The Canadian Government, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) are joining forces to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable refugees can find protection and safety by being resettled to countries willing to welcome them.
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The International Catholic Migration Commission, together with a group of European NGOs active in the field of refugee resettlement, has raised serious concerns about the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation establishing a Union Resettlement Framework. The proposal, the civil society group argues, focuses excessively on migration control objectives; resettlement should instead be perceived as a lifesaving tool and a durable solution for refugees.
In order to gather and capitalize on the wide expertise gained over the past four years through the work of the ICMC-led SHARE Network, ICMC Europe published the report “Building a Resettlement Network of European Cities and Regions: Experiences of the SHARE Network 2012-2015”.
Active from 2012 to 2015, the SHARE Network brought together a variety of actors involved in refugee resettlement in Europe which worked jointly to facilitate the protection and integration of incoming refugees, as well as to promote a culture of welcome across the continent.
Last month, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh C. Johnson and a delegation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) visited the International Catholic Migration Commission’s Resettlement Support Center for Turkey and Middle East (ICMC RSC TuME) at its main office in Istanbul and met with refugees awaiting resettlement to the United States.
Over 140 representatives from 20 European countries including regional and local authorities, cities and municipalities, civil society organizations, citizens’ initiatives, previously resettled refugees and international organizations gathered in Brussels on 20 October to discuss experiences and lessons learnt during the three years since the SHARE Network was established.
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Ezgi Tanriver is a caseworker at the ICMC Resettlement Support Center for Turkey and Middle East. Based in Istanbul, she interviews the refugees who have been referred to ICMC by UNHCR for resettlement to the United States. Her job consists in collecting biographical data and other relevant information about refugee cases which are then submitted to US officials for consideration.
At the ministerial-level pledging conference on Syrian refugee resettlement in Geneva, States worldwide will have the opportunity to offer a substantial number of new and additional resettlement places or other forms of admission. ICMC, together with other NGOs, calls upon States to make commitments towards additional resettlement or other admission places for Syrian refugees.
