ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

92
systems, and social and cultural
norms and expectations;
• typical integration challenges and
ways to solve them;
• an introduction to the language of
the resettlement country;
• travel arrangements (often discussed
in a separate pre-embarkation
briefing delivered by IOM).
Chapter IV – The Resettlement Process: from Identification to Departure
CO course for refugees from Shousha to be
resettled to Germany/IOM/2012
resettlement, and address both
factual information as well as skills
and attitudes which facilitate integration
prospects. Pre-departure orientation
is often designed to address
the challenges inherent to the transition
to life in a resettlement country,
and to manage refugees’ expectations
of what their ‘new life’ will consist of.
The majority of European resettlement
countries organise some form of predeparture
CO programme, which typically
involves refugees attending one
or more training or briefing sessions.
The content and length of CO programmes
and the actors involved in
delivering it vary across resettlement
countries, but most programmes generally
cover the following topics:
• the reception process and role(s)
of the receiving agencies;
• basic information about the
receiving society’s legal framework,
Cultural Orientation for Refugees due to
travel to Norway (NORCO - IOM)
Since 2003, Norway has exclusively used
bi-cultural or cross-cultural trainers for the
delivery of pre-departure CO. Following a
study carried out by the government, municipalities
in Norway reported that resettled
refugees had more problems integrating
than other migrants and therefore needed
more information and support about their
new community. In consultation with IOM,
enhanced CO was developed and is now
delivered by bi-cultural trainers.
‘As a trainer you need to have a balanced
discussion. You cannot give only negative or
only positive information….when I interview
potential trainers they must be able to
describe the differences between Norwegian
culture and their own and the challenges that
come with the differences.’
[William Paintsil, IOM Norway]
Pre-departure CO is often conceptualised
as the first stage of the integration
process for resettled refugees,