A Regional MIPEX Assessment of the Western Balkans 2015

EMA has the pleasure to share with you the Regional Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) Assessment of Western Balkans for year 2015.  It is the first time Albania is involved  in MIPEX evaluation, while EMA team with the collaboration of national experts working on state institutions or different NGOs  filled out the MIPEX questionnaire for Albania, which is a reference guide and a fully interactive tool to assess, compare and improve integration policy. Experts of EMA team with focus on field of migration law, education and anti-discrimination, has completed the score for each indicator based on the country’s publicly available documents as of 31 December 2015.

Overall score of Albania is 47/100 positioning before Serbia, B&H and FYROM, while Montengro  scoring 52/100 is better than all other WB countries. The fields where Albania has the highest scores are family reunion, anti-discrimination policy and access to nationality. Yet there is a lot to do in other directions such as health entitlement, access on education and political participation.

What is MIPEX?

MIPEX  measures integration policies in 40 countries in Europe and North America, using 148 policy indicators, MIPEX establishes the extent to which all residents are legally entitled to equal rights and responsibilities, as well as to any support that addresses their specific needs to make equal opportunities a reality.  MIPEX demonstrates how countries can do better in creating the legal environment in which immigrants contribute to a country’s well-being, where they have equal access to employment and education, live in security with their families, become active citizens and are protected against discrimination. For each of the 7 policy areas: labour market mobility, family reunion, education, political participation, long-term residence, access to nationality and anti-discrimination, MIPEX identifies the highest European and international standards aimed at achieving equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for all residents.