Education and Science, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Integration, Legislation, Society

So far, Estonia has relocated 19 war refuges from Greece. Now the first 16 files have been received from Turkey. Just like it did with the people relocated from Greece, Estonia intends to conduct interviews with the people in need of international protection in Turkey.

On Thursday, the coordination council for refugee policy bringing together representatives from different ministries and state institutions gathered in Tallinn to examine progress in the relocation and resettlement of war refugees as well as the fresh initiatives in the domain of international protection voiced by the European Commission last week.

In October and November, information events staged by the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences took place in all counties of Estonia to make representatives of counties and municipalities familiar with the actions of the state and NGOs in the relocation and resettlement of war refugees and hold a dialogue on the local level about possibilities for receiving them, the Interior Ministry said.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has moved forward with the organization of the reception of people needing protection. A call for proposals has been held in which a partner was found to teach Estonian language to the people granted protection. The partner to coordinate on the rental market the accommodation the people granted protection has also been found in a tender. In addition a tender has been held to find the provider of support services to the people granted protection. The agreements with the partners are to be concluded soon.

The Ministry of Education and Research held a conference in Tallinn at the end of April focusing on the integration of pupils with a migrant background into the Estonian education system. The children of the family relocated to Estonia from Greece in March have begun to attend kindergarten and school already and the children of the families relocated in April will start attending kindergarten and school still in this academic year, members of the coordination council for refugee policy were told.