Connecting Admission and Integration of Refugees in the Legal and Political Frameworks and Discourses

Abstract

This edited volume examines the interrelationship of admission and integration policies in respect of refugees in Europe. Against the background of current laws, policies and discourses, which tend to treat admission and integration as separate, rather than integrated, stages in the regulation of forced migration, this introductory chapter proposes a holistic approach. Such an approach requires combining legal, political and social studies in an attempt to explain that admission and integration are inherently connected. Accordingly, this chapter sets out the conceptual and theoretical framework, providing a functional definition of central concepts such as “admission” and “integration”. The chapter also introduces the various chapters in the volume addressing the combination of admission and integration in the European legal and political frame and at different levels of EU governance.