ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

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Raising awareness about Save Me in Aachen/Amnesty International Aachen
Previously resettled refugees of all
backgrounds have a knowledge of the
resettlement process and life in the
resettlement country that can be of
great value to those who are newly
resettled. They can therefore be an
important resource for local resettlement
programmes, both as individual
volunteers and as communities.
The ‘Save Me!’ campaign in Aachen
enables previously resettled refugees
to volunteer with new arrivals,
hosting welcome and cooking events
and acting as city tour guides. In the
Swedish county of Gävleborg, via the
Landa Project 23 , resettled young people
contributed their knowledge and experience
to the development of a Cultural
Orientation programme specifically for
refugee youth.
23 The Landa (‘Leaving, Landing, Living’) Project is an
initiative to improve pre-departure and post-arrival
cultural orientation for refugees resettled to the
Swedish county of Gävelborg. Landa is led by the
County Administrative Board of Gävelborg and cofunded
by the European Refugee Fund.
Several national resettlement programmes
fund civil society organisations
to coordinate volunteer programmes.
In the UK programme,
the government funds national NGO
partners to recruit volunteers to specific
roles within local programmes,
such as befriending and English language
teaching. The Icelandic Red
Cross recruits volunteer friends or families
in municipalities to assist resettled
refugees in local orientation and social
activities, and the city of Munich funds
the Munich Refugee Council to coordinate
the involvement of volunteers
from the ‘Save Me’ 24 network in the
local resettlement programme.
24 ‘Save Me!’ is a German grassroots, city-based campaign
begun in Munich in early 2008 by the Bavarian
and Munich Refugee Councils, Refugio Munich and
Kammerspiele MÛNCHEN. Save Me mobilises local
support for and involvement in refugee resettlement
in over 50 regions, cities and towns throughout
Germany. For more information see the 2013 SHARE
Project publication ‘A City Says Yes! Reflections on
the experiences of the Save Me campaign to promote
refugees resettlement in Germany’
CHAPTER VII