The European Resettlement Network Complementary Pathways of Admission to Europe for Refugees
The European Resettlement Network European Resettlement Network: Supporting the development of resettlement in Europe since 2010 by connecting a variety of actors involved in refugee resettlement 3,000 stakeholders from national, regional, local government, international organisations, civil society, volunteers, academics, refugees, and others working in all stages of the resettlement process Coordinated by IOM, ICMC and UNHCR
Developing Innovative European Models for the Protection of Refugees and Providing Support to New Resettlement Countries (ERN+) September 2016 April 2018 Co-funded by the EU under AMIF Exploring complementary pathways of admission to Europe for persons in need of international protection Developing research for feasibility assessments on complementary pathways in consultation with the relevant actors Encourage future efforts to strengthen or establish programmes in EU Member States on the basis of the ERN+ project s work
ERN+ Complementary Pathways Global Resettlement needs of 1.2 million (75,000 resettlement places offered in 2017) Potential in Europe to develop complementary forms of admission for refugees This project has focused on the following complementary pathways: private sponsorship; higher education scholarships and humanitarian admission programmes
Activities within the three strands Webinars February March 2017 Role of faith-based organizations in private sponsorship programmes conference in Brussels on 18 & 19 September 2017 Targeted roundtables: on humanitarian admission programmes in Berlin in September 2017; private sponsorship in Paris in October 2017 and on student scholarship in the Netherlands in October 2017 Scoping papers looking at current and past practices in each on the three strands finalized second half of 2017 and beginning 2018 Feasibility studies on the three strands finalized April 2018
Policy paper expanding complementary pathways of admission for refugees to Europe 1. Recommendations for implementation of protection-sensitive refugee admission 2. Interlinkages between 3 pathways of focus 3. Reflects on EU protection landscape and policy looking forward
Coordination and synergies 1. Coordination and synergies with other global and EU initiatives 2. EU FRANK European Union action on Facilitating Resettlement and Refugee Admission through New Knowledge UNHCR, ICMC and IOM as reference partners in the project
newly updated website see screenshot
The Future 1. Resettlement, humanitarian admission and private sponsorship continued engagement of both the organizations and ERN stakeholders 2. SHARE network starts a new phase! 3. LINK-IT linking pre-departure and post-arrival support to facilitate the socio-economic integration for resettled refugees in the EU
Thank you for your attention! info@resettlement.eu
The European Resettlement Network Private/Community-based Sponsorship
Methodology Initial research carried out in the context of the 10% of refugees from Syria: Europe s resettlement and other admission Reponses in a global perspective publication; Comparative desk research on private sponsorship initiatives in Europe and interviews with key stakeholders; Courtesy of Sofie de Mot (2017) Peer-to-peer learning and exchange conference held in Brussels on 18 and 19 September 2017 (organised by ICMC Europe in cooperation with CCME and Caritas International)
Private Sponsorship Pilot Programmes in Europe Full Community Sponsorship Text Humanitarian Corridors Pilots Extended family members reunification United Kingdom - undefined quota - within resettlement commitment (20,000) Italy (EU Visa Code) 15 th December 2015: 1 st protocol (1,000 from Lebanon) 12 th January 2017: 2 nd protocol (500 from Ethiopia) 22 nd November 2017: 3 rd protocol (1,000 from Lebanon Morocco) France (Asylum Visa) 14 th March 2017 (500 from Lebanon) Belgium (Humanitarian Visa) 22 November 2017 (150 from Turkey and Lebanon) Germany Regional Admission Programme (Since July 2013: 23,000) Ireland (ad hoc) SHAP (119 Syrians in 2014)
Working definition of Private/Community-based Sponsorship A public-private partnership between governments who facilitate legal admission for refugees and private actors who provide financial, social and/or emotional support to receive and settle refugees into the community.
Comparative overview of Private Sponsorship programmes in Europe Thank you for your attentin! info@resettlement.eu
Sharing responsibilities between public and private actors Government: Private actors: Status (refugee, temporary, humanitarian status) Access to rights - Education - Healthcare - Employment Variable (open to negotiation): Duration Access to social benefits (including housing benefits) Safety net Pre-departure costs (CO, travel, medical checks, cost for visa) Housing! Other settlement support (Welcome, language learning, accessing medical and social services, support towards employment, etc) Numbers of different financial engineering opportunities
Benefits of Community-based Sponsorship Programmes Courtesy of Consorzio Communitas (2015) Promoting welcoming communities Maintain public and political support for refugees and other newcomers Diverse actors bring in different expertise and networks that can create better integration outcomes Creates support structures in smaller communities - that still lack integration support structure. Offers different ways to mobilise finance and in-kind resources
Defining the beneficiaries of private sponsorship programmes
Defining the role and building the capacity of the sponsors: coordination is key
The European Resettlement Network Complementary Pathways of Admission to Europe for Refugees
Humanitarian Admission Programmes Key features Flexibility; expedited procedures; relatively large; frequent family-ties component (not UK); often start with initially temporary status Drivers Advocacy (families and national NGOs); could create tailored, situation specific solutions; expedited procedures; expression of solidarity to States in the region; for some governments, the short-term status, and one-off programming
Building on experience Some motivations could have led to resettlement: resource issues, the need for efficiencies in the desire to act quickly and political will gave rise to the alternatives (HAPs). Humanitarian Admission Programmes have filled the gap for an initial period of time, and could do so again, and are and can also be useful stand-alone programmes. Needs to be renewed focus on rights-based and quality protection. Hence the suggestion to think of Humanitarian Admission and Protection Programmes for the future. Bespoke programmes for specific situations, but with an over-arching common design and purpose.
Humanitarian Admission and Protection Programmes (HAPPs) Stand-alone, flexible protection tools, with similarities to resettlement, that can be deployed quickly and on a large scale. NOT resettlement-light; not alternative to resettlement, but Complementary to resettlement and additional to resettlement Could be stepping stones to resettlement either new programmes or new resettlement countries Maximise responsibility sharing
What could HAPPs look like? Programme development clear operational guidelines; specifying target population; determining balanced eligibility; submission criteria; relatively large-scale. Selection expedited procedures; varied identification and referral channels; selection on a dossier basis; appropriate security clearances. Pre-departure health screening; pre-departure orientation and language training; organizing departure, travel, visa documentation Arrival status, all rights and entitlements reception facilities/ structured programme; housing. Longer-term professional social support services; planning for integration; monitoring and evaluation.
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The European Resettlement Network Complementary Pathways of Admission to Europe for Refugees Higher education scholarships as pathways to refugee protection
Core programme elements 1. Engaging broad spectrum of actors: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), government ministries in scholarship country, IGOs, civil society, private sector, refugee-serving organisations, municipalities, refugees themselves 2. National-level programme involving ideally several HEIs and drawing students from several countries of asylum 3. Ideally offering path to long-term status in scholarship country through access to further study, work/internships 4. Full financial coverage for participating students for duration of study period and defined period of work-seeking
Programme phases 1. Applications 2. Selection 3. Pre-departure preparation 4. Arrival/acclimatization 5. Study 6. Post-study
Key actors 1. higher education institutions (HEIs) 2. government ministries in scholarship country 3. IGOs 4. civil society 5. municipalities 6. private sector 7. refugee-serving organisations, refugees themselves
Ongoing programme framework challenges 1. The best approach to ensure protection needs are met; creating a pathway to longer-term protection and solutions 2. Accessible for refugee participants, in particular female participants 3. Consensus reached between HEIs and refugee-protection organizations on selection process (and balance of academic qualification with protection need) 4. Family unity/reunification needs sufficiently addressed
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The European Resettlement Network Complementary Pathways of Admission to Europe for Refugees
Final Project Policy Paper A work in Progress Conference Participants feedback and inputs will be gratefully received Intention: Draw together the three Complementary Pathways to Protection that have been addressed in the project to: Find commonalities (which might be the basis for safeguards) Find clear distinctions Locate areas for potential blending Formulate recommendations based on the findings in these three areas.
Commonalities 1. Provide access to protection and a pathway to solutions 2. Protection sensitive outcomes that demonstrate awareness of the situation from which the beneficiary fled. 3. Ensure predictability/awareness of potential for changes 4. Complementarity with and additionality to resettlement 5. Expression of solidarity and responsibility sharing with countries in regions of origin 6. Multi-stakeholder approach governments, traditional resettlement actors and also roles for new/non-traditional actors 7. Whole society/community approach, including families, community organizations, private sector 8. Flexibility in programmes (adaptable to different circumstances in place and time) 9. Common practical aspects both pre-departure and post-arrival 10. Clear Objectives, targeting, monitoring and evaluation
Differences Potentially different statuses: Student Scholarships might involve a student visa, although programmes could also offer refugee status or subsidiary protection, as HA(P)Ps and Community-Based Sponsorship should. Scale of Programmes Roles assigned to different actors in the process Relative autonomy of beneficiaries Flexibility for individual beneficiaires Exact relationship to resettlement stepping stone; potentially part of resettlement
Blending Pathways The three Pathways studied could be blended to give more flexibility and options eg HEIs sponsor students There are also possibilities for blending with additional Pathways not studied in this project Create bespoke programmes, based on protection-centric path to solutions.
Thank you for your attention info@resettlement.eu