WELCOME - MIGRANTS MAKE WELCOME EUROPE STRONGER - CARITAS’ PRACTICES FOR AN INCLUSIVE EUROPE AN INCLUSIVE FOR PRACTICES CARITAS’ WEL rue de la Charité 43, 1210 Brussels, Belgium Tel. +32 (0)2 280 02 80 [email protected] www.caritas.eu COME MIGRANTS MAKE EUROPE STRONGER Caritas’ practices for an inclusive Europe caritas series Researched and written by Antonio Fantasia and Shannon Pfohman of Caritas Europa’s Secretariat. Contributions to this publication were made by: Caritas Austria: Karin Abram Caritas Belgium: Ariane Dewandre and Anne Dussart Caritas Bulgaria: Angel Gyorev and Svetlana Gyorev Caritas Cyprus: Antoninos Hanadjias Caritas Czech Republic: Klara Boumova and Martina Tomanova Caritas France (Secours Catholique): Lola Schulmann and Claire Sabah Caritas Germany: Lisa Schüler and Verena Liessem Caritas Greece: Aglaia Konstantakopoulou and Maria Karoumbali Caritas Italy: Oliviero Forti Caritas Lithuania: Ilma Skuodiene Caritas Luxembourg: Malik Hamouche and Marie Christine Wirion Caritas Netherlands (Cordaid): Karlijn van Arkel Caritas Poland: Marta Walasik Caritas Portugal: Filipa Abecasis Caritas Spain: Sergio Barciela, Estefania Chaves and Maria Segurado Caritas Sweden: George Joseph and Pieter Van Gylswyk Caritas Internationalis: Olga Zhyvytsya Proofread by Eve Layton Published by Caritas Europa in Brussels in Dec. 2016 Rue de la Charité 43, 1210 Brussels, Belgium The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. Caritas Europa reserves the right to not be held responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in this publication. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected. This publication has received financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020). For further information please consult: ec.europa.eu/social/easi TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 5 I THE REALITY ON THE GROUND: WHAT HINDERS OUR VISION OF EUROPE? 6 Cultural barriers - limited acceptance by and interaction into receiving communities 8 Structural barriers – limited access to basic rights and services 10 Socio-economic barriers – limited access to resources and participation 12 II CARITAS’ VISION OF AN INCLUSIVE EUROPE 13 III PROMISING PRACTICES FROM THE GROUND 24 Practices to address cultural barriers and facilitate full participation and non-discrimination 26 Practices to address structural barriers and improve access to basic rights and services 30 Practices to address socio-economic barriers and facilitate access to resources and participation 34 IV CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 38 ENDNOTES 42 3 PROMISING PRACTICES FROM THE GROUND Photo: Christophe Hargoues Secours Catholique-Caritas France 4 Foreword Caritas provides support to the most marginalised value of Caritas: its ability to establish trusting rela- and has long attended to vulnerable migrant and tionships with the people in need, together with the refugee populations across Europe. Not only does it local level community and with key stakeholders. provide emergency aid and humanitarian assistance in countries of origin and transit, but it also delivers The focus of this publication, therefore, is to show- services to migrants in European receiving coun- case some Caritas experiences, often implemented tries, such as legal advice, housing and language in cooperation with other actors. While some prac- assistance, counselling and psycho-social support. tices presented have an innovative approach, others Caritas also accompanies migrants along their ed- are simply filling a much needed gap in countries ucational and employment paths, and it provides where few promising integration practices exist. In referrals for family reunification support as well as addition, to highlighting some barriers that impact other long-term integration assistance and support- migrants during the integration process, this pub- ive services. lication also shares some experiences of Caritas in building up trusting relationships so that both, mi- Faced, over the past years, with economic hard- grants and the receiving societies prosper together. ship, government policies have typically fostered Considering the many challenges migrants face in austerity, resulting in reduced service provision realising their full potential in the European context, and integration measures, and greater challenges Caritas seeks to bridge the gap between the multi- for municipalities and local-level actors to respond tude of obstacles witnessed and experienced on the adequately to their communities’ needs. Since inte- ground, in order to offer ideas to policy makers and gration typically takes place at the local level, this practitioners on how to create an environment that reality has created many integration challenges, pri- fosters inclusive participation, and empowers mi- marily because some policy makers have used the grants and receiving communities to work together economic argument as an excuse for not respond- toward the creation of cohesive societies. ing to the needs of its vulnerable residents. Being solution-oriented, this publication also pro- This situation was further heightened and intensi- vides insight on different options for funding in- fied following the arrival of thousands of new mi- tegration and social inclusion practices, as well as grants into Europe in the summer of 2015. Caritas guidance for receiving governments, institutions Europa’s vision of an inclusive Europe states that and communities, and the migrants themselves in migrant integration is based on dialogue and shared achieving this aim. In general terms, the experi- rights and responsibilities. We need to strengthen ences reported in this publication show that work- the welcoming approach in our societies and create ing with migrants is just as important as working more and more spaces of encounter and dialogue. with receiving communities in order to change the thinking and contribute to a positive, constructive In response to the evident needs and vulnerability narrative of foreigners. A few of these cases dem- of migrants and refugees in Europe, Caritas typically onstrate that a lot can be achieved even with limited steps in to provide much needed services. Govern- resources. ments often rely on charitable organisations and NGOs to step in with projects in order to fill the gaps. But the review, design and implement of na- tional integration plans and policies, fostering inclu- sive societies and mainstreaming integration is still a challenge our governments need to address. Caritas and other NGOs are not there to replace the state, rather to complement it. This is especially important considering that successful integration processes re- quire dynamic networks, involving many different Jorge Nuño Mayer actors across different levels. And this is the real Secretary General of Caritas Europa 5 I THE REALITY ON THE GROUND: WHAT HINDERS OUR VISION OF EUROPE? Caritas uses the definition of migrants as “any per- eties. This is closely related to the often negative son who changes his or her country of usual resi- perception the receiving community has about mi- dence. A person’s country of usual residence is that grants. For instance, when there is an absence of an in which the person lives, that is to say, the country inclusive community, an atmosphere of fear often in which the person has a place to live where he prevails, with a lack in trust and solidarity; rumours or she normally spends the daily period of rest”1. and biases spread easily and resentments are high. This definition includes immigrants, refugees, per- This in turn is linked to receiving communities’ frag- sons under subsidiary forms of protection, asylum ile economies. Based on the experiences of Cari- seekers, persons seeking other forms of protection, tas, hostile environments have much to do with the migrants in an irregular situation and repatriates2. leadership in the country, as well as the likelihood of there being an inadequate social protection sys- In its daily interactions with migrants, Caritas can tem. Divergences between countries and the way observe, throughout Europe, the hardships mi- the welfare systems provide support to vulnerable grants face in their struggle with their integration3 people (or fail to) deserves much attention when and social inclusion processes. On the one hand, considering solutions for migrants’ integration. newly arriving migrants face immediate barriers, sometimes even of a humanitarian nature; on the The following section presents a brief overview of other hand, in the longer term, migrants face cul- some barriers to long-term integration that Caritas tural, structural and economic barriers that hinder has identified. These are broken down according their capacity to fully participate in the receiving to three main dimensions: cultural, structural, and communities. socio-economic barriers. This division should not be regarded as a rigid classification, but rather as Migrants who arrive in an unfamiliar country and a a general clustering to in order to understand in- new cultural, socio-economic context are bound to tegration as a comprehensive process, which goes face a multitude of obstacles. Together with a sense beyond simply a purely economic focus. The three of precariousness, the lack of points of reference dimensions are strongly interconnected, as are the