"We are a welcoming Europe, let us help!" is the name of the first European Citizens’ Initiative aimed at empowering a welcoming Europe. It was launched in Italy on 19 April.
Supported by many organizations, including Liberties member the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights, this initiative asks for decriminalizing solidarity, expanding sponsorship programs for refugees, and strengthening civil rights protection mechanisms for migrants.
Safeguarding asylum seekers
Since 1990, more than 34,000 migrants have died in their attempt to reach Europe by sea. However, such tragedies can be prevented if migrants are offered alternative and safer solutions to reach Europe.
This is the objective of Welcoming Europe, which wants to create safe entry routes - that are complementary to national resettlement programs - to those countries that are willing to welcome migrants.
How does it work?
In creating safe entry routes, sponsorship programmes are pivotal. This is how they work: asylum seekers and refugees benefiting from these programmes, and supported by private sponsors (community, civil society, voluntary organisations, religious groups, non-governmental organisations, private companies, families), are granted a national entry visa. In this way, they are prevented from becoming an easy prey for traffickers, and can reach Europe legally and safely. Once arrived in Europe, they will be supported by private sponsors, who will take care of their stay and inclusion in the local society.
It must be noted that these programmes are additional to, and do not replace, national resettlement programmes, i.e. the transfer of refugees, already recognised by UNHCR, from an asylum country to another State that has agreed to admit them and ultimately grant them permanent settlement.
A model that works
In Canada, where private sponsorship programmes have existed for more than 40 years, this model has allowed the civil society to welcome over 300,000 refugees over time. In Europe, however, these programmes have started to become more popular only recently - and Italy represents one of the most inspiring examples.
In fact, in 2016 some Italian religious organizations (Comunità di Sant’Egidio, Federazione delle Chiese evangeliche in Italia, Chiese valdesi e metodiste, Caritas Italiana, Fondazione Migrantes e Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) started to open humanitarian corridors from Lebanon and, later, from Ethiopia.
While this initiative was possible thanks to agreements with the Italian government, such corridors were entirely financed by private funds and allowed more than 2,000 asylum seekers to safely reach Italy and be included in integration processes by the communities that sponsored them. The successful results achieved in Italy have led religious organizations in France and Belgium to start pilot projects similar to the Italian ones.
What Welcoming Europe is asking for
Civil society could make an effective contribution in providing safe entry routes that are alternative to national resettlement programs. Moreover, civil society plays an important role in facilitating the local integration of newly arrived refugees, thanks to the support and mobilization of the community, religious groups, NGOs, private companies and families of resettled refugees.
In order to support civil society private sponsorship programs, and for as many citizens and associations as possible to be able to welcome, Welcoming Europe asks the European Commission to modify EU Regulation 516/2014 of the European Parliament and Council and to activate a new funding program within the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to support community private sponsorship programs.
