In 2021, ICMC continued to operate its support centers for refugee resettlement in Turkey and Lebanon, and promoted the welcome and integration of refugees having arrived to host countries.
Offering Refugees Protection through Resettlement
ICMC operates one of the world’s largest support operations for refugee resettlement through its centers serving refugees currently living in Turkey and Lebanon.
In 2021, we continued to assist the United States government with resettlement processing and associated services for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. We scaled up our office in Lebanon as the admissions program began to rebuild its capacity to give forcibly displaced people a chance for a future in safety and dignity in the United States.
We received over 9,200 new referrals from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and conducted pre-screening for approximately 500 people under consideration for resettlement. Our center offered pre-departure medical tests to over 3,000 refugees, while more than 900 took part in classes to prepare for life in their new home country. Despite ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19, we collaborated with the United States government to resettle 1,676 refugees during 2021, an increase of more than 140 percent from the previous year.
In 2021, ICMC also continued to operate the Resettlement Support Facility (RSF) of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) in Turkey. Our logistical support included selection interviews and pre-departure orientation, which are at the core of the EUAA’s backup support for refugee resettlement by EU+ countries. During the year, we facilitated services for nearly 2,800 refugees seeking international protection in the region, with participation from Belgian, Dutch, German, Romanian, and Swedish resettlement missions. In June, we renewed our agreement with the EUAA to continue management of the RSF through the launch of a four-year operational partnership with Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Croatia.
ICMC Europe presented the Share Network’s community sponsorship work to the EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and liaised with the agency on complementary pathways for Afghan refugees.
Promoting Resettlement and Inclusion in Europe
ICMC Europe continues its leadership of the Share Network, a multilevel platform that supports EU-based communities as they welcome refugees and migrants. In 2021, we promoted the inclusion of newcomers in rural areas throughout the region and qualityprograms for communities to sponsor refugees arriving through government resettlement schemes or complementary pathways such as humanitarian visas.
In 2021, we established ten regional, multistakeholder platforms for cooperation. These brought together a range of actors – local and regional authorities, service providers, migrant and refugee and other civil society organizations, the private sector – for a total of 26 roundtable discussions and provided training in inclusion and intercultural skills to nearly 470 people.
Between August and September 2021, we selected ten pilot actions on rural integration within the SIRA project. These ten-month initiatives are trialing innovative ways to address common challenges as newcomers begin settling into life in a rural community.
As part of the SIRA project, the Share Network launched the EU-wide Expert Group on Orientation and Integration in Rural Areas with the aim of providing resources for related policy development. The multi-disciplinary group met twice in 2021, bringing together representatives from EU institutions, national, regional and local authorities, international organizations, academia and think tanks, and migrant-led and other networks.
refugees benefited from logistical and other resettlement activities at the EUAA Resettlement Support Facility in Istanbul operated by ICMC
1676
refugees resettled to the United States with ICMC resettlement support services
468
local and regional integration actors in Europe participated in ICMC-organized platforms for cooperation
Fr. Reynaldo Rodrigo Roman Diaz SVD with a group of sponsored refugees in Vicenza, Italy.
We wanted to concretize the Gospel’s call to all of us to receive refugees as our neighbors and show that refugees can be welcomed and can successfully integrate when given the right support.
Fr. Reynaldo Rodrigo Roman Diaz, speaking about the whole-of-community approach to refugee welcome and integration in Vicenza, Italy,at a webinar on the role of faith-based organizations in the Global Compact on Refugees.
In 2021, ICMC Europe used a variety of channels to promote integration policies that are place-based and inclusive, and engage a range of actors.
After the EU published its Rural Vision in June, ICMC Europe initiated an expert dialogue on migration within this long-term framework for revitalizing rural areas in the COVID-19 era. An event we co-hosted in September considered how the inclusion of newcomers can contribute to the development of rural areas with declining populations. September saw the birth of the Rural Ambassadors for Inclusive Territories program in France. These refugees, migrants, and elected representatives from small and medium-sized communities share their first-hand experience to raise awareness of how including newcomers can succeed in rural areas of the country. At a Migration Policy Institute event in October, our youngest ambassadors, Khmlin and Maher, advocated for more and better integration action.
It is important that others see that integration in rural areas is possible. Often foreigners are afraid of being isolated, when in fact it is quite the opposite.
Zozan, Rural Ambassador from Syria, now at home in Ayen, in central France
Through the Quality Sponsorship Network (QSN), the ICMC-led Share Network works to raise the profile of sponsorship, bolster current efforts, and ensure that sponsorship programs are well-run, with engaged sponsorship groups and refugees.
A number of activities in 2021 promoted ongoing evaluation and assessment of sponsorship programs. At a roundtable in March, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers looked at early evaluations of pilot and ad-hoc sponsorship programs in Germany, Ireland, and the Basque Country in Spain to see how these learnings could be applied in different national contexts.
In 2021, we held a range of events and participated in other forms of outreach —including a new sponsorship story series and the QSN magazine—to increase knowledge about different aspects of refugee sponsorship in Europe.
In September, we launched a mobilization platform for refugee sponsorship that brings together civil society actors at the national and local levels, from sponsor group representatives and refugees to civil society organizations, regional and local authorities, and practitioners. Participants at the platform’s first meeting discussed using a multistakeholder, inclusive, and bottom-up approach to advocate for and expand refugee sponsorship.
I will do my part to make community sponsorship a reality where I live. At times it can be very challenging emotionally and practically, especially with COVID-19, but it is mostly extremely rewarding.
“It was dangerous for anyone who worked with the U.S. because the Taliban saw them as traitors. My husband’s life was in danger.”
When this refugee — and thousands more like her and her husband — were evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021, ICMC’s national member organization from the U.S., the Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), supported them as they resettled in the USA.
MRS worked with Catholic Charities agencies nationwide and other partners to fulfill a pledge to “ensure the warm welcome, safe relocation and resettlement of those who have already contributed greatly to our nation.”
MRS has partnered with the government and other organizations since 2006 to resettle Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military. But the rapid pace of events in July and August 2021 led to a dramatic increase in the number of vulnerable Afghans needing resettlement.
“It’s not often that we get to respond to a crisis of this magnitude in our local communities, to put into practice our commitments,” said Rachel Pollock, MRS director for resettlement services.
MRS and Catholic Charities nationwide sprang to action to welcome Afghan evacuees resettled to the U.S.
“We were on the ground before day one. When [MRS Executive Director] Bill Canny called, we got to work,” says Susan Loughery with CC in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. Her staff greeted refugee children with toys and art supplies when their plane landed at the nearby U.S. military base and helped with other practical assistance such as a computer lab, vocational and driver training, and access to health care and family services.
MRS and Catholic Charities also supported the new arrivals to find affordable housing, enroll their children in school, look for a job, stay in touch with their families — and begin to deal with the traumatic upheaval in their lives.
While meeting basic needs such as shelter, food and clothing is crucial during a crisis, a human connection is equally important, noted Karen Beck of CC in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Her agency helped MRS establish Morale, Wellness and Recreation centers, safe spaces where newcomers could relax, connect with other refugees, and play with their children.
“There’s a lot of trauma in these folks’ lives and whatever normalcy we can try to offer back to them is part of what we do.”
