Creating an internal guide on EU relocations for the Finnish Immigration Service
Rautala, Camilla (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022060917017
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022060917017
Tiivistelmä
An increasing number of refugees and people in refugee-like situations have entered the European Union area in recent years. The unprecedented migration flows in the Mediterranean in 2015 incited the European Union institutions to establish solidarity measures towards the frontline Member States. The emergency relocation mechanism aims to help these Member States by transferring asylum seekers to the other Member States, where their applications are examined.
Finland has participated in the relocation schemes as the receiving Member State and since 2015 over 2 000 asylum seekers have been relocated. The relocation operations are coordinated by a project manager in the Finnish Immigration Service and implemented in collaboration with various international and national authorities and organizations. The objective of this thesis was to identify, describe and analyze the relocation process flow and find out the good practices, challenges, and bottlenecks in the process. The goal was to create an internal guide on relocations for the Finnish Immigration Service.
The project was conducted as action research using qualitative research methods. Collaboration is at the center of action research and internal and external stakeholders participated in the research through interviews, group discussions, and surveys. Document review was used to study the context and procedures that affected the target process. The focus of the conceptual framework was on methods, effective orientation, and management without authority.
The results indicated that the position of the project manager between two substance units obscured the leadership in orientation, and internal recruitments caused an underestimation of the need and content of orientation. The findings advocate a need to define the responsibility of orientation and while acknowledging the employee’s existing competencies, the content of the orientation should include all the aspects of the work to provide an understanding of the whole process and relationships within it. The results also suggested that the project manager should use effective and timely communication across the project and stakeholders to establish leadership in non-management position and motivate people toward the common goal.
The study resulted in an internal guide on relocations, which concentrated on the operative side of relocation schemes at the national level. The conclusions revealed best practices for the implementation and recommendations for what areas should be promoted and adjusted in future operations.
Future studies could be about assessing the impact and efficiency of the guide in practice, which would work as a continuum for the action research spiral.
Finland has participated in the relocation schemes as the receiving Member State and since 2015 over 2 000 asylum seekers have been relocated. The relocation operations are coordinated by a project manager in the Finnish Immigration Service and implemented in collaboration with various international and national authorities and organizations. The objective of this thesis was to identify, describe and analyze the relocation process flow and find out the good practices, challenges, and bottlenecks in the process. The goal was to create an internal guide on relocations for the Finnish Immigration Service.
The project was conducted as action research using qualitative research methods. Collaboration is at the center of action research and internal and external stakeholders participated in the research through interviews, group discussions, and surveys. Document review was used to study the context and procedures that affected the target process. The focus of the conceptual framework was on methods, effective orientation, and management without authority.
The results indicated that the position of the project manager between two substance units obscured the leadership in orientation, and internal recruitments caused an underestimation of the need and content of orientation. The findings advocate a need to define the responsibility of orientation and while acknowledging the employee’s existing competencies, the content of the orientation should include all the aspects of the work to provide an understanding of the whole process and relationships within it. The results also suggested that the project manager should use effective and timely communication across the project and stakeholders to establish leadership in non-management position and motivate people toward the common goal.
The study resulted in an internal guide on relocations, which concentrated on the operative side of relocation schemes at the national level. The conclusions revealed best practices for the implementation and recommendations for what areas should be promoted and adjusted in future operations.
Future studies could be about assessing the impact and efficiency of the guide in practice, which would work as a continuum for the action research spiral.