Category Archives: Refugees & asylum seekers

10.25.17
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Northern California Fires Decimate Low-Income Communities

This article first appeared on Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity

California Wildfires 2017

Sisters Selam (left) and Simret play cards to help pass the time while their family seeks refuge from the wildfires at a Red Cross shelter in Santa Rosa, California.
Photo by Marko Kokic for The American Red Cross 

Northern California’s wildfires have sparked headlines around the world for their devastating impact on popular Wine Country destinations like Napa and Sonoma. But as firefighters gradually contain the flames and evacuated residents return to their homes, the story emerging is one not just of lost lives and jobs but also of the ‘hidden’ victims: the undocumented and low-income workers so crucial to the local economy.

“One of the deadliest and costliest wildfire catastrophes in California’s history” is how the state’s insurance commissioner Dave Jones describes recent events. According to CalFire, at least 42 people have died and over 8,400 structures (homes, outbuildings and commercial properties) have been destroyed in the wildfires which began on October 8. Thousands have been displaced from homes that range from wineries and town houses to trailer parks.

CalFire has declared the Tubbs wildfire the state’s worst ever, claiming 22 lives and 5,300 structures. Four of the fires —Tubbs and Nuns in Sonoma, Atlas in Napa and Solano, and Mendocino’s Redwood Valley — now rate among the top 20 most destructive wildfires in California’s history.

The fires have dealt yet another harsh blow to Napa, which is still recovering from the magnitude 6 earthquake that hit the south of the county in 2014. The quake caused an estimated $400 million in public and private sector damages and at least $80 million in losses to the wine sector. Preliminary estimates of losses from the current wildfires exceed $1 billion, according to Jones.

What next for undocumented workers?

California’s wildfires are the latest disaster that the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) has had to deal with this year, quickly following major hurricanes that affected eight states and two U.S. territories. Applications are now open for FEMA disaster assistance grantsto help homeowners and renters pay for temporary housing, essential home repairs and uninsured/underinsured personal property losses.

Recovering from the wildfires will be particularly hard for undocumented workers employed by the region’s vineyards, hotels, and restaurants as they are not eligible for FEMA assistance unless they have a U.S. citizen in their household (e.g. a child with a Social Security number).

Napa County is home to between 11,000 and 15,000 undocumented immigrants and an estimated 28,000 live and work in Sonoma County. Many juggle two or more jobs to make ends meet. Unlike foreign national workers on the H-2A visa program that requires employers to provide free housing and transportation for seasonal agricultural employees, these workers have no safety net.

Ana Lugo, president of Sonoma-based campaign group North Bay Organizing Project (NBOP), says undocumented fire victims are dealing with losses of property and income but fear that seeking help, for instance via the local assistance centers which act as one-stop shops for disaster support, will lead to deportation.

“It’s overwhelming: they can’t pay their rent or buy food because they haven’t worked for two weeks,” says Lugo. “They were already so vulnerable before the fires; now they don’t know where to go for help.”

NBOP is among the founders of UndocuFund, which raised over $454,000 in its first week to provide direct assistance to undocumented fire victims. The fund will be administered by Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, a national nonprofit based in Sebastopol, with support from Graton Day Labor Center, NBOP, and North Bay Jobs with Justice.

UndocuFund will help with costs such as temporary housing, home repairs, and medical care. “We’re in desperate need of more funds,” Lugo said. “People are going to need much more to get back on their feet.”

Supporting low-income families

California has the nation’s highest poverty rate — around 20 percent — if factors such as cost of living are factored in. The average vineyard worker salary is $30,528 or $15 an hour. But a 2013 study by the California Budget Project suggests a two-parent family with one employed parent needs an annual income of $50,383 (equivalent to an hourly wage of $24.22) while a family with two working parents needs to earn $72,343 a year (equivalent to each parent earning an hourly wage of $17.39).

The Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) in Santa Rosa has been distributing food to fire victims via its own drive-through facility and across 70 percent of its regular distribution sites in Sonoma County. REFB says most of those using the food bank have lost their jobs either temporarily or permanently due to the fires. Some have several evacuated families staying with them in their home. And many are low-income families who were already receiving food before the fires.

“Many people working in the service industry could have already been on the edge, receiving food at work, and now they are without jobs,” explains David Goodman, CEO at REFB.

The North Bay Fire Relief Fund, run by Redwood Credit Union, state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), and the local newspaper The Press Democrat, has raised $11.3 million from more than 17,000 donors. The fund has allocated $6 million to support families who lost their homes in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, and Mendocino counties

Tipping Point Community, a San Francisco based anti-poverty group, has also set up a relief fund for “low income, vulnerable communities” impacted by the crisis, including vineyard workers, immigrants, displaced young people, and students. Phase one of funding will address urgent needs; phase two will support mid- and long-term rebuilding efforts.

In California, Latinos make up 71 percent of the workforce at vineyards and more than 40 percent of the tourism and hospitality workforce. In Sonoma’s Santa Rosa, a community decimated by the fires, Latinos account for a third of the population.

The Latino Community Foundation (LCF) has just launched the NorCal Wildfires Relief Fund to support the emergency relief and long-term reconstruction work of three regional Latino nonprofit organizations – North Bay Organizing Project in Santa Rosa, La Luz Center in Sonoma, and UpValley Family Centers in Calistoga.

Sara Velten, vice president – philanthropy at LCF, says the fund — which hopes to start distributing funds this week — will be a lifeline for low income families: “In a regular year, the winter months are hard. With the harvest season cut short, people will need help to survive,” she says.

Housing challenges

Even before the wildfires, housing in this region was scarce and costly due to limited stock and proximity to San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Santa Rosa lost over 2,900 homes, or 5 percent of its housing stock, with middle-class neighborhoods such as Coffey Park and two mobile home parks for seniors among the worst casualties. On Craigslist, the cheapest one-bedroom apartment rents for about $1,200 per month.

Joye Storey, an emergency disaster services director with the Salvation Army, says the housing prognosis is not good for low-income families. “People who already had a small window of choices and living paycheck to paycheck will have to be relocated out of town. If they have a job in town, that means a higher price for gasoline and another layer of stress.”

More affordable housing for low-income immigrant workers was among the recommendations of a 2012 Migration Policy Institute report funded by the Napa Valley Community Foundation.

NVCF president Terence Mulligan says: “More and more families are living in overcrowded housing or commuting from other counties. The worry is that housing costs are so astronomical that soon we won’t have a workforce.”

06.05.17
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A Package Tracking Service for Refugee Aid

This article first appeared on Refugees Deeply

Sudan ssudan conflict refugees

World Food Program (WFP) workers stack humanitarian aid parcels that will be distributed to South Sudanese refugees on May 20, 2017, at Al-Obeid airport in Sudan’s North Kordofan state. AFP/ASHRAF SHAZLY

 

WHEN AN EMPLOYEE of the United Parcel Service (UPS) saw firsthand the complexity of aid delivery during emergencies, the global distribution company launched a system to help humanitarian workers expedite supplies as well as oversee their destination.

That system was later developed to specifically help the U.N. refugee agency track aid deliveries to displaced people in countries around the globe.

Headquartered in the U.S. state of Georgia, the company also runs a “skilled volunteer” program that deploys UPS logistics experts to support ground efforts in emergency situations.

As part of our interview series with private sector leaders engaging in the refugee crisis, Refugees Deeply spoke to Joe Ruiz, director of the UPSHumanitarian Relief & Resilience Program at The UPS Foundation about the results of their work with refugees to date, and the challenges they faced along the way.

Refugees Deeply: How did the company’s work with refugees begin?

Joe Ruiz: It really started in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. One of our UPS skilled volunteers [was] deployed to Haiti [and] saw firsthand how challenging of an environment it was to distribute vital food and non-food items. There was naturally chaos and violence. Some people were afraid, and others who were aggressive got meals for their families, while others stayed out of the mix and were left out.

The UPS volunteer quickly mobilized efforts to set up a UPS tracking system called Trackpad that would allow the Salvation Army to track items distributed to ensure all the families received what they were supposed to receive – both food and non-food items.

Each family received an ID card that could be scanned each time there was a distribution of food and supplies. In order to receive food and non-food items, the moms would line up and receive the appropriate amount of supplies for their family. Word spread to the U.N. refugee agency, who reached out to The UPS Foundation to learn more about the technology.

From that camp in Haiti, we have worked with UNHCR to develop UPSRelief Link, a tracking system that has been adapted to meet the needs of UNHCR beneficiaries. The system has improved distribution efficiency and was recently tested in Greece to assist with the distribution of supplies to refugees arriving in Lesvos.

Over the past few years, UPS has become UNHCR’s Emergency Standby Partner, leveraging our global network to help deliver life-sustaining supplies to support internally displaced people and refugees across the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Our financial and in-kind commitment to the agency is annually over $1 million per year.

The scope of the aid has included a combination of donated supply-chain and logistics services, transportation, human capital expertise and financial contributions. UPS also provided an automotive fleet manager to UNHCR on loan for six months in Africa to help assess their fleet management practices and share best practices.

Refugees Deeply: What results have you seen from your refugee programs to date?

Ruiz: UPS Relief Link uses UPS’s proprietary Trackpad technology to link data on the distribution of food, blankets and other emergency goods or services to UNHCR-registered refugees – a task previously done via paper. It’s compatible with handheld barcode readers and Android tablets, and lets UNHCR view what each household received and when, helping it to keep track of supplies and refugee location. Relief Link has reduced distribution time by 50 percent and reduced the number of computers that were needed to record the distributed supplies.

Refugees Deeply: What has UPS learned about the risks and opportunities that companies are likely to face in addressing the refugee crisis?

Ruiz: What we’ve learned [from Relief Link] is that all humanitarian agencies are in need of more effective IT and track and trace technology systems. However, the operating environment where these organizations operate in the most remote corners of the world makes it challenging to develop, maintain, support, and sustain these systems.

It is always challenging to create strong, effective public-private partnerships. Yet that’s exactly what’s needed in order to scale to the level of support that is needed, given the size of the refugee crisis at any given time.

Refugees Deeply: How are you measuring the success of the company’s refugee programs?

Ruiz: By nature of being [UNHCR’s] emergency standby partner, we are constantly focused on meeting the emergency needs of our U.N. and agency customers. Our efforts are measured on whether we can deliver when and where they need their supplies – food and non-food items. We provide the appropriate mode of transportation, ground, ocean and air as needed, leveraging our global UPS network and customs brokerage skills.

05.08.17
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How Airbnb Hosts are Opening Doors to Refugees & Relief Workers

This article first appeared on Refugees Deeply

Spain us tourism fine airbnb

A woman searches the Airbnb website in Madrid on November 24, 2016. AFP/JAVIER SORIANO

The day after President Donald Trump’s executive order in January suspending refugee resettlement and barring travel to the U.S. from seven countries, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told employees in an email that the company would provide free housing to refugees and anyone affected by the travel ban.

While the ban has since been revised and is now mired in legal challenges, the San Francisco-based home-sharing website has announced a goal to provide short-term housing over the next five years for 100,000 people in need, including refugees, disaster survivors and relief workers.

Airbnb’s work with refugees grew out of the Disaster Response Program launched in 2013 after New Yorkers used the platform to offer shelter to people displaced by Hurricane Sandy. Under the program, hosts offer free temporary accommodation for displaced people and Airbnb waives all booking fees. The company also donates travel credits to allow relief workers to book accommodation with Airbnb hosts.

As part of our interview series with private sector leaders engaging in the refugee crisis, Refugees Deeply spoke to Kellie Bentz, head of Global Disaster Response & Relief at Airbnb, about the company’s work with refugees to date.

Refugees Deeply: How did Airbnb’s work with refugees begin?

Kellie Bentz: In partnership with the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, we hosted a discussion in the summer of 2015 with about 20 to 30 companies, which was the beginning of our deeper dialogue with the U.N. and the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) about the global refugee crisis.

By September 2015, our community was consistently indicating that they wanted to take action on the crisis emerging in Europe. Then, in October 2015, we started working extensively with UNHCR, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps to provide housing credits to their relief workers on the front lines.

Our commitment to doing more and learning from our work with these terrific organizations led to our more recent commitment to house 100,000 displaced people and relief workers within the next five years.

Refugees Deeply: How did you decide what would be the most useful and efficient role for Airbnb to play?

Bentz: Our approach was developed to address both the global crisis and specific local challenges in places like Europe and the Middle East. We believe that our global community and our platform are a powerful combination to help raise awareness, raise much-needed financial resources and provide both online and offline solutions to specific obstacles faced by refugees and their families. UNHCR, Mercy Corps and the IRC continue to be our key nongovernmental partners in this important work. Their counsel and input have guided our work at every step of the way.

Refugees Deeply: What results have you seen from the company’s refugee programs to date, and what are your goals for the next year?

Bentz: We have provided over 3,000 nights of free housing to relief workers working in refugee camps in Kos, Lesvos, Ionniana, Athens, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We matched up to $1 million in contributions [in 2016] from our community to UNHCR to support their work with refugees.

During the 2016 holiday season, over 350 Airbnb hosts [in the U.S.] and resettled refugee families shared holiday meals to find common ground and to learn more about one another. Over the course of 2017, we will be expanding this initiative to Canada and Europe, enabling our community to offer warm meals and create new bonds with future citizens.

We supported a two-day hackathon to develop prototypes for open-source educational solutions for refugees. We also provided accommodation for the team of relief workers who helped produce After Spring, a documentary that tells the story of two Syrian families at the Zaatari refugee camp, and the aid workers fighting to keep the camp running.

Refugees Deeply: What have you learned about the risks and opportunities that companies are likely to face in addressing the refugee crisis?

Bentz: Belonging is core to our mission and we believe that everyone can be a part of the solution. This includes the private sector and government entities coming together to identify where we can all contribute and collaborate to create empathy driven impact.

Airbnb was one of the initial partners to sign on with the Tent Partnership at Davos in January 2016. We believe it is important to encourage as many private sector entities as possible to contribute to a part of the global refugee crisis solution in their own unique way. The partnership is a convener of both private sector and nonprofit partners in this space.

Refugees Deeply: How are you measuring the success of the company’s refugee programs?

Bentz: We have a goal to provide short-term housing over the next five years for 100,000 people in need. To help meet this goal, Airbnb will contribute $4 million over the course of four years to the IRC to support the most critical needs of displaced populations globally. We will measure our progress against this goal.

03.02.17
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Delivering Critical Cybersecurity for Refugees

This article first appeared on Refugees Deeply

Refugees use libraryIraqi refugee Mustafa Altaie,23, writes an application on a library computer in Heilbronn, Germany. Marijan Murat/dpa

The refugee crisis in Europe has repeatedly highlighted the urgent need for communication technology for people on the move, from mapping their journeys to accessing services at their destinations.

Since leaders at the global I.T. and networking group Cisco saw the humanitarian situation on European borders escalating in 2015, they have tried to deploy the company’s products and people to improve connectivity for refugees in a scalable and sustainable way.

Working with nonprofit partners, the multinational company set up Wi-Fi hotspots in refugee camps across Greece, Slovenia and Serbia, and helped to develop first response centers in Germany that offer a real-time translation service. They have also deployed cloud security software to protect refugees from cyberthreats.

As part of our interview series with private sector leaders engaging in the refugee crisis, Refugees Deeply spoke to Erin Connor, Cisco’s portfolio manager for critical human needs, about the organization’s response to refugees’ needs.

Refugees Deeply: Could you describe a moment when you became convinced that the company had a role to play in addressing the refugee crisis?

Erin Connor: Cisco typically responds to natural disasters only, but the refugee situation became a humanitarian crisis of such proportions that, in October 2015, we chose to make an exception to our policy.

We started by expanding the scope of our annual hunger relief drive to include organizations responding to the refugee crisis, based on employee interest. We added over 40 NGOs to the campaign, and Cisco Foundation matched employee contributions dollar for dollar.

We subsequently awarded cash grants to nonprofit partners NetHope and Mercy Corps, and provided networking and communications equipment to the German Red Cross. In addition to these donations, Cisco took an active role in our area of expertise. We sent equipment and employees to Greece and Slovenia (and provided remote technical support and equipment for Serbia), to set up Wi-Fi hotspots at refugee camps in partnership with NetHope.

Refugees Deeply: How did you decide what would be the most useful and efficient role for the company to play?

Connor: We chose to pursue a multi-pronged approach to our response, leveraging our core competencies – our people, products, expertise and financial resources – to respond to the refugee crisis.

We have done this in a number of ways: by encouraging and matching the generosity of our employees to provide critical financial support to responding organizations; by awarding cash grants to strategic nonprofit partners to provide internet-based information and coordination services to refugees and NGOs on the ground, and by donating Cisco equipment to establish Wi-Fi hotspots and connectivity to refugees on the move and in camps. We have also provided time, expertise, and in-kind technical support through our Tactical Operations, Disaster Response Team volunteers and Central European team.

Refugees Deeply: What results have you seen from the company’s refugee programs to date, and what are your goals for the next year?

Connor: Cisco’s Tactical Operations (TacOps) engineers and Disaster Response Team volunteers have carried out 10 two-week deployments in partnership with the NGO NetHope to install Meraki-based Wi-Fi networks across Greece, Slovenia and Serbia.

A total of 75 sites (64 are currently active, as some have been decommissioned due to the moving population) have provided connectivity to over 600,000 unique user devices since November 2015. Using our cloud security software, we block an average of 2,000 cyberthreats per day.

Cisco also funded the prototype of the first two Refugee First Response Centers (RFRCs), which was a concept developed by the Cisco team in Hamburg and a range of ecosystem partners. The RFRC units are shipping containers transformed into doctors’ offices, equipped with Cisco technology that enables access to the internet and real-time translation for refugees.

The early units caught the attention of a local private donor, who funded the production of 10 additional units that have been produced and deployed to Red Cross camps throughout Hamburg, providing over 18,000 medical video-supported consultations to date. Two of the 10 units replaced the original RFRCs, and have been shipped to Lebanon and Greece for replication.

In terms of what’s next, we’ve committed equipment and employees’ expertise to support deployments with NetHope this next quarter to set up connectivity in an additional 12 sites.

Through our Networking Academy, we’ve committed to training 35,000 refugees in Germany over the next three years (15,000 by the end of this year). We’ve also just provided funding to Mercy Corps to support the expansion of Refugee Information Hub, a platform jointly developed with the International Rescue Committee, into seven new countries in 2017. The RFRC team (led by Cisco partner MLOVE) is also hoping to produce and deploy an additional 100 units.

Lastly, we’re planning to commission a third-party evaluation to look into the specific impacts of connectivity on refugee populations.

Refugees Deeply: What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far in your work with refugees? What have you learned about the risks and opportunities that companies are likely to face in addressing the refugee crisis?

Connor: I think we’ve seen firsthand just how critical connectivity is for refugees. It’s a way for them to connect with loved ones, access critical information and even begin the asylum-seeking process in a new country. “Is there Wi-Fi?” is one of the first questions refugees ask when arriving in a new place.

As cyberthreats are becoming more advanced and prevalent, and data privacy and protection is vital for the refugee population, the importance of building cybersecurity protections into the network architecture cannot be understated.

As it is apparent that refugees may be in these camps for an extended period of time, the issue of education is becoming more urgent. Having connectivity opens up opportunities for online training and remote education that could benefit children as well as adults seeking to gain job skills.

With every deployment we are learning lessons and developing best practices to improve function and efficiency. For example, we now have solution “kits” that can be built ahead of time in a controlled environment, and easily and quickly installed upon arrival at a camp.

Field deployments also give us a lot of insight into how our products function under real-world and often extreme conditions, which we then feed back to our product teams who can develop enhancements and new features. Our TacOps team also quickly learned that the internet lines in a camp need to be clearly labeled – no one wants to be that person who cuts off connectivity for an entire camp.

Refugees Deeply: How are you measuring the success of the company’s refugee programs?

Connor: We provide in-kind support, technical expertise and equipment through our TacOps team, cash grants to nonprofit partners and I.T.training through our Networking Academy, so we evaluate success differently across these three categories.

In establishing Wi-Fi, we look at the number of refugees connected to the internet, and the number of cyberthreats blocked through our networks. It’s important to us that they not only benefit from connectivity, but that they are also protected from any outside threats to their identity or safety.

Through our Networking Academy, we are tracking the number of refugees in Germany that take and complete our I.T. training courses.

Through our cash grants, we base our success on the ability of our nonprofit partners to meet the performance metrics they set. For example, we have just provided funding to help expand Refugee.Info. Some success metrics for this project include number of users, countries and user ratings to understand refugees’ satisfaction with the platform and content provided, which will inform future product development or service improvements.

12.17.16
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Cities for all: towards a new paradigm for integration

This article first appeared on Open Migration

How do stakeholders find and craft win-win lasting solutions that would benefit both migrants, refugees and hosting societies?

PHOTO: A

From the UK’s decision to leave the EU earlier this year to November’s presidential election in the US, refugees and the wider subject of immigration have been used as political campaign weapons to polarise public opinion and win votes. The emergence of anti-migrant narratives has threatened to undermine both the EU’s and individual countries’ efforts to promote refugee integration in the face of the worst migrant crisis in recent history.

But beyond the heat of the headlines, the longer-term challenge for countries welcoming refugees and migrants remains how to sustainably support them in their new communities. Where are the innovative solutions to integration? And what are cities doing to invest in the future of their new arrivals?

Reframing the narrative

From housing to employment, the global migration and refugee crisis presents myriad problems for cities trying to support an influx of permanent or transitory residents. But it also offers opportunities for innovation and investment that can have a lasting positive impact on both local populations and new residents.

According to the UNHCR, more than 60 per cent of the world’s 19.5 million refugees and 80 per cent of 34 million internally displaced people live in urban environments. While cities offer newcomers anonymity and opportunities to build a new future, they can often be hostile environments for vulnerable refugees struggling to find the support they need to navigate new systems or compete for jobs.

The UN’s Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016 represented the first attempt by the General Assembly to discuss large movements of refugees and migrants at the heads of state and government level. Seen as a watershed moment, the summit focused on strengthening governance of international migration and creating a more responsible system for responding to large movements of refugees and migrants.

At the summit, 193 member states signed up to the New York Declaration, which commits signatories to strengthening the positive contributions made by migrants to economic and social development in their host countries. Signatory states also committed to expanding the opportunities for refugees to relocate to other countries through, for example, labour mobility or education schemes.

Responding to change

These challenges are resonating both in Europe and elsewhere. Susan Downs-Karkos is the director of strategic partnerships at Welcoming America, which works with organisations and communities to engage Americans in immigrant integration efforts. She says: “There is greater concern than ever before about the plight of refugees everywhere, and the need to create a more welcoming policy and culture so people can rebuild their lives has rarely been so clear. How can we transform one of the greatest challenges of our time into a significant opportunity – one that can make a difference in the lives of millions of immigrants, in Europe and across the globe – and to the local communities that welcome them?”

Three years ago, Welcoming America began research into how US cities were responding to their changing populations and to identify local government’s role in creating a welcoming community that attracts and retains global talent. This included documenting local policies and programmes that helped immigrants integrate into the community and helping longer-term residents connect with and appreciate their new neighbours.

The result was the Welcoming Cities & Counties network, which enables US municipalities to learn from and share welcoming approaches with one other. The network has grown from 10 to around 100, from Anchorage, Alaska to Salt Lake County, Utah. Partners include companies and economic development agencies as well as civic organisations such as universities and local YMCAs.

Welcoming America’s support for member municipalities includes annual events, webinars and communication campaigns to tackle issues ranging from workforce development strategies to community policing and language access for immigrant entrepreneurs.

Downs-Karkos says Welcoming Cities reduces the barriers faced by immigrant entrepreneurs, for example by demystifying regulatory and financing structures or providing access to micro-lending services.

The city of Denver in Colorado set up a commission on immigrant and refugee affairs three years ago. Projects include a mini-grants programme, launched in 2015, for local organisations with creative ideas to bring neighbourhoods together. Ten winning projects receive $1,000; this year they included a “movies in the park” night to connect community residents and local businesses, and a digital storytelling project focused on refugees rebuilding their healthcare careers in Colorado and culminating in a public video screening.

Business partners

Enterprise is proving a successful model for integration. Every weekend at north west London’s Queen’s Park Farmers Market, the Spice Caravan stall serves up savoury and sweet dishes hailing from Eritrea, Kenya and Somalia. A catering co-operative founded in 2011, Spice Caravan has grown from a group of six refugee mums cooking at school events, to a successful enterprise supplying the local farmers’ market, private events and festivals.

Ayan Hassan, a Somali-born mother of three and a co-founder of Spice Caravan, says a large part of its success is due to the support of Salusbury World, the UK’s only refugee centre within a school (Salusbury Primary). Established in 1999, the charity helps children and families adjust to UK life through after-school clubs, English classes, mentoring and community activities. As well as providing Spice Caravan with kitchen space and start-up funding of £500, Salusbury World also helped the women to access training in business planning and food hygiene.

Salusbury World manager Sarah Reynolds says schools can play an important role as mediators between local communities and new arrivals, as they know and have the trust of the local community. The charity’s work across four schools and colleges supports around 200 children and young people and 250 adults each year.

But Reynolds is concerned by the lack of specialist support for new arrivals: “The growing number of unaccompanied teenagers likely to be arriving across those schools is deeply worrying as the support offered by social services tends to be quite inadequate, they themselves being subject to swingeing cuts, poor publicity and a lack of foster carers.”

Salusbury World is part of a new network of groups supporting young refugees in north London, which Reynolds hopes will help to join up services and address needs more effectively.

Route map to integration

Writing earlier this year, Judith Sunderland, associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division, remarked that the integration debate has often been “fractious”,  pitting those who favour more assimilationist policies against those who argue for variations of multiculturalism and protection of cultural diversity. Sunderland identifies the main stepping-stones to successful integration as legal status, appropriate accommodation, access to employment and education (including language classes), and family reunification.

Starting in 2016, the Migration Policy Group is the coordinating research partner for a six-year long monitoring of refugee integration in 14 EU member states. The National Integration Evaluation Mechanism (NIEM) evaluates policies according to the needs and situation of beneficiaries of international protection and asylum seekers. Assessments completed in 2017, 2019 and 2021 will contribute to national and European debates on improved refugee integration and provide governments with evidence for more efficient and effective policies.

Private sector involvement and investment is essential to the mix. In Germany, With Migrants for Migrants (or MiMi by its German acronym) is an integration programme that recruits bilingual individuals from within immigrant communities to become cultural mediators who can make the German health system more accessible to immigrants. Emerging from a public health project by Ramazan Salman, a Kurdish immigrant from Turkey, MiMi trains these mediators to support campaigns from alcohol abuse to vaccination. It says some 1,000 mediators have reached over 32,000 migrants. Salman claims the small annual budget (euros 1.5 million) reaches more immigrants than his state-run competitors.

Creative solutions and support from both public and private sector organisations are vital if cities are to embrace the diversity and talents of their new inhabitants. CILD’s director Andrea Menapace says: “We need a paradigm-shift that would allow stakeholders to find and craft win-win lasting solutions that would benefit both migrants, refugees and hosting societies.”

The first event of the Cities For All project by CILD and Humans on the Move (in partnership with Impact Hub Milan and in collaboration with the City of Milan) took place on 16 December. More information here.