Ireland launched its first-ever Community Sponsorship Programme for refugees, giving communities around the country the opportunity to provide sanctuary to people fleeing war and persecution.
The Al-Fakir family arrived on a pilot programme in Co. Meath in December 2018, coming from Lebanon. As other towns and communities prepare their own plans to welcome refugees, it is expected that up to 50 people will arrive on community sponsorship programmes by September 2019.
Zouheir, Angham and Lorca are the first family to be resettled in Ireland through a community sponsorship programme.
Alongside the government, the private citizens of Dunshauglin have committed to support the newcomers.
UNHCR is a member of the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (GRSI), a joint initiative with the Government of Canada, the University of Ottawa and a number of philanthropic foundations. GRSI aims to help other countries set up their own community-based refugee sponsorship programmes, strengthening local communities and improving the narratives on refugees in the process. Since the establishment of GRSI, 7 new countries have already initiated programmes or are exploring the feasibility of community sponsorship: Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand, and Australia.
Unlike traditional refugee resettlement models, where the state provides settlement and integration services directly to refugees, groups of private citizens become the face of welcome for people arriving to their country. Sponsors commit to providing financial, emotional and settlement support to help newcomers as they settle into their new communities.
Since the late 1970s, private sponsors have brought more than 300,000 refugees to Canada, over and above those resettled with government funding. Data collected by the Canadian government indicates that community sponsored refugees tend to have relatively early, positive integration and settlement outcomes, thanks in part to the social support they receive from sponsors.
UNHCR estimates there are 1.4 million refugees around the world in critical need of resettlement. The addition of community sponsorship programs, alongside existing government-assisted ones, has the potential to significantly increase resettlement places for vulnerable refugees. Community sponsorship plays an important role in facilitating the integration of newly arrived refugees thanks to the support and engagement of individuals, community organizations, faith-based groups, NGOs, private companies and resettled refugee families.
The initiative is in line with the Global Compact on Refugees adopted in December by the UN General Assembly, which calls for sharing responsibility for refugees globally with greater resettlement~UNHCR
