On 05 April 2022 in Warsaw, Poland, The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in collaboration with the Polish Office for Foreigners (UdsC), the Association for Legal Intervention (SIP), and the Polish Migration Forum Foundation (PFM) launched a two-year project titled Comprehensive Support for People in a Vulnerable Situation in the Polish Migration Management System (KOMPLEKS).
The aim of the project is to support the Polish migration and asylum management system to address the needs of vulnerable migrants. The discussions during the launch event focused on comprehensive approaches to the task. The main takeaways from the discussions included training methods aimed at strengthening institutional capacities and improving skills among persons working with vulnerable migrants, as well as ideas to support vulnerable migrants through additional services and direct assistance. The most important issues discussed at the meeting revolved around the needs assessment among the project’s beneficiaries and the current challenges in assisting vulnerable migrants in Poland.
As there are over 2 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland the launch discussions aimed at aligning the project implementation and timeline to the current situation, including adjusting the scope of vulnerable groups Poland. The definition of the target beneficiaries of the project has been expanded to include people fleeing from the war in Ukraine. All stakeholders and partners remind mindful of the rapidly changing situation and legal developments (implementation of Temporary Protection Directive) in their engagement and activities. Creating an operational dialogue with relevant public and non-governmental sector actors can offer the possibility to design partnerships that may adequately respond to the needs of host country capacities and refugees alike, both newly arrived from Ukraine and those from other countries.