ARCI: Lessons from Relocation and Resettlement German Red Cross BULGARIAN RED CROSS © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, 2019 Any part of this publication may be cited, copied, translated into other languages or adapted to meet local needs without prior permission from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, provided that the source is clearly stated. Requests for commercial reproduction should be directed to the IFRC Secretariat at secretariat@if rc.org All photos used in this study are copyright of the IFRC unless otherwise indicated. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the official CH-1214Route de Pré-Bois 1 policy of the International Federation of Switzerland Follow us: Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies or of individual National Red Cross or Telephone: +41 22 730 4222 Red Crescent Societies. 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Web site: www.ifrc.org Action of Red Cross on Integration Relocated and Resettled Persons Report 2019 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent REPORT | Action of Red Cross on Integration of Relocated and Resettled Persons INTRODUCTION Established in 2017, the “Action of Red Cross on As well as sharing facts and advice in relevant Integration of Relocated and Resettled Persons”, or ARCI, languages and through appropriate channels, project set out to support the integration of refu- the ARCI project also offered skills and language gees and asylum seekers arriving in the EU under training, along with support in accessing educa- emergency relocation and resettlement schemes. tion, the job market and basic health services, and aimed to boost social cohesion by bringing new Implemented through the German, Bulgarian and arrivals and host communities together for activ- Croatian Red Cross National Societies, funded ities and events. by the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), and managed by the International Research for this report was carried out in July Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2019, as ARCI entered its final few months, to cap- (IFRC), the project sought to apply participatory ture best-practices and learning to apply to future approaches to supporting people who were newly projects, and highlight key policy and advocacy arrived in the EU, with a focus on providing clear, opportunities to support refugees and asylum useful, tailored information. seekers, host countries and host communities. 4 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent ARCI | Introduction RELOCATION AND RESETTLEMENT Resettlement is a globally established practice EU-Turkey Statement declaring that all new irreg- enabling the legal movement of people in need ular migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek of international protection from one country to islands would be returned to Turkey, that for every another, with resettlement schemes facilitating Syrian returned to Turkey from the Greek islands transfer from an initial safe country—often one another would be resettled from Turkey to the hosting large numbers of refugees —to destination EU, and that all routes for irregular migration from countries offering permanent refuge. Turkey to the EU would be blocked. In the EU, resettlement specifically refers to the The EU Emergency Relocation Scheme formally legal transfer of refugees residing in a country out- ended in September 2017, though relatively small side the EU to an EU-member country. numbers of people continue to be transferred under bilateral relocation agreements. Under EU resettlement schemes, member states voluntarily agree a target for the number of people Under both resettlement and relocation schemes, to be resettled within a set time period. preselection of people to be resettled or relocated is carried out, based on agreed criteria, prior to Under the current EU resettlement scheme, 20 transfer. On arrival in the receiving country, people Member States have pledged to accept a combined transferred under resettlement—having already total of 50,000 people by October 2019, with more been granted some level of international protec- than 22,500 people resettled between 2015 and 2017. tion in the country they are being transferred from—typically undergo a fast-track process to Since 2015, the majority of people in need of inter- receive formal refugee status in their new country, national protection resettled in EU countries have while those transferred under the EU Emergency been transferred from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Relocation Scheme entered the receiving country’s regular asylum system. Launched in September 2015, the EU Emergency Relocation Scheme aimed to facilitate the transfer What is AMIF?—the EU’s Asylum, Migration and of asylum seekers between EU countries—namely Integration Fund (AMIF) was established by the from Greece and Italy, which at the time were European Commission to provide funding from both seeing large numbers of arrivals, to other 2014 to 2020 for activities promoting the efficient less-affected EU countries. management of migration, and the implementa- tion, strengthening and development of a common Application for relocation was only open to nation- Union approach to asylum and immigration. alities with an overall asylum recognition rate of 75% or higher in EU Member States, limiting the AMIF is focused on four specific objectives: scheme to people from Eritrea, Syria, Yemen, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bhutan, Qatar, and the United • Strengthening and developing the Common Arab Emirates. European Asylum System • Supporting legal migration to the EU and pro- Although there was an initial target to relocate moting the integration of non-EU nationals around 120,000 people, by 2017 little more than a • Delivering improved, fair and effective quarter of that number had been transferred. This return strategies was due in part to the low number of people eli- • Ensuring that EU States most affected by gible for relocation under the rules, but also a large migration and asylum flows can count on fall in the number of people arriving in Greece, solidarity from other EU States. particularly from Turkey, following a March 2016 5 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent REPORT | Action of Red Cross on Integration of Relocated and Resettled Persons RED CROSS RESPONSE TO THE MIGRATION CRISIS Making up the world’s largest humanitarian network, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have been at the forefront of supporting people affected by recent increases in migration into the EU. From providing immediate humani- tarian lifesaving and life-protecting assistance to vulnerable people in departure countries, en-route, and on arrival in the EU, to supporting the orientation and integration of refugees as they establish their new lives, to working with governments and the EU to ensure fair, effective policies enabling safe, legal move- ment of people seeking refuge, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have been there every step of the way. https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/ what-we-do/migration/ Bulgaria Of all the partners in the ARCI project, the programme, by early 2019 only 60 people had Bulgarian Red Cross Society arguably faced some arrived in Bulgaria through the relocation pro- of the toughest challenges. gramme, and an additional four families through resettlement. Often cited as the poorest country in the EU, sit- uated at the start of established routes leading By mid-2019 of the 60 people who had arrived towards central and western Europe, home to one through relocation, only one was still in Bulgaria. of the least-spoken national languages on the con- tinent, and with the fastest-shrinking population in Three of the four resettled families had also left. the EU, for many Bulgaria has long been considered a transit point rather than somewhere to settle. Despite these ongoing departures, the Bulgarian Red Cross Society has remained committed to sup- However, having as a country volunteered to porting refugees and asylum seekers for as long as receive relocated and resettled refugees, the there is need. Bulgarian Red Cross Society committed through the ARCI project to assist new arrivals with “We help with almost everything,” explains information and support their integration into Bulgarian Red Cross Society ARCI programme Bulgarian society. manager Violeta Galabova. Departures “Legal support, health, education—enrolling chil- dren in school and kindergarten, accompanying Having initially signed up to accept more than people to hospital, registering with GPs, these are 1,300 people from Greece and Italy through relo- all things where our staff, social mediators and cation, plus a further 110 under the resettlement translators play a role. 6 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent ARCI | Bulgaria case study MJ MJ came to Bulgaria I learned Bulgarian through a Caritas mentorship as a refugee from programme which paired Bulgarians together with Syria four years ago. refugees and we had meetings once a week. As He now works for the a refugee, finding opportunities to connect with Red Cross teaching Bulgarian people can be really hard, so these reg- language skills to pass ular meetings were really helpful, but it doesn’t the Bulgarian driving happen in one step. theory exam. Bulgaria doesn’t have such a culture of commu- “Before sitting the nity groups so it can be hard to introduce people practical driving into Bulgarian society. test, people need to go through a theo- The most problematic thing for me was finding an retical exam first, so apartment and a job, registering with the health I help people learn service, all the bureaucratic things you have to the theory. go through. Accessing medical services is hard, you need to have someone with you to translate People often don’t initially understand the dif- and interpret. I had to take my mum to the hos- ferent laws and regulations here in Bulgaria.