Record Low Refugee Resettlement calls for more Complementary Resettlement Pathways
This month, UNHCR reported that 2020 will be a record low for refugee resettlement. The UN Refugee Agency announced that according to its data, “only 15,425 refugees were resettled from January to the end of September this year, compared to 50,086 over the same period last year.” This is due to the general quota for resettlement continuing to decline as well as negative impacts by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has delayed departures and paused some resettlement programs indefinitely. Record low resettlement numbers amplify the need for more complementary pathways to refugee resettlement, which have become a vital lifeline recently for thousands of displaced people who have been unable to resettle safely the traditional way.
For the past three years, Refugee Pathways has advocated for increased complementary resettlement, as official traditional resettlement has been unable to meet the needs of vulnerable people. There is an immense need to increase access to safe resettlement. As noted by UNHCR’s Gillian Triggs, “expanding safe and legal pathways to protection, including through resettlement, saves refugees’ lives and it can also mitigate their resort to dangerous journeys by land or sea.” It is essential that we come together to create a more significant number of safe and legal resettlement pathways, both traditional and complementary, for all displaced people. One way to effectively do this is through community sponsorship.
Community Sponsorship — a worthwhile solution
Community sponsorship programs engage individuals, community groups, or private sector companies to directly contribute to refugee protection through the direct sponsorship of refugees and integration into their community. Such programs can significantly increase resettlement places for vulnerable refugees and other displaced persons while simultaneously acting as a powerful solution to reshape the narrative around resettlement and strengthen host communities.
Last year, Refugee Pathways published an article about community sponsorship, introducing the concept, and sharing success stories. Over the past 12 months, community sponsorship has gained traction across the world, and in this blog, we are delighted to highlight a specific program that launched in Ireland.
Community Sponsorship in Ireland — a replicable example
This Irish Community Sponsorship program (CSI) has been running since December 2018. It accepts community sponsorship applications on a rolling basis and offers sponsorship for up to two years. The CSI is an alternative resettlement stream to the traditional state-centered model of resettlement and allows refugees to safely resettle permanently.
Here is how it works: a local group becomes a sponsor of a refugee or refugee family. As a sponsor, the local group will provide the crucial local support necessary for success, such as access to housing and different state services. Before refugees are resettled, the sponsor group will apply with the Irish Refugee Protection Programme to become a sponsor. UNHCR will then match a refugee or refugee family with the approved sponsor completing a vetting process. Once there is a match, the refugees travel to Ireland to meet their sponsors and start their new lives. For more information on the specifics of the sponsor’s application process, please visit our website here.
Community Sponsorship is a vital complementary resettlement pathway that allows local communities to partner with formal resettlement agencies to support refugees as they resettle. Community Sponsorship is invaluable, as it comprehensively supports local integration, providing a support network for refugees immediately upon their arrival. While Canada has been leading the way in community sponsorship, the Irish example is worthy of replication, especially across Europe. Other countries currently experimenting with pilot community sponsorship programs include New Zealand, Germany, Argentina, Spain and the United Kingdom. Many of those programs, however, have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and border closures. We hope that in 2021 all of these programs can resume quickly and efficiently.
Benefits of Community Sponsorship Programs
Community sponsorship programs serve as an opportunity for safe and legal resettlement for refugees and promote refugees’ immediate and safe inclusion within their host community, a vital step in the resettlement process. In addition, community sponsorship:
allows refugees to quickly integrate.
provides a reliable pathway to permanent residency or citizenship.
promotes increased community awareness, which encourages increased public knowledge about refugee resettlement and the refugee experience.
allows for immediate and additional resources to support resettling refugees, including a social and local support network.
At Refugee Pathways, we continue to advocate for creating and expanding community sponsorship programs across the world. Such programs remain instrumental and are more critical now than ever, especially considering the decrease in refugee resettlement numbers. Fleeing war and persecution, refugees deserve to find protection with safety and dignity, which complementary pathways to resettlement can ensure. Refugee Pathways calls on more countries to create community sponsorship programs to fulfill the resettlement needs of refugees and other displaced people worldwide.
Julie Meier and Emmaly Read for Refugee Pathways
