Civil Society

This chapter on civil society focuses on the roles that civil society organisations (CSOs) play in the field of migration and refugee policy. This field needs and utilises the contributions of several civil society organisations of different kinds. First, civil society groups provide service delivery functions, such as housing support, health care and legal support. The chapter documents the work of civil society organisations working in these areas. Secondly, civil society groups provide advocacy on behalf of migrants and refugees. They collect, organise and convey information on the needs of migrants to decision-making structures. These structures operate at subnational, national and supranational levels, and civil society targets them at the most appropriate level. With particular reference to a few large EU states, the chapter provides examples of work done at the regional level. It also provides a summary of the work done at the EU level by umbrella organisations active in migration policy, but also in neighbouring fields such as the prevention of racism and comparative EU-level research in that field.