Ground Truth Solutions is one of the seven NGOs that have jointly launched a mixed migration platform to deliver research, analysis and policy recommendations for a better understanding of mixed migration patterns in the Middle East and Europe and to enhance the protection of, and information available to, people on the move. The Mixed Migration Platform (MMP), funded by the UK’s Department for International Development and the Switzerland’s Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (FDFA), is an initiative that aims to provide quality information and protection-sensitive analysis to improve decision-making, both for people on the move through the Middle East and Europe, as well as for host governments and humanitarian organisations who are involved in the response.

Ground Truth Solutions’ contribution to the platform is a real time collection and analysis of feedback about the perceptions of people in different stages of displacement (borderlands, transit countries and countries of final destination). The focus of the surveys is on people’s experience as refugees, asylum seekers and migrants and their perceptions of the assistance they receive from humanitarian agencies.

In Austria, the first quantitative round of surveys was conducted in March 2017 and examined the perceptions of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Vienna. In order to delve deeper into these findings, a qualitative round of focus group discussions followed in July 2017. Another round of quantitative data collection outside of Vienna was conducted in July and August 2017 to examine the perceptions of affected people living in the remaining states of Austria. The issued reports are below.

Ground Truth Solutions is partnering with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to track the perceptions of migrants and host communities through regular surveys in two pilot countries in Europe in order to inform Red Cross and Red Crescent operations aimed at reducing the vulnerability and suffering of migrants arriving in Europe.

In Austria, as a destination country, the IFRC team is focusing on family reunification among refugees and migrants, spearheaded by the Restoring Family Links division of the IFRC, and Rotes Kreuz, the Austrian national society. The surveys will target refugees and migrants as well as Rotes Kreuz staff members and counsellors to gauge the successes and challenges of the family reunification programme in Austria. 

Ground Truth designed the questionnaires in cooperation with the IFRC and Rotes Kreuz. Surveys will be administered over three rounds at intervals of two or three months. Collection of data among refugees and migrants will be conducted mostly face-to-face, while the staff surveys will mainly be administered online. 

Ground Truth Solutions is partnering with Projekt Verein Integrationshaus to provide them with the tools to collect direct feedback from their clients: refugees and asylum seekers in Vienna. The organization offers counselling to help shape the future of refugees and asylum seekers, whether in terms of housing, education, employment, psychological support or integration more generally. The objective of the project is for the Projekt Verein Integrationshaus to better understand the needs of their clients and the general satisfaction with the services provided. Ground Truth Solutions is undertaking this project on a pro bono basis.

Survey questions on services provided by the Integrationshaus will track perceptions on the following issues: relevance of the services provided and fair access to services, access and usefulness of information provided, trust in the organization and the respect with which they are treated by staff.

The surveys are being translated into the main languages of the clients at the Integrationshaus, including Arabic, Dari/Farsi, Somali and Russian. The first round of data collection was completed in December  2016, and will be followed by a focus group discussion in early 2017 in order to gain more in-depth insight. A second round will take place in Spring  2017.