How to effectively reach irregular migrants and inform them about available support for return and reintegration? This was the main question addressed by the Reaching Undocumented Migrants (RUM) project which was conceived and implemented in partnership with the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Fedasil and RRF stakeholders.
Started exactly 12 months ago, the Reaching Undocumented Migrants (RUM) project concluded on 31 January 2025 with a hybrid event that brought together our dedicated partners Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Fedasil and RRF stakeholders.
The project developed and implemented evidence-based tools and processes that can be used by a wide European community of practice for the improvement of outreach practices directed at undocumented migrants.
Key Highlights
The project has fostered active collaboration amongst partners, engagement of stakeholders and meaningful progress with the tools and knowledge produced throughout the project. By merging theoretical knowledge, data collection, and research with practical field visits and peer exchanges, the RUM project highlighted:
- A strong commitment and interest amongst practitioners and experts to better understand the profiles, needs and migration patterns of undocumented migrants in Europe.
- The need for improved data collection and greater investment in research.
- The demand from frontline workers for training, tools and continuous discussions on how to best support vulnerable groups.
In Practice
The project was implemented with three main work streams led by each of the partners involved in the project. Coordination and collaboration were key elements to ensure the components were implemented in an efficient manner:
- MMC conducted a survey roll out, by interviewing 500 migrants in the Brussels Capital Region and 500 in Paris and widest Île-de-France. Building on the results of the interviews, they produced a dashboard gathering the data on 1,000 migrants in Belgium and France. It is an interactive tool that allows the user to filter according to the demographics profile of the interviewed migrant.
- MPI wrote the policy brief “No One-Size-Fits-All: Outreach and Counselling for Irregular Migrants” outlining the diversity of initiatives, actors, and practices in return counselling. In addition, MPI designed a monitoring and evaluation framework for frontline workers, that lists all the relevant indicators to take into account before, during and after return counselling sessions and outreach efforts.
- Fedasil produced a programmatic blueprint as a result of a series of three mutual learning exercises with peer exchanges during field visits in Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland. This series brought together return practitioners, experts and policy makers at the governmental level to exchange and learn from each other on best practices for engaging with undocumented migrants.
- RRF developed a hands-on training module on outreach and counselling for undocumented migrants with mental health and substance use disorders. This module can be delivered autonomously or with other training modules available as part of the RRF repository on counselling and outreach. It will be accessible by RRF MS upon request Q2 2025. An open call of interest for training sessions in this topic will be soon launched to MS.
Future Plans
While RUM has come to an end, its impact is here to stay. The results of RUM will be further disseminated and made available in the follow-up action “Frontline Workers” currently under development. This new project aims to create a community of practice that brings together practitioners and experts on the field from all over Europe. Key activities include field visits, to facilitate exchanges with local stakeholders and learn about good practices in counselling irregular migrants; as well as creating digital spaces for this European community of practice for mutual learning and providing access to a dashboard of innovative tools for outreach.