2020 Evaluation report of EPIM ATD pilot projects

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2020 Evaluation report of EPIM ATD pilot projects

How can governments achieve legitimate migration governance goals without the use of detention? A growing body of evidence suggests that case management in a community setting, focusing on voluntary engagement rather than enforcement, can be a key tool to build trust and safeguard individual rights, whilst also supporting government objectives around compliance and case resolution.

Since 2017, EPIM has been supporting case management-based ATD pilot projects in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Poland. Relying on voluntary engagement and trust-building through case management in a community setting, these pilots are aimed at testing the added value of ATD on multiple levels and across different national contexts. Building on a first independent evaluation conducted in 2018, a follow-up evaluation report which captures data collected over the course of 2019 is now available.

Key observations include:

  • Case management has had a positive impact on individuals’ ability and capacity to work towards case resolution and can help them to stay engaged in migration processes. 99% of individuals had improved ability to participate in informed decision making and 96% had improved ability to engage with the immigration procedures over time.
  • Of the 126 individuals with irregular immigration status who received case management from the pilots, 86% remained engaged, 12% disengaged or absconded and 2% were forcibly removed. 25% achieved case resolution, with a permanent or temporary migration outcome.
  • Given the positive impact generated by the pilots, their approach and principles could beneficially be extended more broadly throughout the migration systems. A sustained and collaborative process of reform, based the learning of the pilots and involving structured collaboration among governments, migrants, civil society and other actors, could deliver systemic improvements that would benefit all stakeholders.

To access the new evaluation report, please click here. For further information about the projects and the evaluation, please contact stephan.burger@epim.info.