:

• A desk study of all available project documentation and initial collection of documentation for the sector study;
• A field phase consisting of a visit to Kyiv to meet EUD, UNHCR, IOM and other relevant stakeholders; followed by a visit to the relevant services of the EU in Brussels;
• Two field trips to Belarus were carried out, the first focused on the central level where national (Ministry of Interior, State border Services Committee, civil society organisations) and international stakeholders were met; the second visit focused on the regional level and the border check points;
• During a desk based synthesis phase the last pieces of information were collected and a comprehensive report was drafted.