Coordinating migration policy in Ukraine: Lessons from Poland

The issue of effective migration policy is high on the agendas of most countries around the world. Countries that are able to respond to migration challenges develop an effective migration policy that brings economic and political benefits to their societies.

Ukraine has a key position on the European migration map as every year major migration flows pass through it as a destination and transit country and a country of origin. In 2009, the institutional and conceptual foundations for developing and enacting an effective migration policy finally appeared. Still, the establishment of the long-awaited State Migration Service (SMS) did not prove to be a solution to institutional conundrum in migration affairs. De facto, the service exists, de jure it has neither the institutional nor legislative basis to actually function properly.

The Polish example of how to reform migration services and improve the coordination of migration policy is extremely useful for Ukraine. Warsaw was successful in fixing its legislative base and institutional system in the process of joining the European Union and integrating into the Schengen zone. Poland has traveled the path from a country that had to bring its migration policies in line with EU norms and entrench the foundations of a modern migration and border control system to the status of one of the key players in European migration politics.

During this roundtable, representatives of the Government and Verkhovna Rada, international organizations and NGOs, and experts on migration discussed a number of issues: how to build an effective migration policy in Ukraine, how to close the loopholes in legislation and institutions in managing migration, how to improve coordination among Ukraine’s various agencies involved in handling migration issues, how to properly apply the practice of other countries, including Poland, and to adapt it to Ukrainian realities.