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25 February 2022

Dear John xxxxxx,

Russia's invasion of Ukraine immediately raised questions whether there will be a large-scale exodus of Ukrainians to Poland, other neighbouring countries, and more broadly throughout the European Union. The reverberations of the 2015-2016 migration and refugee crisis, as well as more recent border crises with Belarus and Turkey, still are clearly felt in Brussels and other European capitals.

What has the European Union learnt from earlier crises, and have EU and national-level policies, migration and asylum systems, and reception capacity since improved? In a new commentary, Migration Policy Institute Europe Director Hanne Beirens takes their measure and examines what some of the first priorities would be in the event of mass displacement of Ukrainians beyond the country's borders.

'The 2015 crisis, and subsequent border skirmishes over migrants with Turkey and Belarus, prompted the creation of a vast set of emergency preparedness measures, ranging from investments in early-warning mechanisms and forecasting (e.g. how many will arrive and where?), to upgraded mandates for Frontex, the EU Asylum Agency, and Europol to intervene in border or migration crises, and capacity building to address sudden upticks in arrivals', she writes.

Beyond tending to the immediate reception needs for arrivals, Beirens argues that the European Union faces high stakes. 'It will be essential for EU policymakers to demonstrate to the public that the bloc is able to manage and control arrivals, has a plan for how to temporarily receive displaced Ukrainians, and can avoid chaotic border scenes', she writes. 'For it is these scenes of chaos and poor management that have fuelled an ever-growing list of reactive and restrictive stances on humanitarian protection and migration across the bloc in the past months'.

I commend this timely commentary to your attention: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/europe-prepared-possible-large-scale-ukrainian-displacement-crisis.

Best regards,

Michelle Mittelstadt
Director of Communications,
MPI Europe


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