The purpose of the research project “Research on the Situation of Persons Given International Protection in Estonia and Their Integration into the Society” is to map in-depth the current situation of the target group of internationally protected persons (refugees) and to analyse their integration capability.

By 01.03.2011 Estonia has given international protection to 45 persons. Among those are people from adjacent countries like Russia and Belarus but also from more far-away countries like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Different cultural background creates different precondition for integrating into Estonian society. Educational background and language skills of protected persons also have a significant impact on the success of the integration process. Additionally, among the protected ones there are children at the age of compulsory school education, whose challenges of integration into the Estonian society also include integration into Estonian educational system and beforehand the study-system in Estonian language. In order to develop a favourable environment for integration into Estonian society for internationally protected persons, it is necessary to map their problems and challenges for integration. For this purpose an in-depth study will be carried out  among the persons given international protection. The output from final project results will be a survey report, which reflects socio-demographic characteristics of persons given international protection and analysis of their integration process and future perspectives based on the conducted interviews.

Implementation phases and analysis of the study:

• Preparation of the study (composing the sample, preparing interviews)
• Collection of data (carrying out personal interviews)
• Data analysis and composition of report (analysing quantitative and qualitative data and composing the survey report)
• Conduct of the research is financed by the Estonian Refugee Fund and Estonian Ministry of the Interior.