ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

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Abbreviations & acronyms:
BAMF: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
BCP: Burma Centre Prague
CAR: Centros de Acogida a Refugiados (reception centres)
CO: Cultural Orientation
CPR: Portuguese Refugee Council
COA: Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers and Refugees
DIS: Danish Immigration Service
ESS: Ministry of Employment and Social Security
GII: General Inspectorate for Immigration
IRC: Icelandic Red Cross
JRS: Jesuit Refugee Service
PES: Public Employment Service
PR: Permanent residency
Chapter VII – Building a New Life in the Community
1. Refugee integration
& resettlement
1.1. What is integration?
Integration is generally acknowledged
to be a ‘dynamic, multifaceted and
ongoing’ process, 1 that is ‘two-way’ in
the sense that it involves some level of
mutual adaptation and accommodation 2
by refugees, migrants and other newcomers
and the local communities and
societies in which they settle. Integration
can be understood as a set of related
processes - in areas such as housing,
health, employment, language-learning,
civic participation and refugees’ feelings
1 UNHCR, A note on the integration of refugees in the
European Union, 2007
2 European Commission , Common Basic Principles
(CBP) for Immigrant Integration Policy in the
European Union, 2004
of safety and welcome - that also serve
as indicators and outcomes of the wider
integration process. 3
It is widely agreed that institutions in
the receiving society should provide
the conditions for successful integration
by guaranteeing refugee and migrant
participation in the ‘economic, social,
cultural, civil and political life’ of the
receiving society. 4 Rights and opportunities
provided by the receiving society
are generally articulated together with
responsibilities for individual refugees
within the integration process, for
example by actively pursuing opportunities
for language-learning and abiding
by the laws and regulations of the
receiving society.
3 Ager & Strang , Indicators of Integration, 2004
4 ECRE, The Way Forward: Towards the Integration of
Refugees in Europe, 2005