Publications of Vera Messing

Review of Existing Monitoring Mechanisms for the Integration of Migrants in Hungary

This report is developed in the context of the project Assessing Integration Measures for Vulnerable Migrant Groups (ASSESS) which aims to monitor and assesses the effectiveness of integration measures for vulnerable migrant groups in ten EU Member States. The three main target groups of the project include migrant women, children and victims of trafficking. The project pursues four main goals: to develop standardized methods for the monitoring of integration of vulnerable migrants, applicable across the EU; to assess the effectiveness of integration policy/ measures for vulnerable migrant groups (women, children and victims of trafficking); to formulate recommendations for enhancement of the integration of vulnerable migrant groups (women, children and VOTs) across the EU, including identification of good practices; and to raise awareness among national stakeholders across the EU of the need to develop vulnerability-sensitive integration processes that address the particular circumstances of vulnerable migrants related to exclusion, exploitation and trafficking. The present report is the outcome of a study conducted in the first phase of the ASSESS project which is focused on identifying of the existing monitoring and data collection mechanisms in the area of migrant integration in ten EU Member States. The findings of the ten national reports will serve the development of comparative report on the same topic and will aid the development of tailored methodology and specific indicators for monitoring the integration of vulnerable migrant groups in the EU.

Good practices addressing school integration of Roma/Gypsy children in Hungary

Our recent project1 has a comparative perspective: it compares selected good practices of integration of ethnic minority children among three European countries (Italy, Switzerland and Hungary). The project examines several key areas of integration: governmental policies, NGO practices and most importantly good practices that might be transferable, irrespective of differences regarding national environment and ethnic group. We focus here on Hungary and aim to identify key elements of good practices of integrating Roma/Gypsy2 children such as creative pedagogical methods, differentiated personal treatment of children with learning problems, a multicultural curriculum, teacher training, extracurricular activities, community building and family involvement. This paper describes an innovative and transferable practice that promotes inclusion and addresses low school-performance and high dropout rates among low status Roma children. The 'Learnery' project is an after-school programme run by the minority community with the professional assistance of the public school. Results of the innovative practice are convincing: improved school performance, significant decrease in dropout rates, improved community relationships, and decrease of interethnic conflicts within the school.